Bigger Than The Process

In this episode, D Burke opens with his recap of his experience at the Knicks championship parade in NYC, before speaking on the White House invitation to the team by Donald Trump. From the there convo shifts to the NBA Draft and AJ Dybantsa's comments leading up to it. Staying in sports, he transitions to his love for the World Cup and some of the stars competing currently. He then goes on a detailed breakdown of youth athletes and their need to being strength & conditioning to help further their athletic careers + more!

Transcript

SPEAKER_07 0:40

Shout out to a wallace. If you never had a walla water bottle, just know you missing out on some shit. This is not an endorsement. I guess it is pretty much, but it's just cause I really fuck with this shit. Never gonna get another water bottle in my life. A walla it is. You call it a walla cuz it make you look like a koala when you drink it. But it's just a very well-built water bottle, a water receptacle, water container, whatever you want to call that shit. This ain't even a pre-pod, we just vibing. Technically is the prepod. This ain't the three-piece. We'll beat y'all niggas heads down with some shit in a minute. But now I just vibe with it. Keep this thing raw, keep this thing authentic. Y'all know the vibes. You know what I'm saying? We just preppin'. We just catchin' the vibe, listening to the tunes. If you hear, you hear. If you just made it, we do this every time, man. We just vibe. We don't wake things up with the real pod right out the gate. We vibe into it. In a moment, we'll get to my three feet spicy, but it's big. Big waistline energy for now. Dutty energy. Got some shit to get to, got some shit to talk about. Telling myself I gotta get better with the pod prep. I know oftentimes I come in here, I do a good job. We ain't gonna shit on a job that we actually do. Do do, excuse me. Oh, but you know, gotta start prepping, get my notes ready. For the topics of conversations a little bit more. You know how we run out as we can't do this thing. We got the D-Berg three piece spicy coming at you. Summertime is in full effect. We just passed the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Summer solstice, excuse me. Speech impediment. Uh but yeah, man, we in the summertime vibe. Y'all know the vibes is still it's still nicks every nick's over everything. We celebrating this thing for the next 90 days, as I told y'all. So y'all still gotta deal with us, man. You see us. We looking good out here, we feeling good out here, and we got a three-piece spicy for your head top. So, as always, whatever you watching, wherever you watch it from, whatever you listening from, whatever you're doing, take a second stop. Turn this shit up to ignite levels, ignite volumes. We got the champions three-piece today. Let's get it. Just cut it up. If you know, you know, man, you know them New York boys did their thing. We still talking about it. We're still living off the energy. We still vibing. Champions talk first. Champions talk last. Champions talk forever. One time, let's get it. Pusher. Talk to these niggas. Cut my volume up, man. Beat these niggas heads top end. If you know, you know.

SPEAKER_08 6:00

Roll the windows down, let's vibe.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

I just happen to be alumni. Two legit, they still looking at me with one eye.

SPEAKER_08 6:15

Big two right here, different time, different place, different era. Not so long ago. Come along with me, man. I'm in that vibe, I'm in that bag. That's just how I'm feeling today. Let's rock.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

If you know, you know. I only ever look up to so. If you know, you know.

SPEAKER_07 6:46

If you know, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

One stop like a walmart. We got the tennis bar for the wrong spot. You know, you know.

SPEAKER_07 6:54

In the middle of summertime, man. How that work ethic. I know it's nice outside, but as always, don't forget the goal, don't forget the mission, don't forget the plan.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

You ever been hit with the water weight? Then had to wait. Do you walk away? You know, you know. When we all clickin' like golden state, and you and your team of the motor cave. You know, you know. Being great and witches like a genie. The bad holes and two pieces bikinis.

SPEAKER_07 7:25

Summertime 26. Vacation time coming around for the rest of y'all. We in a grind time summer over here.

SPEAKER_08 7:37

Where were you?

SPEAKER_07 7:42

Like a tiger skin. Listen, man. As you know, them New York Knicks still got it done. Celebrate this thing a little bit longer. Ain't nobody like the clip.

SPEAKER_08 7:54

Ain't nobody like the team. Ain't nobody like the gang. Let's work.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

B.

SPEAKER_08 8:03

Different times. Oh god. Different places. Different era with the millennial music wire. Your boy. Click, click. Vibe with me. Click, click.

unknown 8:12

Ain't nobody fresher than my motherfucking click.

SPEAKER_07 8:15

He was outside when the song was making its rounds. If you know what it did in them clubs, in them parties, in them cars, with the speakers to the maximum.

SPEAKER_08 8:22

Let's work.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Oh God.

SPEAKER_07 8:37

Unpopular opinion, this album was one of the most slept on in underrated albums of that era. Cruel something. Go back and listen to it. Top the bottom, it might have like two skips on the whole joint.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

I'm pulling up in that fruit swing, but I'm the fucking billin' man.

unknown 8:56

They kneelin' when I'm walking in the building.

SPEAKER_08 8:58

Freaky women, not be feelin' from the bank accounts I'm feeling with. Talk to a man, y'all know when that beat drop, that beat get filled. What type of Kanye the real old Kanye? Had to look around, they don't do it like my click, click, click, click, click. And all these bad bitches, man. They want the You know we gotta rock through the whole verse. Let's talk to them.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah, I'm talking re flip. Yeah, I'm talking Blick.

SPEAKER_08 9:34

Nigga, I'm talking.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Yeah, I'm talking boss.

SPEAKER_08 9:37

I ain't talking colleagues.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Your money too short, you can't be talking to me. Yeah, I'm talking LeBron. We ball on our family tree. Good music drip. In that pocket hole. Get that bag, talk to these niggas. Two fifty, two fifty to a half a man. Ain't nothing nobody could do with me. Least that's what my next says. Least that's what I'm texting. Lost my homie for a decade. Nigga down for like twelve years, ain't hugging since the second grade.

SPEAKER_08 10:06

Uh he never told.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Who we gon' tell me?

SPEAKER_08 10:09

We top of the totem pole.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

It's the dream team, meet the supreme team.

unknown 10:13

And all our eyes green and only me.

SPEAKER_08 10:15

Keep on rocking with us, man. We keep this thing going with the three piece. Talk to him.

SPEAKER_04 10:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 10:22

Only bangers today. Only big bangers today. With them cars. Wind the windows down. One hand out and let's drive.

SPEAKER_04 10:38

I'm not trying to find nobody else to be.

SPEAKER_08 10:40

Got a three-piece smoker for y'all today. Start your Wednesday off right with your boy.

SPEAKER_07 10:46

Start your Thursday off right with your boy. If you listenin' on Saturday, start your weekend off right with your boy. We only hear for one thing young to motivate the hustles, let's get it.

unknown 10:54

That's the man that put me in the shit. If a nigga fuck with him, I'll put him down quick. Got a verse for anybody who won't talk about the clip.

SPEAKER_04 11:01

I've been taking shit like you don't wanna hear me trip by damn.

SPEAKER_08 11:04

Do y'all really know who y'all fucking with?

SPEAKER_04 11:07

Yeah, I mean you can't blame me for wondering. Doesn't matter, could be winter or the summer on the road. I do one direction numbers.

SPEAKER_07 11:14

Don't fucking miss.

unknown 11:15

Yeah, stunning and magno. When Wayne was gone for eight months, we put this thing up on a pack, and I was snapping off on every single track, though.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

Collect cards from the box, like where we at, though.

SPEAKER_08 11:24

I was like, I date myself when I get too hype and hear that voice get raspy. Let's get it. Side to side, up and down, one hand in the air. Let's talk to her one more time.

SPEAKER_07 11:34

Let's get it. I'm the only one that get the job done.

SPEAKER_04 11:39

I don't know a nigga that could come. How you feel as a business owner sometimes.

SPEAKER_08 11:48

One time for the hustlers, those who hit to be motivated. Those who bought that bag, about that mission, about that purpose. Those who still searching, it's never too late.

SPEAKER_07 12:03

Talk to him, Wayne.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Here's the hurts for Robers, nigga. One for me, one for my daughter. Wayne for someone to test me like a harvest nigga. I told her 223, two Michael Jordans, nigga.

unknown 12:17

Come on, fight the shell.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Cases like a lawyer, nigga. Find out where you stay, and act like we found some audio nigga out of duct tape. So when he's I ignore the nigga. All I gotta say is Saya Nara, nigga.

SPEAKER_08 12:34

Talk to them where they get in that bag and in that pocket. Can I be exfoliated?

unknown 12:42

Whip that ass like hunters racing. Ain't about what you walk away from.

SPEAKER_07 12:45

It's about what you walk away with.

unknown 12:46

Dead presidents, them covers making.

SPEAKER_07 12:48

I'ma be doing something.

unknown 12:49

I'm the only one that get the job done.

SPEAKER_07 12:54

We might let this shit rock all the way through. We might let it rock all the way through. We in that bag.

SPEAKER_04 13:00

Believe me. I ain't nigga, but they love me in the street. I'm not trying to find nobody else to be. Pre-Potters.

SPEAKER_07 13:09

Thanks for coming to watch. Thanks for coming to listen and checking with your boy.

SPEAKER_08 13:17

Just here to keep y'all going on a week to week basis. Let's go.

SPEAKER_07 13:24

This was a slap, y'all. This was a slap, y'all. A lot of y'all might have missed how big this was a slap of. If you of age, if you're not of age, we just gonna give you a little history lesson a day. You know? I know some of y'all might be tuning in. This was a different Drake back then. Yes, right now you are rockin' with the best.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

Motherfucker war shows a motherfucker press. Like, black, black, black, black, black, black.

SPEAKER_07 14:03

Listen, man. We shut this thing down right there. As always, thanks for coming to watch. Thanks for coming to listen. And as we get to this thing, as always, we are back for another audio occasion. It is a podcast for self-starters and those willing to make the most out of any situation. The EFS podcast is back. I think we got episode number 75. Excuse me, 79 on deck today. Getting my numbers mixed up. And as we kick this thing off, man, we just gonna beat y'all over the head top with just nick shit still, because we still not over it just yet. I told y'all we rocking for 90 days, we rocking for 90 days. So funny one here. Shouts to Chef Year for providing this audio here. You know, the NS and not safe for work, whatever you want to call it. So if you had work, turn this shit down, cuz we're going big time out the gate. Let's talk to him.

SPEAKER_05 14:55

Must have thought I was gonna be humble about this winner. Fuck out of here, yo, Cam Newton. Yo, nigga, I need a public apology. We got a ring twenty twenty six. We got a ring, they would have never niggas. Nobody flipped that fucking table over. We got a fucking nigga. Fuck out of here. All of them brown, all of us. Hopefully that nigga goes bored this season. Fuck out of here. Fuck Boston, for really fucking B, for Trey Young, from TJ McCollum, for everybody that doubted a motherfucking nigga. Like I got a special suck my nigga for fucking Becky Hammond. Becky Hamny's Oh, what happened?

SPEAKER_06 16:08

Cut my shit off, man.

SPEAKER_07 16:10

Alright, well, I think y'all get the gist. I think y'all get the gist of how we're coming today. How we opening things up at least. We ain't gonna nix y'all down to death today. We're gonna do a little bit out the gate, but you know, we got other topics to get to, other topics to discuss. So as always, no more champion music. We get back to our normal theme. Lick a shot, bust an air horn, a few more air horns, wake the energy up, wake that ass up, tell a friend to tell a friend the EFS podcast is back, man. Let my theme music run. And just vibe with me for a second, man. Let me get a drink. Let me get a quick sip, you know. And as always, if you made it to the audio slash visual occasion, please do not forget to like, comment, share, subscribe. Tell a friend to tell a friend. We love the love over here at the EFS Podcast. It is me, the man, the myth, the legend from the EFS brand himself, Mr. 1%, two times, Mr. I Was Right About Nixon Five, Mr. D Burke. And we just here, man. Happy to be above ground, happy to come to y'all for another episode. Let the theme music run a little bit longer as we soak up the energy. It's warm outside. Just past the summer solstice. Longest day of the year out the way. Dog days of summer are still on the way. So hopefully you're enjoying. Kids out of school, stay safe. Parents, find something to do with them badass kids while they're sitting around all day. Make sure they got some activities. Make sure they got things to do. Make sure you ain't gotta just, you know, be running behind them all summer. You know, get them in something, get them in the program, get them in something to, you know, further themselves as they transition from school year to school year. But either way, man, thanks for coming, man. We're gonna fade this theme music out and we're gonna get to our episode number 79. Damn, it's been 79 episodes. It's crazy. Numbers is rolling a little bit. You know, can't wait to get to the 100 of this thing. You know, big milestone coming up when we get there. When we get there, you know, we ain't skipping no steps. We're gonna take this thing day by day. But as we open up and check in, hopefully everyone is good mentally, physically, spiritually, all those things. And uh we'll start off our conversation today with a little recap. You know, uh, as y'all know, we talked about it last episode and we held true to that because we definitely did what we said we was gonna do, which was go to the next parade uh just to enjoy the the festivities, you know. So uh still on championship mode, we still rocking, and you know, we ain't we ain't we ain't made it out of the circles just yet. So, and if not, we just gonna force it because again, Knicks fans, so fuck y'all, y'all gotta listen to it. Uh but either way, man, check in from the Knicks parade. Great vibe, great energy out there. Um, so I gotta keep it funky as well as, you know, be positive. Um we'll try to mix it up in one. I ain't trying to get too critical of the situation, but also gonna keep it real. Um and I'm not the first one to say this. It's kind of like late takes, but hey, we're just gonna keep this conversation going because if we win another championship, we definitely want to see some shit rectified um from what we just experienced uh last week. First and foremost, shout out to the Knicks, boys, champions, all that. Love it. Love it for the town, love it for the city of New York. Uh the vibe is still amazing, you know, out there from everybody I know out there still, and just from one of me checking in out there, it's just still love, you know. Um and love soaking up the energy in general of what we've accomplished as the New York Knicks and New York New Yorkers in general. Um logistical fucking nightmare. If we're just gonna be very honest about how the parade went. Um, and I would say that there was no way you could kind of know how many people were gonna come, but I also feel like there was a way for you to kind of estimate and get a gauge of how things might have turned out and make some different plans, man. That shit was a logistical fucking nightmare. So, you know, just to tell a story in full, me and my lady went out there. I didn't want to drive, didn't want to be responsible for anything, you know, getting someone back and forth from where I'm at, which is about two hours away from New York. Um, so didn't want to drive. We're gonna take the public uh transportation up. We decided to get on the train, the trains prices is way too fucking expensive. So it's $500 round trip uh for the train. Four for $400, excuse me, dollars round trip for the train. So me and my lady, we like, we ain't doing that either. We did the old school, we busted. Took the Greyhound, you know. As a as a person who spent a lot of time back and forth in New York in my adolescent, on my preteen, the teenage days, uh, was definitely on the Greyhound bus a lot. I would say the Greyhound buses look a lot different now than when they when I used to take them back in the day. Um but either way, we decided to bust it. Get up early in the morning. It's like maybe woke up at like 4 something, 4 45, 5 a.m. getting ready to try to catch the 6 a.m. bus to get up there to New York in time. I already anticipated that there were going to be a lot of people out there. Um checking the timelines and checking all the social media stuff. Uh, we were seeing that people was camping out the night before, which we all know by now, to the morning of when we're on the way to the um city, you know, to get there, to hop on the subway, jump right down a Fulton Street where the city hall exit is at, uh, all that stuff. So we on the way up there, and I started seeing on the timeline at like 6 30 in the morning that they telling people like, yo, you, if you did not get in the pens, you know, the viewing pens for the parade, you're not getting in at this point. Cool. I did anticipate that already, you know. So it is what it is. I ain't making the biggest complaint about that. I didn't want to get up there as early as I needed to to get in there, which is just fine. Um, but I just wanted to go soak up the energy. But getting out there and seeing things in like, you know, real time was kind of like, damn, like they could have done a better job with this as just far as where they had the parade, you know. And I've heard other people say that, you know, they could have had it down fifth ad, they should have had it down, you know, right about where Matt. Madison Square Garden is at. They do it during Times Square. For the New Year's, they do like, you know, they shut down the city for large amounts of people. Like, I do feel like there should have been a different, you know, parade route or different setup, you know. And I know that the the route is historical. You know, Giants been down there, Yankees been down there. New York has had a bunch of different champions that have been down that road. So we do understand that. But with the, I would say the the magnitude of this championship, I think things should have been considered a little bit differently. Um, but again, it was no real way to tell how many people were gonna come. Either way, bunch of people out there. I did not personally get to see any of the parade floats just because I wasn't positioned in a place where I could, you know. I didn't even get to meet up with any of the people I planned on meeting up when I got out there just because it was so difficult to get anywhere in that area that it didn't make sense once you got out to get anywhere near the parade to keep on moving around because you you it wasn't gonna happen. Like the streets was blocked off. I was one block away from my sister. Um, and we had plans to meet up. I was one block away from my sister and literally could not get to her because it was barricaded. I'm asking the police, yo, can I just literally go over there? I'm showing them like she's right here, I'm right here. Can I just cross over there and get to her? They're like, no, you gotta walk all the way around. And walking all the way around would have taken damn near the whole time the parade was just because getting anywhere was literally like, excuse me, excuse me, my bad, yo, bumping into niggas left and right, stepping over shoes, my bad, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, sidestepping and turning around and just trying to find anywhere to fucking walk, just to get anywhere around. So my sister was basically like, yo, it's a dub, like I can't get over there to you. We had reservations at a restaurant that she couldn't get to because of where she was positioned that I could have got there, but you know, she was like, Listen, I'm about to go home once this shit is over, and I just catch you on the flip side, you know, whenever we link up again. So I'm like, I bet, you know, other people I plan on linking up with. One cell phone service was terrible, so you couldn't really communicate with people. And then all in all, it's again, it was just hard to move around. So once you got somewhere, you know, you stuck there. And I did end up right near City Hall, uh, near one of the the big Jumbotron screens that they was playing uh, you know, the championship ceremony and all that stuff on. Uh so I did stay for a little bit of that. Um, but by the time we even like got close to that, my girl was hungry and I was hungry too. So I'm really in the point where I'm like, I can stand here and watch the whole thing or just cast the rest of the highlights later, which you know, we opted to go get something to eat, and then from there had a good time with the rest of the day before we ended up coming back home. Um, but all in all, very happy for the vibe of the parade. Like it was just amazing to see New York in that light. And, you know, I could talk about it from till the cows come home or till I'm blue in the face, but you know, for me, just seeing that for the city was amazing. Uh, so I think that I had a good time, even though it wasn't a time that I the best time I could have had just because of the circumstances. But again, two million plus people out there is just hard to move around. And, you know, it was really just like a big ass block party, which, you know, I take it as that. And again, if we win another championship, I think that they should reconsider things as far as where they route the parade and then, you know, the accessibility for people to view. Um, but timeline's been lit ever since then. We see a lot of clips from it. I got a lot of favorite moments that I've seen that I won't get into right now. But again, shouts to the Knicks, shouts to everything they've done. And keeping it on the Knicks will progress forward the conversations just because uh the Knicks um, well, I say they made a little bit of a splash in the social media uh right now. Um, and it's just because of the White House invitation um that normally happens for all prospect well, most professional sports teams that win um a championship in the United States, they are invited to go to the White House to meet with the president, the current president of the country, et cetera, et cetera. Um unless you live under rock, you know that Trump win the game three of the you know Spurs and saying it uh Spurs and Knicks championship series, fucked up the game, made us lose, to my opinion, whatever. But um now they won and he they've been invited to the White House. Trump, we know, is a Knicks fan from way, way back in the day. Trump is also friends with the owner, James Dolan. Uh, so that kind of makes things a little bit tricky just because their personal relationship with each other uh makes it kind of difficult for the team. Um and we've seen in recent years the teams that deny going to the White House as a collective. We've also seen teams like the Philadelphia Eagles go, where some players on the team go and some players sit out, uh i.e. Jalen Hurts, salute to you for that. Um, so right now the conversation is kind of back and forth with people feeling one way or another with what might happen with the Knicks just because the owner put them kind of in a bad spot. Um, my perspective on it is this do we support the administration? Do we, you know, get behind them in all the things they do? Like, no, we're not saying that at all. Like, I would never say that. You know, I I'm a person who has a lot of different feelings about it, but that's a whole nother conversation that you know we're not gonna broach at this point. But uh with the owner being that close to Donald Trump, it makes it weird for the players just because if I do want to sit my ass out, if I was the next player and not go just because I ain't fucking with that shit, it could potentially put me and my owner, who is friends with Donald Trump, at odds and then make things difficult. Um and I wasn't even really thinking about that part of it um just because it didn't cross my mind. Uh, but like Jalen Brunson's next contract negotiation, like what happens if he does not go to the White House? Is that gonna affect how the owner should, you know, want to pay him for his next deal, you know, and that kind of situation. We got players who got extensions coming up, cap potentially, you know, free agents, and like we we have a team that you might want to retain as best as you can, which is Dolan has already said he's not looking to go into the luxury tax, which I think is some bullshit. Uh well, and in general, I just don't really fuck with James Dolan. And I know my support for the Knicks is like, you know, it is what it is. We ain't gotta keep rehashing that. But I don't fuck with James Dolan, and James Dolan was the reason that I kind of turned my back on the Knicks for a little bit, not fully like to say, you know, I ain't really fucking with them ever again. But, you know, around the era when Katie and Kyrie came over to Brooklyn and had the city kind of lit in that way, James Dolan wasn't really doing shit for a long time. And and a lot of Knicks fans' frustrations with the Knicks in general has been James Dolan and how he runs the team. Um, so you know, and I even saw clips of people at the parade, you know, while James Dolan was speaking, they just cursing him out, they booing him, talking about fuck you, we won in spite of you, you know, all that kind of stuff. So Knicks fans know we don't really fuck with James Dolan like that. At least, you know, a Knicks fans of a certain color, class, and caliber, I would say. Um, but either way, I just think it makes it tough because for a player to want to express his political views in a sense, or not even, you know, make it political, but just abstain or just sit out, you know, and not want to, you know, get himself wrapped up in that just because of how it may look for him. Look for his people, look for whoever. I don't think it's a good feeling to think that you're the person who owns the team is then, you know, gonna treat you a specific way. And it gives very slave owner, which is what I've heard people online compare it to. And I do think that it puts him in the odd position. How is it gonna go? I don't know. I would not be mad at anybody on the team who says, I ain't trying to create no waves, I'm just going to shake hands and then that's it, you know, and I ain't really supporting it, but I'm just here to show face and here to be in support of my team. We heard um Jose Alvarado basically say the same thing. Like, if my team want to go, then I'm going. And I think sometimes you just gotta suck some things up just for the betterment of the team. But I also wouldn't be mad if anybody made any, you know, try to make waves and say, I ain't showing up. Y'all go, y'all got it. Whoever wanna go, I'm good with y'all, but I'm sitting out. So for me, I'm a little bit indifferent on this one. I'm not mad at people either way, just because of the position they're being put in with the personal relationship with the person who pays them millions and millions and millions of dollars versus the person who, you know, versus with, you know, Donald Trump, I'm saying, mixing myself up here. Uh, but again, I do understand that sometimes some things are bigger than basketball, bigger than your money, bigger than whatever. And again, I don't feel anybody who stands in that space is is wrong. I don't know what I would do in that position, if I'm just being honest. I don't know just because I've never been in that position, and I don't think I'm gonna be in that position anytime soon. I don't envy them for where they're at right now with that. But they'll figure it out, man. They'll figure it out and they'll make whatever of appearance or lack thereof as the invitation comes around, but we'll see. Um, so stay tuned, I guess. Um, keeping it in the NBA. We'll move forward to the next topic of conversation, which I think is kind of dope because I saw it, I saw it just released the other day on the boardroom. Um, and uh they're kind of taking the whole player empowerment thing to the next level uh with the players at United. Uh as Kyrie did a nice um, I guess, presentation of well not well, rollout would call it rollout on social media that just got released. Uh check it out. It's called Players Union P-L Y R S is the spelling of players United. Um I think it'd be dope, man. I think it's uh something that you know the whole player empowerment movement kind of furthers as it pushes forward in the years that we've seen recently to where players have kind of taken their own, you know, their own businesses to heart and then made whatever they can out of it to say that we're not really going with the establishment of how things have been, you know, and players speaking up, players with content spaces, players with podcasts, players on like literally sports media now with guys like Draymond. I think players are doing dope things uh in the post-athletic life, but also the people who are still playing right now. So I do love the whole player empowerment movement in certain ways. So I am excited to see what comes from it. Um, but the the pizza that I just kind of mentioned, it says players and the NBPA, excuse me, has officially launched Players United, uh, a new consumer-facing brand built on, built to turn the collective influence of more than 500 NBA players into products, partnerships, content, licensing opportunities, and business venture ventures. Uh, our desire was to, a little bit further down, it says our desire was to own a piece of the ecosystem we built. Um, so again, that players empowerment thing is a big thing now, and players feeling like, you know, we we've built the the league on our backs, and you know, we want everything that we got out there that's on the table. So, you know, salute the players for that. I'm interested to see what comes from it, you know, as far as players getting opportunities, you know. And I think players who played in the game, players who you who still play in the game now have a big you know opportunity here to kind of create some dope things and just in general uh put the put the basketball players in a good light in the business venture side of things, which is dope and it's dope to see. Um, so along with the player of empowerment thing, uh I guess on the flip side of the player of empowerment thing, because this one could be a little bit critical, uh, and something that I I do not really understand about this new generation of players, uh, but it is what it is, kind of. So, you know, and not to bash any of the young guys in that way, uh, but to open the conversation or or my piece of the talk is gonna be AJ D. Bonster. Um, he's looking to potentially be the number one pick in the NBA draft. Uh, by the time you listen to this, the draft might be over, so we might see where he actually, you know, lands. And it could be the Washington Wizards, maybe, maybe not. Um, but made some comments on the podcast recently, uh, and he basically said that he does he did not do any pre-draft workouts. Uh, for anyone who knows how the process goes, normally when kids enter the draft out of college uh or high school from back in the days, whatever, they work out with NBA teams to kind of, you know, assess them, see how they are, see what their skills are like, you know, just present themselves to the team for them to potentially draft them on draft night. Um, so AJ did AJ made a comment saying that he didn't work out for any NBA teams, like headed into the draft, um, and basically, you know, without having to play the whole thing, basically said that they know what I can do. Um and that to me kind of sets a precedent. Well, the precedent kind of been set, I would say. Um so not to get into it in a too negative way, but I do feel like this new generation, this new crop of players has a different kind of mentality about you know entitlement and the things that they have earned or the things that they, you know, are able to grasp right now without putting the work in for it. So for me, I ain't really fucking with it like that, you know. Not to put it out there in that way, I would say. And if you don't want to work out for any NBA teams, that's fine. Um, but the way it comes off is that like you've already arrived in a certain sense. And there's been a lot of highly titled people coming out of college, high school, et cetera, et cetera, that do not pan out. And you know, and I think these players nowadays kind of have the mentality that they've gotten a lot further than they actually have, even though they have gotten pretty far in their lives, and the way they're getting far now financially with the NIL, you know, on a level before they even get to the NBA is is amazing to see, you know. But I do think it breeds a little bit of sense of entitlement within the players nowadays, and that entitlement to me can be problematic as far as one, how you handle adversity, and two, just how you step into any scenario that you know might be new for you, you know. And when you come from middle school to high school, the level changes. When you come from high school to college, the level changes. When you come from college to NBA, the level changes significantly. Like when you're looking at that league, you are playing amongst the best players in the world. And it's not to say there aren't great players all over the world. I think I was a pretty great player and played all over the world, but there are guys who are dogs who could probably play in the NBA who are overseas. And that's a whole nother conversation outside of what we're talking about. Uh, but in general, when you get to the NBA, you're working against grown men and you have like, you know, uh you have to stake your claim in a way. And maybe that's what he's doing right now by basically selling people like, yo, I feel like I'm the shit before I even get there. Uh but I digress to say that the process of working out for teams to me is where the whole mentality piece for these players goes a little bit wrong, you know, or off. And it's not to say that he's the first player that didn't want to work out for teams. I'm just saying that when you put that message in out nowadays, it gets these kids or these young players to kind of think differently about things. And not everybody's gonna be you, AJ. Like not everybody has the talent, not everybody has the hype that you have, not everybody has that kind of, you know, that that draw headed into the NBA. You know, what you pan out to be in the NBA, you may be everything you live, you want to live up to be. You may be a bust. There's people who have been in the NBA as a number one pick that ain't really panned out the shit. So, you know, we ain't gonna go over a list of them just to shit on anybody in that way, but there's been a lot of busts in the top five picks of the NBA draft over a lot of years of the NBA. Like not everybody pans out. So for me, if you are gonna be that top pick, you also kind of have to hold a certain responsibility about how you present to people just because people are kind of watching you and may emulate how you move in their own careers. And when you put out, I don't want to work out for teams, you might get somebody who needs to work out for a team in the mindset that they don't have to, and then that might cost that kid the opportunity just because he's looking at things in the wrong way, you know. And it is like a privilege to work out for an NBA team, you know, whether you feel like you've earned it or not, like earned your way into the league or not, I would say it is still a privilege to work out for NBA teams. And some things it's just like, all right, now you might know what I can do, but now I want to show you in person. And sometimes if there's injuries and things like that, then that is where you might want to take your foot off the gas pedal and be a little bit more smart. But if you're able to play, if you've been working out, if you're sharp, then why not go out there and prove it on a every single day basis, you know, or every single opportunity basis, I would say, just to make sure that, you know, the it's stamped. Like, I know who I am, y'all know who I am, and we've seen it now in front of each other. And I know a lot of guys who would have killed to get an NBA workout, you know. Myself being one of them, never had one. So, you know, maybe this is just me speaking from a perspective again that not everybody's you, AJ, and that certain people are uh killing or not killing, but actually dying for opportunities to do the same thing that you're turning down to say, like, I'm better than that, more or less. So, and he's not the only one. I know, you know, that some of the people in the top draft picks have like kind of said things along the same lines and you know made made themselves feel like they were bigger than the process, I would say. And to me, nobody's bigger than the process, even if you are able to skirt around the process, because when you get to the league, you can get smacked in the face, and then that's a whole nother process that you have to overcome. When you're playing against Hall of Famers on a night-to-night basis, potentially, or just guys again who are in the league that are stamped, and you're gonna have to show and prove again on that way. And it was just a small clip, but again, small clips can give off a you know, a feeling without context. And I didn't watch the whole thing, so I'm gonna just say that. But you know, sometimes when you put certain things out that can be clipped up, you also gotta like understand how that can play back when it you know gets out there in the people. Um, but I've seen him play in person, I think he's very, very talented. I do think he's a pro. Of course he's a pro. He's probably gonna be drafted number one or number two from my perspective. But at the end of the day, when you get there again, you got a whole nother process to go through. And we ain't talking about the Philadelphia process, but you know, yeah, nobody's bigger than the process. Um, and that's my that on that, you know. So wanted to move forward to the next thing, uh, which is super exciting right now, even more on a global stage. Uh, the World Cup, man. The World Cup is kicked off. Um, and if you guys don't know, we don't really talk about it that much on this podcast. But uh my love for the game of football, I still call it football, even though we're here in America, just because football is a global game and people have been playing it all over the place. So we don't really, you know, uh you can call it what you want here, but you can't be mad at anybody else that wants to call it something else. It's a global game. The game of football is here in the States, um, North America, I would say, not just the States, for the World Cup. Uh, been kicking off, seen a lot of great performances, but for me, soccer is my second favorite sport after basketball. So anytime anything soccer-related like is circ in circulation or close to me, I try to, you know, pay attention to it. Um, and even more so just because I'm a fan of a lot of players in the game and one soul, you know, even more specifically, Lionel Messi. Um, and my boy did his thing in the World Cup on a big stage in the biggest way out of here over these first couple games, and kind of cemented himself even more in the legacy that I feel like he's had. And I think he put even more separation between the conversation from him to Cristiano Ronaldo, which everyone loves to have and still have to this day, which I think is a little bit delusional because I think that Messi has achieved more than Cristiano Ronaldo has in his career at this point. No shitting on Christie CR7 because he did some good things in the in the World Cup so far as well. Uh, but Messi hat tricked the first game, followed up last night, at least last night from you know when I'm recording, but when you're hearing this, maybe a little bit later. Um two goals surpass the all-time goals for the World Cup. As an individual player, how many goals you score in the cup? He's the lead and climbing still. And doesn't look like he's slowing down anytime soon. Um, Mbappe is close. Killian Mbappe, French, French superstar, you know, one of them dogs too, one of the best players in the world. And I think we'll go down as one of the best players in history. By the time it's all said and done, he's right behind them. So the race for that is like very interesting to see. And if you know anything about soccer, you know the greats go out there and put on great shows and great performances. And sometimes as a collective team of individuals, you got that one player that creates some magic out there. And when when you got a chance to witness those kind of people and those kind of things, you got to stay tuned. So uh the World Cup is rocking. Big fan of everything that I'm seeing in the World Cup from you know a lot of the teams that I am interested in, uh, mainly Argentina as a winner from the last World Cup, to maybe repeat. Uh, and just like I mentioned, France too. Uh, they're looking pretty good, playing well. Um, the U.S. is playing well as well. No shades to you know the home team in this regard. Um, they have qualified for the round of 32 already, still got another game to play later this week to see if they can go 3-0 by the time they head to the round of 32. So if you ain't been watching the World Cup, check it out for sure. Uh, I've been trying to check out a game in person, but the way them tickets are looking, again, I'm cooling. Like, we got other things, we got other things to focus on financially. But yeah, man, World Cup is rocking. Check it out. We'll see how this thing plays out the rest of the way. Um, and I enjoy it, man. Just really, really enjoy the World Cup. Last time I was around 2022. I was very excited to see how it goes. But again, I'm a super Lionel Messi fan. If anybody knows that about me, um, if you know me, you know that about me, I would say. Um, but yeah, uh, that's that on that. Um, last part of our talk for today, wanted to kind of shift the conversation over to um my lane, uh at least my current lane now, uh, which is the training industry, um, and even more so uh the strength and conditioning side of things. And today's uh piece of the combo is gonna revolve around youth athletes and strength and conditioning. Um, and I would say this is even more important now for youth than it has ever been just because of the opportunities that are presented to youth uh on well, not youth in a s for sense on that level, but like the People coming from high school into college. Like the way these kids is getting money now on the sports side of things, earlier than I would have even thought to get to it in my days, it makes it even more important for what you do to pres to help yourself into those opportunities as you go throughout life. Um, and this one piece of it to me is big just because of where things are at right now and can cost you opportunities even more so. Um, but strength and conditioning in youth, um, let's talk about it. Why is it important for youth athletes to get into strength and conditioning um and uh what it can do for you throughout the rest of your life from a sports perspective and even a not sports perspective? Um, so did some digging and wanted to present you some pieces for parents and youth athletes to really take into account. Um, because I know there's a couple parents that have youth athletes that listen to this podcast, and I know there might be some youth athletes that are actually listening to this podcast. And it's in the space that I'm at right now with my EFS Elite Academy, which just kicked off today. Uh, really working with just youth athletes for their development overall and the things that we kind of want to help them get to in their next season and potentially in the next level of their career, you know, once they get out of middle school to high school, high school to college, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Um, so I digress. Back to the point. Uh, why is it important for youth athletes to begin SNC? Um now, a lot of people think that people who start training young are, you know, off base with what they should be doing or where they're at, and think that they're doing too much for right now. But what most people don't realize is that when you are a youth getting into strength and conditioning, say if you're a 10-year-old kid, you know, which is with the line where I think that you can start earlier, but I think 10 years old may be where you want to start to get into a real, real consistent program. Um, but either way, you're not trying to create a stronger 10-year-old. What you're trying to do is create a healthier, more resilient 20-year-old, is the way that you want to look at this thing. So again, you're not trying to work for right now to make them stronger, even though kids can get stronger at that age. But what you're looking to do is help set them up for the future. Um and how are we doing that? Number one way is we want to help them reduce the risk of injury. Um, now injuries happen. Injuries happen to great athletes, injuries happen to subpart athletes, injuries just happen. So there's no 100% way to prevent injury. Uh, but we will say there are a bunch of things that you can do to help put yourself in a position to where you can mitigate some of those risks of injury with your training. Um, and that is from the time you're young all the way up to the time you are an old person, like working out and being able to move effectively is going to help you not get hurt. Um, and again, it's not gonna say that it's never gonna happen, but it's gonna help you more times than not not to get hurt. In the scenarios where you just do something that somebody else might have torn something, broke something, twisted something, and you were able to sustain and just be fine through it, then those are the scenarios where the work you did outside the core happens. And on a youth level, it happens even more so specifically, uh, just because as kids get older and older and older, the ones who are not effective movers develop bad patterns. Bad patterns are what leads to the injuries, bad patterns are what leads to where you kind of cap yourself from an athletic perspective. So the earlier you get into it, the more you're able to develop, you know, and we know that as a youth, the developmental stage happens very early. Kids are always growing internally, externally. So, how is it not a thing to focus on your athlete developing themselves at that level, you know, at that age of that level? And kids who are, say, just going off the 10-year-old plus range, the kids who are able to squat correctly, hinge correctly, decelerate correctly, jump and land correctly, those are the skills, those are the movements you're trying to build that's gonna carry a life over. Like from my personal perspective or my personal experience, I would say when I got to college, we already have people who are we 18, say 19 headed into college. Bad hips, bad knees, bad everything. So when you think about what the strength of condition coach has to do and has to manage when you get to college, it is all because of a lifetime of bad movement leading up into it. So if your kid's gonna learn how to be an effective mover earlier in life, he's gonna fare better throughout the rest of his life and not have to deal with certain things, you know. And no shit Norman as a person, but my guy Wes Matthews, when he got the Marquette, he had bad hips, bad hips, still bad hips to the day, like to the nowadays. So we still see him moving around. We used to call him, you know, 10 man and super stiff and all that. Um, but that again could have been a pattern of just again a lifetime of not getting into proper strength and conditioning to where again you understand how to move. So number one thing is you're helping these athletes to reduce risk of injury, and number two, again, you're helping to set the table for them to be effective movers throughout the rest of their life, you know, and especially definitely when they get to the higher levels of you know of competition and being able to really go out there and grab opportunities, you know. And number three thing, I think, is you're helping to set them up for success uh nowadays within the NIL era. Um, so we've talked about a little bit on this podcast before, but they are actively turning away from high school athletes because they're able to have people transfer from school to school and then not have to worry about recruiting younger kids because they can stay in college a little bit longer now so they can milk it. Like we've seen there are guys who are 26, 27 years old playing on the college level. So imagine your high school athlete, your middle school athlete who wants to play in college, your young athlete who wants to play in college. If they are gonna get to college and they're already behind the eight ball from a strength and conditioning side of things, imagine how a school may turn away from them just because, okay, he ain't ready or she ain't ready. You know, like physically, they're not ready to play the game on the level that we're looking for. And if they're gonna get into college and then have to play against people who potentially older, bodies are a lot more filled out, bodies are a lot more, you know, quote unquote sturdy, and they're not up to that level, then imagine how much they're gonna, their game is gonna suffer. Imagine how much their confidence is gonna suffer because, again, they can't catch up and compete with guys who literally have children, you know. So when you're thinking about your high school or middle school athlete nowadays, you literally have to set them up for success for what they want to achieve because college scholarships are gonna get less and less and less for these high school, like it already has been happening. We've seen people who are high D1 caliber players, maybe back when I was playing, come down to mid-major or low D1. We've seen people who are D1 talents have to go to D2 or D3 just because the opportunities are not as like vast for those kids anymore on the college level. So the more you prepare your body for it before you get there, the better you're gonna be served as somebody, maybe a school looking at you and saying, hi kid, like we like your skills, we like what you have to offer from a physical focus, uh physical perspective. So when you get to college, we feel like you can play now. Uh so you want to put yourself in that light and then not have to worry about being, you know, looked aside or like, you know, turned away from just because you know you're not ready physically. So for all the reasons I just mentioned, it is important for your youth athletes to get more into strength and conditioning nowadays. Um I see a lot of parents kind of uh mess it up for their kids in that way. One, because they feel like it's not important. One, they feel like, you know, two, they feel like they they know better than, you know, someone who's a professional at it. And in general, they're just not helping their kids get the right mindset around the things that are really gonna matter for their overall development, uh, the strength and condition inside of it, and also learning, you know, the whole athletic lifestyle thing, how to recover, how to eat properly, you know, all things that wasn't even that readily accessible when I was a youth, but now there are a lot of different resources for it that parents should be tapping into, you know, one of them being me. So, you know, this is also a shameless plug, uh, but also an important conversation that I wanted to get out there just because these youth athletes need what the weight room has to offer. And you'll see their game take leaps and bounds because of it, just because when they're younger, they it'll seep in a little bit more. And again, it'll literally set the table for them to be athletic beasts, you know, by the time they get to high school, college, and further, just because again, they're used to it. Building a body takes time, like the longer and longer and longer you work at it, by the time you really, really, you know, are on the adult level, like you're already used to doing the right things and maintaining your athleticism, maintaining your power, maintaining your strength uh in the right way that's gonna carry a game even further and further. So um a little bit of a soapbox for me just because you know the industry that I'm in. Um, but I've seen a lot of it lately, and I just think that parents are setting kids up to be bad movers, man. And really tap in with your strength and conditional professionals in your area. If it's not just me, if you're listening from freaking Hong Kong or somewhere like that, like make sure that these kids are getting with somebody who can help them build if they really want to be athletes, because the opportunities are out there, and sometimes the physical capabilities can hold kids back from that next level. So um, that's pretty much that on that, man. Um, so with that said, you know, thanks for coming. If you've made it this far into the broadcast, don't forget to like, don't forget to subscribe, don't forget to share with somebody else, man. We love to love over here at the EFS Podcast. So as we close things out for the number episode number 75, uh, we'll tell you stay safe in this crazy world, guard yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, and we'll catch you on the next go round. EFS Podcast episode number 75 79 is out. Please