But I'm curious for you, how were you able to harness the mindset that is abundant when you grew up with that kind of scarcity mindset? How were you able to harness that very strong mentality that obviously led to your success?

Yeah, I think we have the same dad, even though my dad was in Oregon, not Ohio, but still same O state, right? But yeah, no, he actually said those very same things.

Hey, I'm not made of money.

What do you think I made of money? Money doesn't grow on trees, those kind of things.

We can't afford it.

I would hear that all the time growing up.

And I use that language even as a financial advisor.

It's probably many things.

Yeah.

Like, you're the guy that bought everything on sale, case lot sale.

He was post-Depression era when he was born, right? So he was kind of, like, just before the forefront of the baby boomers.

And, uh, and so he, for him, like, you know, the guy that's, like, this penny-pinching saver is asking me for help, I, I was kind of humbled by it.

But as I sat down with him, I flew back to Oregon to go see him, and then as I sat down with him, I, I, uh, looked at all of his numbers, everything.

The guy had paid off all of his debt, including his house, so he was 100% debt-free.

The guy had been stuffing money in his 401[k] retirement plan, getting the match and everything, just like every good boy should, right? That's the little checkbox you're supposed to do, and everything that I was teaching too.

Tell me about one of those times.

So I'm curious, you know, what are some of the freedoms and the transformation that your clients and listeners, you know, as they listen to your podcast as well, unlock and just maybe tell a couple, a couple stories until we, and then we'll dive into some, some, some specifics here.

Yeah, the biggest shift that I had to make myself, and then also our clients have to make as well, is shifting away from this accumulation type of mentality, right? This compounding interest, the eighth wonder of the world, just save it for the next 40, 50 years, and you'll be set, right? Which is what my dad did.

But it turned out not working.

And it's not that compounding interest doesn't work.

But the problem is that they try to match the wrong vehicle to the destination, right? The wrong vehicle usually being Wall Street, mutual funds, the S&P 500 or whatever other, you know, 401k stuff, which even with 100% match, I show people even with fidelity stats that because the funds perform so poorly that actually even with 100% match, you barely get the S&P 500 returns that you would have just invested on your own.

Things like that, you know? And so I have to switch them away from this accumulation theory to a more of an acceleration income mentality.

And that's very different.

yes i i i'm with you i'm with you chris so and i also have heard like only like three percent of or five percent of advisors outperform the s p right right so there's that whole there's that that thing as well and and so okay so what what what do you recommend when it comes to if someone does have let's use a higher network right let's say they're 10 million bucks is their wealth and What kind of allocation would you recommend? And if they're going to go into liquid securities, what is your thoughts? I don't know if recommend is a strong word, but what are some ideas that some might do for a proper allocation?

I want to get to the actual strategy of how these players all fit together, but just in terms of the positivity surrounding the organization right now, how much, if at all, do you think Dawkins, Winger, the young guys that are a part of this, how much do you think they feel and how much can they feed off that?

The number one pick, and I'm only speaking in the NBA.

The NFL, I've never experienced it when I covered the league for 10 years, so I've never experienced what it was like to have the first pick.

But the first pick, I've experienced that before, and I kind of know what it looks like.

I had Michael Winger on our set last night, and Michael and I were both in Cleveland in 2003 when that kid from Akron said he was going to light up Cleveland like Vegas.

So Michael and I have... been there and saw what that looked like.

I, I'm not going to say AJ is going to be LeBron James.

What is that starting five and kind of rotation?

You know what I mean? It's the, it's the, you know

what? It's so interesting.

You say that because I'm going to explain this to you, JP, I've had the privilege of playing a fricking high school game in Madison square garden.

And I'll never forget this feeling of getting on the court and my calf muscles are like just freezing up on me.

And I was like, what is this? I was so nervous because even as a teenager, I understood the energy and the feeling and being a New Yorker and being out there and all those people looking at you.

And I was like, my body reacted.

My mind was fine.

Where does Anthony Davis play this season? You know,

Mm

... because even as a teenager I understood the energy and the feeling and being a New Yorker and being out there and all those people looking at you.

And I was like, my body reacted.

My mind was fine.

And when I watched the Knicks in that first quarter of game three with all the celebrities there, like, oh look, you got Jay-Z, Fat Joe, and the president, and Dave Chappelle is not even on the front 'cause he's not important enough, right? [laughs] Like, he's over here on the side.

I think that's too much, and I wonder if in game four that dies down a bit, they're all relaxed.

But the Knicks were throwing the ball away in the first quarter.

Um, where does Anthony Davis play this season?

Mm

... because even as a teenager I understood the energy and the feeling and being a New Yorker and being out there and all those people looking at you.

And I was like, my body reacted.

My mind was fine.

And when I watched the Knicks in that first quarter of game three with all the celebrities there, like, oh look, you got Jay-Z, Fat Joe, and the president, and Dave Chappelle is not even on the front 'cause he's not important enough, right? [laughs] He's over here on the side.

I think that's too much, and I wonder if in game four that dies down a bit, they're all relaxed.

But the Knicks were throwing the ball away in the first quarter.

Um, where does Anthony Davis play this season?

damn good.

I didn't come up with it, but that's what they called.

I think the team started calling them that.

Okay.

And I'm like, oh, they going to go French Vanilla now? I can show you the text from my buddies.

Third quarter, they going to go French Vanilla now.

But my concept on Wimby is this, and if you look at what he got going in the third quarter, and you look at the shot he wanted to win the game, again, his mindset offensively is Kevin Durant.

Is this series over to you? Are you ready to call it or do you expect them to punch back in the garden?

I would have had him as my number one.

Yeah, and one thing you gotta give credit to, that I think we always do this, it's like this with referees and coaches.

When it goes bad, who are the first people we blame? The referees and the coaches.

When it goes well, who are the first people we ignore? The referees and the coaches, right? And I think Mike Brown has done a magnificent job of putting a battery in Towns back, right? Getting him involved in different ways, to your point.

The Knicks run in their last 12 games, they've won, what, 12 straight by 10 or more, and it's 272 points that they've won those games by.

It really started against the Atlanta Hawks when they had that triple-double.

Like, that's the game that it all turned around where you're like, oh, if he's going to do that, then the Knicks are on a different level.

Do you think that that's an adjustment in Game 2?

I would have had him as my number one.

Yeah, and one thing you gotta give credit to, that I think we always do this, it's like this with referees and coaches.

When it goes bad, who are the first people we blame? The referees and the coaches.

When it goes well, who are the first people we ignore? The referees and the coaches, right? And I think Mike Brown has done a magnificent job of putting a battery in Towns back, right? Getting him involved in different ways.

To your point, the Knicks run in their last 12 games, they've won, what, 12 straight by 10 or more.

And it's 272 points that they've won those games by.

It really started against the Atlanta Hawks when he had that triple-double.

Do you think that that's an adjustment in Game 2?

I would have had him as my number one.

Yeah, and one thing you gotta give credit to, that I think we always do this, it's like this with referees and coaches.

When it goes bad, who are the first people we blame? The referees and the coaches.

When it goes well, who are the first people we ignore? The referees and the coaches, right? And I think Mike Brown has done a magnificent job of putting a battery in town's back, right? Getting him involved in different ways.

To your point, the Knicks run in their last 12 games, they've won, what, 12 straight by 10 or more, and it's 272 points that they've won those games by.

It really started against the Atlanta Hawks when he had that triple-double.

Like, that's the game that it all turned around where you're like, oh, if he's going to do that, then the Knicks are on a different level.

Do you think that that's an adjustment in Game 2?

Does this surprise you at all that 20 years old, year one in the league, you're seeing him shine as well as he has, especially like he did in game six?

Well, look, it surprises me in just how well he's playing, right? But it doesn't surprise me, because this was the game plan all along.

If you go look at Dylan Harper's box scores from early in the season, four points, you know, one for five from the field, and the turn for him really happened in January and February.

I actually had an interview with him at the, I think it was the end of February, and I told him, "Man, your assist-to-turnover ratio is five to one." And he was like, "Really? I'm getting that together.

I'm figuring that out." And I'm like, yeah, he's still a rookie.

He's still a 20-year-old kid, right? And I started to understand that there's a difference between players who come into this league.

They want all the accolades, all the stats.

What do you expect from Victor tonight? Is this a game where he tries to take it over? Does he facilitate a little bit more? Curious your expectations of Wembanyama tonight.

What, what, what hap- what were those two moments?

[laughs] Well, there was, um, there was a section that was about 120 to 140 miles in, I think it is, um, where, uh, there, there just isn't really a track.

You're told to go...

It's a place just after Story Arms.

If anyone who knows the race is listening will know exactly what I'm, I'm talking about.

It's, um, it's basically marshland, and you've gotta get from one side of it to the other.

There isn't really a route.

Okay.

What do you expect, if anything, from Jalen Williams the rest of this series?

Yeah, I mean, I think he got a...

J-Dub got enough rest, uh, coming into this one, right? 'Cause they had time off, and he didn't play in the last series.

And it's like, man, he looked really good on the court.

So when he didn't come back out, I was like, "I wonder if he tweaked it and they're afraid of it getting worse." It's listed as day to day, right? And we all know those, like, hamstrings-They're just, like, a little bit naggy even when you come back from it.

So, um, I imagine with the series being tied 1-1 that the Thunder might be cautious and sit him the next game, right? Uh, but then I think he'll be back on the floor.

I think maybe he needs a couple of days of rest.

... play tomorrow, which I would say is a safe bet, uh, how much of a loss is that for this Spurs team?

What did you make of what happened last night, and do you give Philadelphia a chance to beat the New York Knicks in round two?

So I think I said this to you before, right? The thing that intrigued me most about the 76ers was how good can VJ Maxx be? Because this is the VJ Maxx era.

I know everybody wants to do the headline for Joel Embiid.

But for Tyrese Maxey to drop 30 on the road in the game seven and have the two dagger buckets, I'm like, okay.

I knew he could do it in a regular season, but now I see it at this level.

He's him, and he should not have been, what, 20-something in the draft? That's bananas.

Killian Hayes is a nightmare.

If they can't get healthy and then you add him to their rotation, they could be a dangerous group.

Um, how about that performance? Give me, give me a minute on what the Sixers did last night, 'cause I don't think many people saw that coming.

Well, I, I, I think you have to hit the rewind button a little bit and understand, uh, BJ Edgecombe, I've been swinging those pom-poms for three years now, right? And I was told that w- I had foolish takes on this kid, okay? So let me explain something to you.

Uh, BJ, uh, attended a rival high school of mine, Leuh High, in Long Island.

So, you know, I kinda heard about him with Kyan Anthony.

He was there at the same time, and I went and saw him, and I'm like, "Man, this kid is s- hyper-athletic," and I look at him as, like, a baby Andre Iguodala, right? As I watched him progress and then he played international, um, ball and was cooking with Eric Gordon, DeAndre Ayton on the same team, I go, "I think he's an equal prospect to Cooper Flop." And people told me, "You're out of your mind.

You're insane." And I'm tell- I'm like, "Look, he's the kind of player that the bigger the game, the bigger the moment, the better he is."And what we saw in this playoff series, we're trying to wonder what the Sixers are gonna be in the future.

VJ Max, VJ Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, that's it.

Yeah.

Um, how about that performance? Give me, give me a minute on what the Sixers did last night, 'cause I don't think many people saw that coming.

Well, I, I, I think you have to hit the rewind button a little bit and understand, uh, V.J. Edgecombe, I've been swinging those pom-poms for three years now, right? And I was told it was...

I had foolish takes on this kid, okay? So let me explain something to you.

Uh, V.J. attended a rival high school of mine, Lehi, in Long Island.

So, you know, I kinda heard about him with Kyan Anthony.

He was there at the same time, and I went and saw him, and I'm like, "Man, this kid is s- hyper-athletic," and I look at him as like a baby Andre Iguodala, right? As I watched him progress and then he played international, um, ball and was cooking with Eric Gordon, DeAndre Ayton on the same team, I go, "I think he's an equal prospect to Cooper Flop." And people told me, "You're out of your mind.

You're insane." And I'm tell-- I'm like, "Look, he's the kind of player that the bigger the game, the bigger the moment, the better he is." And what we saw in this playoff series, we're trying to wonder what the Sixers are gonna be in the future.

Yeah.

Um, how about that performance? Give me, give me a minute on what the Sixers did last night because I don't think many people saw that coming.

Well, I, I, I think you have to hit the rewind button a little bit and understand, uh, V.J. Edgecombe, I've been swinging those pom-poms for three years now, right? And I was told it w-- I had foolish takes on this kid, okay? So let me explain something to you.

Uh, V.J. attended a rival high school of mine, Leuh High, in Long Island.

So, you know, I kind of heard about him with Kyan Anthony.

He was there at the same time, and I went and saw him, and I'm like, "Man, this kid is hyper-athletic," and I look at him as like a baby Andre Iguodala, right? As I watched him progress, and then he played international, um, ball and was cooking with Eric Gordon, DeAndre Ayton on the same team, I go, "I think he's an equal prospect to Cooper Flop." And people told me, "You're out of your mind.

You're insane." And I'm tell-- I'm like, "Look, he's the kind of player that the bigger the game, the bigger the moment, the better he is." And what we saw in this playoff series, we're trying to wonder what the Sixers are gonna be in the future.

V.J. Max.

Yeah.

Um, how about that performance? Give me, give me a minute on what the Sixers did last night because I don't think many people saw that coming.

coming.Well, I, I, I think you have to hit the rewind button a little bit and understand, uh, V.J. Edgecombe, I've been swinging those pom-poms for three years now, right? And I was told that w- I had foolish takes on this kid, okay? So let me explain something to you.

Uh, V.J. attended a rival high school of mine, Leuh High, in Long Island.

So, you know, I kinda heard about him with Kai and Anthony, he was there at the same time.

And I went and saw him, and I'm like, "Man, this kid is so hyper-athletic," and I look at him as like a baby Andre Iguodala, right? As I watched him progress and then he played international, um, ball and was cooking with Eric Gordon, DeAndre Ayton on the same team, I go, "I think he's an equal prospect to Cooper Flop." And people told me, "You're out of your mind.

You're insane." And I'm tell- I'm like, "Look, he's the kind of player that the bigger the game, the bigger the moment, the better he is." And what we saw in this playoff series, we're trying to wonder what the Sixers are gonna be in the future.

V.J.-Max, V.J. Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, that's it.

Yeah.

Um, how about that performance? Give me, give me a minute on what the Sixers did last night, 'cause I don't think many people saw that coming.

Well, I, I, I think you have to hit the rewind button a little bit and understand, uh, V.J. Edgecombe, I've been swinging those pom-poms for three years now, right? And I was told it w-- I had foolish takes on this kid, okay? So let me explain something to you.

Uh, V.J., uh, attended a rival high school of mine, Lehi, in Long Island.

So, you know, I kinda heard about him with Kyan Anthony.

He was there at the same time, and I went and saw him, and I'm like, "Man, this kid is s-hyper-athletic," and I look at him as, like, a baby Andre Iguodala, right? As I watched him progress and then he played international, um, ball and was cooking with Eric Gordon, DeAndre Ayton on the same team, I go, "I think he's an equal prospect to Cooper Flop." And people told me, "You're out of your mind.

You're insane." And I'm te-- I'm like, "Look, he's the kind of player that the bigger the game, the bigger the moment, the better he is." And what we saw in this playoff series, w-we're trying to wonder what the Sixers are gonna be in the future.

V.J.-Max. V.J. Edgecombe, Tyrese Maxey, that's it.

Yeah.

Fat Hector, man.

Hey, man, you can look him up.

His name's Hector George.

You can Google him.

But Fat Hector was like, hey, man, yeah, that's my young boy.

And everybody had a Jose Alvarado story.

And I don't know how much of it is true, how much of it is fake, whatever, but everyone knew the kid, right? And I'm talking, just like the, you know, the Champagny twins.

You

don't

forget, it was still a question of like, did he play enough games to win MVP? Like people were even doing that his MVP season.

And I'm like, it's wild to win a playoff.

Like, you basically have to have a third of the season in the playoffs, right? Like, you've got to play three months of hardcore basketball.

I'm like, well, I'm going to go ahead and tap him out.

Paul George looked good against bad teams, and he looked great.

Let me say this.

You know that's my neck of the

What do you make of this freshman class, and what are your early thoughts here on the 2026 draft?

Well, you know, and I've probably talked to you about this over the last couple of years, but this particular group of kids, and Cooper was in this class, right? I was told when they were in their freshman year, I started to get a buzz like, hey, Chris, this class is special.

And I'm like, what are you guys talking about? They're like, no, no, no, man, like that LeBron, Wade year.

And I'm like, okay, okay, let me go check them out.

And then the thing with Darren Peterson, I became partial with him because Sam Mitchell was like, hey, I'm coaching this kid from Ohio, Chris.

He's the best player in the class.

And I'm like, hold on.

Looking big picture at that group, What are folks saying around league circles about the job that Mike Winger and Will Dawkins have done there?

So looking back now, what would you do differently when you were making that kind of money? And I know this kind of maybe veers off the path of the bigger conversation here, but I think it's important that we know how do we as entrepreneurs be a little bit more intentional and purposeful with the income? And what would you go back if you're like, if I could tell myself anything, I would do this differently?

No, this is perfectly in line with the conversation because it's all about cashflow, right? And when I talk about cashflow, I'm talking about like the Robert Kiyosaki definition, which is your income's here, your expenses are here.

The difference in between the profit is cashflow, right? Positive cashflow is profit.

Negative cashflow is loss each month, right? If you use business terms.

And that's what I mean when I say cashflow, you know, which is different than passive income.

I'll go back to that later.

But cashflow really comes back to that.

What is your take on this? I've kind of taught myself this is more that's an option and not an opportunity so how do you feel like do you have any advice on how we stay dialed in when we have found that thing I love that you said if we're not the best at it we're not going to do it but what are some of the things that you look back at your own experience too and you see okay this is what really helped me to stay to stay on track to stay focused on building the one thing