back to indexAaron Gordon On Winning The Championship, Living Life To The Fullest, And The Ups/Downs Of NBA Life
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- Welcome back to another episode of Curious Mike. 00:00:19.960 |
Man, so I wanna start off like in the hoop space, 00:00:22.720 |
and then we'll kind of transition to off the court stuff. 00:00:24.720 |
But you came to Denver, I wanna say two, three years ago, 00:00:34.800 |
What was the difference to you from, you know, 00:00:46.440 |
well the spacing on the floor was way different. 00:00:50.800 |
Like being able to play between you, Jamal, and Joker. 00:01:11.940 |
Like everyone was like, damn, that's a tough bucket, A. 00:01:29.120 |
- You over there, you were like, you were the man. 00:01:33.920 |
You know, teams, you know, game planning for you 00:01:41.560 |
but you got so many good players on our team. 00:01:45.020 |
So, you know, when they're worried about you, 00:01:47.580 |
When they're worried about me or KCP in the corners, 00:01:50.620 |
Was it hard to transition from being the man over there 00:01:55.640 |
to kind of like filling a role over here or no? 00:02:29.240 |
Like, I'm not even worried like what shots you guys take. 00:02:41.000 |
It was just like a different level of talent. 00:02:52.400 |
- Yeah, talk a little bit about like the mentality 00:02:55.680 |
and the difference between being on a winning team 00:03:02.400 |
and they probably won tons and tons of games. 00:03:04.960 |
But you get to the NBA and depending on where 00:03:07.320 |
you get drafted, you might be on one of those teams 00:03:10.320 |
that really doesn't win like a whole lot of games. 00:03:12.260 |
And I feel like a lot of players kind of develop 00:03:14.600 |
the mentality of like, man, this is just what it is. 00:03:17.780 |
Like my team's not probably gonna make the playoffs. 00:03:24.920 |
how, man, y'all weren't even really tripping. 00:03:27.280 |
Y'all would just show up to work and then hop in your whips 00:03:39.320 |
And he was like, you know, if you're gonna lose, 00:03:52.200 |
hopping back in there like drop top or whatever. 00:03:56.880 |
Orlando's a great city when it comes down to it. 00:04:07.920 |
Like, I think they're getting it together now. 00:04:10.640 |
You know, they're starting to get it together. 00:04:21.120 |
- Yeah, I had five different coaches in six years. 00:04:32.600 |
- Different plays, different strategies, that's tough. 00:04:36.920 |
And try and lead the organization in the right direction. 00:04:50.100 |
What was your favorite moments in the playoffs? 00:04:56.700 |
Or kind of what was your mentality in the playoffs? 00:05:02.100 |
except for that Suns series when they tied it up 2-2, 00:05:05.220 |
I was kind of like, man, nobody's touching us right now. 00:05:09.580 |
Minnesota's a good team and they're balling this year. 00:05:12.020 |
But that series, you know, they got one game. 00:05:14.260 |
I kind of felt like we always were in control a little bit. 00:05:22.340 |
I always have to say, that was a great run, man. 00:05:30.500 |
- One in Minnesota, two Suns, one Miami, yeah. 00:05:35.040 |
And really, like, could have won all those games. 00:05:42.060 |
They were dominant in those two games that they won. 00:05:44.660 |
Minnesota, that game that they won, it went into overtime. 00:05:48.020 |
That was one of my favorite moments of the playoffs. 00:05:59.020 |
- We were like a minute and a half, two minutes, yeah. 00:06:14.940 |
We were in the locker room for hours on hours. 00:06:23.060 |
And we were in there just going crazy for hours. 00:06:31.860 |
because I don't know if you thought it was weird. 00:06:33.180 |
Like, that night we won the championship, it was so lit. 00:06:38.220 |
And then the day after that, there was nothing. 00:06:57.720 |
- It was, bro, it was like a club in the locker room. 00:07:00.440 |
It was just drenched, like, soaked in champagne. 00:07:02.880 |
Like, the alcohol, it was like Loki burning my nostrils. 00:07:13.520 |
I was lit on the way back to the, like, my place. 00:07:28.120 |
So, it went from, like, 10 people to, like, 30 people 00:07:32.320 |
to, like, 70 people, and we were in the streets. 00:07:34.480 |
And I'm, like, bodying people, like, trying to get through. 00:07:36.800 |
Like, a little kid walked up and I bodied him. 00:07:41.080 |
- You were a doulo, you were bodying someone? 00:07:44.160 |
but they're, like, they're not, like, built like we are, 00:08:03.000 |
And then, like, kept it moving, you know what I mean? 00:08:06.240 |
It got hectic, like, right as it was about to get, like, 00:08:09.520 |
overwhelming, where it got to, like, 115 people. 00:08:17.480 |
A media team, like, picked me up and I, like, 00:08:19.200 |
jumped in the car and, like, came to the lounge. 00:08:22.880 |
- Man, bro, when I saw those videos, I was weak. 00:08:26.240 |
Only you, out of all people, would just be in the streets, 00:08:30.520 |
I know, obviously, they really appreciate it. 00:08:37.320 |
But I saw the videos, like, people doing, like, 00:08:44.720 |
Like, that definitely was one of those memories. 00:08:47.960 |
It's crazy because, like, the celebration lasted, 00:08:49.960 |
you get to the parade, and now, since then, it's been, 00:08:56.840 |
- You know, after we just did something so big. 00:08:59.160 |
But I feel like, even though we lost some key pieces, 00:09:02.320 |
bruised Jeff, we still got a squad, you know? 00:09:04.880 |
These young guys, we got a lot of young guys who can hoop. 00:09:07.880 |
Kind of, what do you think about our culture, 00:09:15.320 |
- I mean, you guys have been with Mike Malone 00:09:28.040 |
what he's looking for, like, how he's gonna react, 00:09:31.640 |
like, what's gonna trigger him, what's gonna set him off, 00:09:51.440 |
He works out in the morning, he gets his reps in, 00:09:54.640 |
he goes to the game, does what he does in the game, 00:09:59.520 |
- You know, so, like, he, like, works religiously 00:10:07.520 |
and a one-time finals MVP that's so selfless, 00:10:17.240 |
Like, if he can do it, everybody can be selfless. 00:10:19.960 |
So, I think, like, big fella is, he's a beast, bro. 00:10:25.800 |
Like, I saw something the other day about, like, 00:10:30.400 |
and they had, like, Joker in a tear of his own. 00:10:35.240 |
Like, that dude is unique, you know what I mean? 00:10:45.880 |
Like, from the passing to the, it's so crazy. 00:10:50.840 |
And I think, like, early on in my career with the Nuggets, 00:11:14.680 |
- You go back to Serbia, and I just talked to him today, 00:11:17.440 |
he was like, man, brother, I was drinking six beers a day. 00:11:19.800 |
You know, he probably didn't touch a basketball. 00:11:21.560 |
Like, how do you get better from last year to this? 00:11:29.960 |
Like, as good a chemistry as me and Joker have, 00:11:34.720 |
You and his chemistry, you know, around the rim, 00:11:37.040 |
you know, the lobs, when he's catching the pocket, 00:11:51.320 |
I know y'all sit right next to each other in the locker room, so. 00:11:56.480 |
and I think he likes to play the right way, too. 00:12:07.280 |
You know, if you make this cut, I'll find you. 00:12:09.800 |
You know, if you don't shoot this, you be patient, 00:12:25.360 |
So, you know, you got, like, your front court, 00:12:33.200 |
like, on the same wave when it comes to that. 00:12:39.880 |
One thing about you is you stay off of Instagram 00:12:53.720 |
how do you deal with the criticism versus the praise? 00:12:57.400 |
Like, there's so much now that we have to deal with 00:13:00.600 |
in the NBA now, even more than guys in the past 00:13:06.440 |
half of 'em are people that do the sports better. 00:13:11.760 |
bro, you just made me so much money, thank you, 00:13:15.520 |
you're my favorite player now, da-da-da-da-da. 00:13:17.360 |
Or it's, go kill yourself, I hope you tear an ACL, 00:13:23.600 |
I'm both sides of the, I'm both sides of the scale. 00:13:26.560 |
- You're not joking, that's not an over-exaggeration. 00:13:30.520 |
- I hope you tear your ACL, I hope you never-- 00:13:33.680 |
- It's the craziest of, like, I'm looking at my DMs, 00:13:35.480 |
I'm like, yo, so for a lot of people that can make you 00:13:43.800 |
And then how do you deal with people like that? 00:13:46.000 |
Because I really think the sports betting stuff 00:13:52.520 |
because these people would really be mad, bro. 00:13:54.440 |
Like, you, if you, you may have a great game, 25 and 10, 00:13:59.120 |
but they had you getting, you know, 25 and 11 or something, 00:14:09.160 |
- Man, that's, that's big, man, that's really big, 00:14:12.320 |
it's a part of it now, it's a part of today's game. 00:14:14.320 |
Like, somebody was like, yo, I lost my apartment on you. 00:14:25.720 |
ain't nobody tell you to bet your apartment on me 00:14:31.060 |
- Why you putting where you live up on a basketball game? 00:14:44.120 |
like you said, like the criticism and like the praise. 00:14:46.520 |
- Yeah, how do you balance it out and how do you, 00:14:48.280 |
is that why you stay off of social media a lot? 00:14:50.200 |
- I think of it like, I think of it like salt and sugar. 00:14:57.760 |
So people will tell you, you're the best, you're the best, 00:14:59.880 |
you're the best, you're the best, you're the best, 00:15:04.840 |
you're the worst, you're the worst, you're the worst, 00:15:06.160 |
you're the worst, you're gonna get like cynical, 00:15:19.680 |
people that don't know you, don't care about you, 00:15:25.100 |
- It gives them access to you to say whatever 00:15:29.000 |
- And you know, you go through that and you read it. 00:15:50.760 |
people think because you making all this money 00:15:53.000 |
and you live a good life and you live in a nice place, 00:16:00.280 |
And when people, you know, it could be a nobody. 00:16:03.580 |
When they're praising you, you know, you appreciate that. 00:16:11.160 |
even if they have nothing to do with your life, 00:16:12.920 |
if you're reading enough of the negative stuff, 00:16:22.280 |
like the same person, like the internet gangster, 00:16:26.400 |
like they're just gonna like say something like, 00:16:28.000 |
"Man, you suck, you're the worst basketball player ever." 00:16:32.660 |
If they see you in person, they're gonna be like, 00:16:41.040 |
There's a facade, there's a facade to social media. 00:16:44.580 |
- Big facade, and it's crazy 'cause that's such a big part 00:16:48.040 |
But speaking of social media, one of your last posts was, 00:16:52.440 |
you know, you on your birthday, you was in a helicopter. 00:17:00.940 |
people don't know how dope of a dude you are, 00:17:08.040 |
you're one of those dudes who really lives life 00:17:11.840 |
- In the off season, you traveling, you know, 00:17:16.080 |
you've got the warehouses that is some of the dopest spots 00:17:19.520 |
I've ever seen, but like, who are you as a person 00:17:21.800 |
off the court that people probably don't know about? 00:17:28.880 |
- I love riding the bikes. - You be on there. 00:17:30.760 |
You know, I don't do it too much during the wintertime. 00:17:35.360 |
I'll ride a little bit during the summertime. 00:17:37.600 |
I mean, I just, I want to experience what life has to offer. 00:17:53.880 |
go see different cultures, eat different foods. 00:17:58.600 |
- Go turn up at different spots around the world. 00:18:03.500 |
- Yeah, yeah, I'll go dolo or meet somebody out there. 00:18:10.640 |
I spent, like, maybe six weeks in Spain this past summer. 00:18:43.640 |
- Go get you a couple watches in Geneva, it's clean. 00:19:04.600 |
and then there's a hotel in a place called Val's. 00:19:14.320 |
pick you up in Geneva, fly you to basically the Swiss Alps, 00:19:18.320 |
and then it's a hotel that's tucked in the Swiss Alps. 00:19:22.000 |
Just spent my birthday there, 'cause I had been working, 00:19:34.880 |
When we landed in Val's, there was a black car 00:19:38.680 |
Like, the helicopter just landed off the pad, 00:19:40.240 |
hopped in the black car, and then later that day, 00:19:43.040 |
or the next day, actually, we hopped back in the helicopter, 00:19:46.280 |
and we went up to the Alps and had a little picnic 00:20:03.800 |
Man, so now that you've been around the world 00:20:05.520 |
and you've seen so much, experienced so much, 00:20:23.800 |
I feel like you'd probably just be one of them dudes 00:20:27.520 |
that's just gonna be chilling, traveling, enjoying life. 00:20:30.360 |
But correct me if I'm wrong, what do you wanna do? 00:20:38.400 |
I wanna continue to acquire skills, you know, 00:20:46.760 |
or learn how to code, or finance, or law, you know. 00:20:50.880 |
So learn different languages that can open doors 00:21:01.560 |
Yeah, I mean, the traveling and the chilling, 00:21:06.600 |
- After like, maybe like two years, three years. 00:21:09.200 |
- You know, we're competitive, we like stuff. 00:21:11.920 |
We like to like, go get it, you know what I mean? 00:21:15.520 |
We like to hustle, you know, that's why we've gotten 00:21:17.840 |
to the place that we're at, is 'cause we like to hustle. 00:21:22.600 |
So, you know, right now, my brother and my sister, 00:21:35.280 |
And it's a startup, so they're starting to build that out. 00:21:47.600 |
- And I can do like, sports and entertainment, 00:21:52.780 |
I think that's a way to stay around the game. 00:21:57.760 |
- And also help up and coming kids that may not have 00:22:06.800 |
so that they can succeed, and that they can in turn 00:22:09.120 |
make buku bread in the NBA, and give back to their family, 00:22:21.560 |
I wanna talk to your brother more about that agency. 00:22:30.200 |
he's a young player, you know what I'm saying? 00:22:34.760 |
he's the dude, you know, around Denver, but everywhere. 00:22:39.120 |
This is the dude, you know, the females love him, all that. 00:22:42.520 |
In 10 years, do you see yourself settled down with a girl? 00:23:06.720 |
like, it probably wouldn't take you long to be like, 00:23:25.000 |
- Being in the streets, being in the streets is exhausting. 00:23:30.120 |
- I'm not saying marriage isn't tiring and exhausting 00:24:11.720 |
Good head on her shoulder, good family background. 00:24:14.440 |
Beautiful, and would make a good mother, you know? 00:24:22.960 |
- It's crazy, 'cause most of the dudes in the league, 00:24:40.560 |
once you have what you have and you are who you are, 00:24:42.880 |
to meet a female who you can like, trust and who you-- 00:24:49.640 |
and he told me you gotta go find one overseas. 00:24:57.160 |
They know soccer players, they don't really know 00:25:07.000 |
Might've been in like, Chicago or something like that. 00:25:15.800 |
waiting for our table, getting drinks, whatever. 00:25:48.320 |
- Like, I'm trying to tell you this right now. 00:25:50.880 |
Just like you said, like, when you get to this level, 00:25:54.320 |
there's certain girls that mess with you just for, 00:26:34.840 |
- I'll meet a girl in the next couple of years. 00:26:55.000 |
And then my other brother, who's even younger than him, 00:27:09.200 |
- I know, but they don't got access like you. 00:27:22.600 |
You know, this year we kind of locked in a little bit more. 00:27:31.080 |
- I asked you before the podcast what you was doing today. 00:27:44.120 |
That's like what the OG used to say back in the day. 00:27:51.640 |
It's like reading, writing, prayer, meditation. 00:27:56.120 |
Like just making sure that you're doing the work, 00:28:11.480 |
Yeah, that's something I'm really realizing too. 00:28:16.360 |
emotionally, mentally more than I ever have in my life. 00:28:21.040 |
But especially in the day and age we live in, 00:28:22.560 |
you know, you gotta find yourself and find your purpose. 00:28:28.560 |
What do you feel like your purpose is on this earth? 00:28:32.160 |
You know, besides being a great basketball player, 00:28:35.360 |
what do you feel like all-encompassing is your purpose? 00:28:38.760 |
- Man, this is like the pageantry question right here. 00:28:49.400 |
education reform, like the curriculum in America. 00:28:54.040 |
That's probably what I'll probably concert my efforts to 00:28:59.680 |
try and make like a private school or something like that. 00:29:11.360 |
and create a curriculum where you're teaching kids like 00:29:23.200 |
law, finance, all the things that you need in real life 00:29:26.320 |
so you're not just like drifting through life. 00:29:40.680 |
And if I can ever invest in what you got going on, 00:29:51.720 |
- Yeah, my grandpa was like a superintendent of a school 00:29:56.440 |
or of a school district after he left the military. 00:30:06.120 |
So I don't know, maybe bring that back around. 00:30:12.320 |
I don't know, I ask everybody else this question 00:30:19.520 |
That's why I'm doing some of the journaling stuff. 00:30:29.920 |
Like what's gonna make me wanna wake up in the morning 00:30:32.080 |
and motivate me besides just being a great basketball player? 00:30:38.360 |
I think it's, man, just being like real authentic 00:30:43.920 |
I just feel like that's one of my gifts is like, 00:30:48.960 |
and like not being afraid to speak my mind in certain areas. 00:30:52.160 |
And I think, I mean, you know me, I'm a man of faith. 00:30:56.320 |
I feel like through all of our different people's talents, 00:31:01.840 |
like our purpose should be to point people, you know, 00:31:09.280 |
I just don't know how to really execute it all the way. 00:31:12.200 |
Like we got all this money, you know what I mean? 00:31:14.720 |
And it's great, but what can I do with this money 00:31:21.600 |
It's fun to, for me, it's fun to experience things. 00:31:29.040 |
like I appreciate how you actually make something happen 00:31:44.320 |
what can I actually do to like make a difference? 00:31:46.440 |
So, you know, you a couple of years older than me, 00:31:50.400 |
That's why I'm spending time doing the journaling 00:31:52.280 |
and all that, 'cause that's why I ask people. 00:31:59.560 |
that's what I'm trying to figure out right now. 00:32:03.040 |
I think if you ask God, God'll give you the answer.