So did you have any discussions with anybody at SU during the coaching change and the search?

I've had conversations.

I had conversations from an alumni, somebody who want to see this program thrive and believe in this program.

So from that standpoint, I've had conversations to try to see how we can be better and how we can bring the resources to the program where we can go out there and compete year in and year out, not just this season.

We want to compete year in and year out.

We want to build the actual program back again.

Yes, I've had conversations when it came to that, but to pick Jerry was easy.

Is it hard or easy for you to stay above

Mm.

But it was like because of what we were going through and dealing with, they didn't know how to approach the situation other than saying, "Get through it, and play hard, and do what you gotta do." And when you losing games, it's different.

You get what I'm saying? If somebody telling you some shit, it's like, "All right.

All right, champ, hold up." Like it's, it's, it's, it's a lot different when you losing games.

But I, I just don't think they knew how to kind of communicate with, with us like that.

So we had to take that, and just seeing those guys, they ain't have to say nothing.

Seeing Pat in the stands, seeing, you know, Starks, seeing Bernard King, seeing all the guys back in the stadium.

A few times we almost don't.

But what do you think about the chances of getting two in a row on this Knicks team, let alone two in a row in the Garden in the finals?

Well, I, I think the, the old way of, of looking at a lot of these kind of win-loss situations in the playoffs is out the window.

I...

Losing on the road, winning on the road, I think all teams who consider themselves great feel like they, they, they have to win on the road, and they know they have to win on the road.

If you look at San Antonio in the postseason, they've done this every series.

They, they start off slow, and then they, they, they, they figure something out, in, in one... [coughs] Maybe game two or game three they figure something out, and then they expound on what they figured out.

A- and even though the, they dropped two at home against the Knicks first two games, they still feel like they gonna win this series.

What's been your favorite part about it? Any surprises? What have you taken from the, the actual playing the game into this level of your life?

Yeah.

You haven't been...

You know what I mean? You haven't been trained on the same thing.

So when you look at LeBron, what he's doing, yes, what he's doing, we, we probably will never see this ever again, right? Maybe Wemby can, can, can try to top this, but I don't think we will see it again as far as just the longevity, uh, the, the...

Really didn't have any, many, many injuries over his career.

Um, take care of his body, understands the game, understand the era that he's in right now.

He understands that this is not the early mid-2000s.

Was that relationship with Jordan early on just business business, or did it transcend that early on?

Did you not know that?

I didn't know that.

I didn't know that.

Um, again, I don't know, I don't know why I got icy.

You know, like, it's, it's, again, to me, it's, this, this game and this sport is a business.

And at that point in time, you're talking about s- a kid in this league who 25, 26, 27 years old, still trying to figure out they career, still trying to figure out they way, having some type of wherewithal of what's going on, s- a little bit of, uh, of a business acumen when it came to that during that point, and then the lack of-... you know, the information.

Now it's, when you reflect back on it, I, I have to.

What's some of the best advice he gave you over the years?

Oh.

And I love those guys so much, and I love what we had so much, that we ended up going back to school another year.

You win, you're able to do something that's bigger than you.

[upbeat music]

Was it one and done? Like, what was your mindset there?

No, man, I, I could have came out of high school.

But again, like, people don't understand, like, NBA never was my goal.

Like, it never was...