 You are listening to the 8% nation podcast created to help you become a top producer in the insurance industry enjoy the show Welcome to the 8% nation podcast We're dedicated for help to help you get in the 8% of the insurance agents in the country because 92% of insurance agents fail We don't want you to be a part of that statistic Cody does a stat statistic I've got a gentleman with us today by the name of Anthony Toliver Anthony say hi to the people Hey everybody, how you guys doing? Hey, let me give Anthony a quick intro. You don't know Anthony, but I know Anthony well Please please we went to Anthony. I think we went to middle school together Not elementary though. Correct. Is that correct? You went to Cherokee Cherokee So we know each other since we were sheesh in eighth grade seventh grade and Now he's a 14 year MBA veteran currently playing for the Portland Trailblazers And he is gonna give some breakdowns of how he's been able to stay in the not just the 8% But the point zero zero zero eight percent of athletes because there ain't no harder place to stay than on an MBA roster Would you agree with that Anthony? Yeah, I Would say that's pretty accurate right on man. Well, hey, thanks for joining us What I hope to do is just kind of really introduce you to the folks and also, you know The insurance industry is highly competitive. It's highly performance driven It's highly disciplined focus those that have a lot of the attributes that athletes have Find a lot of the same success in the in the business world But but more importantly the insurance industry because it's so competitive. So do thanks for joining us Man, I have you down for 14 year MBA vet. You've played in 664 games in the NBA Your career three point percentage is a 37 percent as a as a six foot nine Or 10 whatever you are You know stretch for which is a very rare, you know commodity in the NBA you've been to the playoffs three times Your overall field goal percentage is 42% and you broke the Detroit Pistons all-time three-point percentage in a single season Dude, that's incredible roster or a resume you got man Yeah, I appreciate it man, you know took a lot of hard work, but you know definitely you know Just just continue to work in and made sure that I put myself in the position to win. So you know just continue to Continue to take advantage of opportunities that I've gotten and been very fortunate and blessed to do what I do for a living Dude, you've said the word work multiple times already Which is awesome because it's what what you've been able to do and like Landon said be able to stay in this NBA career You know, I mean people don't understand and I'm hope and that's why I'm super excited about this interview is I'm looking forward for you, you know, you be able to share the personal development the self-discipline the mental side of Being an athlete in the NBA But also in the mental side and discipline that that is involved in business And and I'm excited to hear what insurance agents can also do and learn and plug into To just be able to reach their full potential like you have so dude. I'm jacked man. I'm super excited Yeah, yeah, and then not only that dude you not only are you a 14-year NBA vet You also have, you know, several extremely successful businesses in real estate and I mean, can I say multi-million dollar businesses as well? I mean from my understanding based on our conversations I mean you're I mean by the time, you know, you end up hanging up the NBA career You're gonna have your future already set from a business side too. Is that correct? Yeah, I mean, I'm you know, I've taken very seriously to set myself up To to do some some incredible things after I'm done with basketball you know basketball is You know giving me the opportunity to do a lot of fun things a lot of great things and develop a lot of great relationships over the years and No, for me, it's just been about taking advantage of those opportunities and those relationships and being able to You know start a lot of these businesses and stuff while I'm playing So that just like you said as soon as I'm done it would be, you know, step right into some leadership roles within some of these businesses that I'm a part of right now and You know at the same time just getting a lot of education on The ins and outs of startups and just in general business and growing a business how to do it You know while I'm still playing so then when I'm done, you know, just all the education will go into Me being able to do this, you know myself after I'm done, but whatever business I'm a part of That's awesome. And where do you find time man? Like that's just You have to be really good at multitasking Yeah, you know, I got told you guys on the phone a little bit ago Was leaving practice. I'm at the safe light auto repair right now to get my windshield fixed while doing the podcast, right? In between all that I had to find time to get some food, right? And as soon as I leave here, I'm gonna go pick up my my daughter from school and then you know Then probably going to date with my wife tonight, you know, so it's It's crazy. I mean it's it's Some days get pretty pretty full But you know, I just try and make sure that I keep the most important things first and You know, I'm a man of faith. So, you know, that's something that I lean on a lot and I put first And and that that also in turn turns into me putting my wife first and then my kids after that and And then, you know, kind of everything else falls into place Wow good stuff, huh? I told you is a good dude dude. No doubt. That's okay. So let's get into it, man so what I would like to break down real quick is is, you know being a 14-year NBA veteran and being a part of a highly competitive environment, you know, how have you learned, you know That's a lot not a lot of people last, you know in the NBA I what have you learned that has separated the the guys that, you know To peel out of the NBA that can't handle it Like what have you done to stay relevant to stay competitive to stay on a roster for this long, man Well, what are some secrets we can kind of glean from you, buddy? I would say a couple things one thing is you mentioned relevancy Now I've tried to stay on top of the game On the business side but also more importantly just on how the game is going like the trend the things that are that are popular Within the game and where the teams are going with it and I've just tried to make sure that my game fit that and everything else and And just stay consistent. So, you know for me My off-season are everything most a lot of guys not almost in most for a lot of guys You know, they take off season off and kind of hang out go on vacation and all that stuff and I still have fun I still have time for my family and we still do our vacation stuff, but You know that time is dedicated to building my body up to Being, you know elite right and so for example like on this team I'm the second oldest guy on the team, but I have the lowest body fat on the team You know, it's just like making sure that, you know, I continue to You know try and push myself to be elite in every single way So that every single year I have to re-prove myself and prove that I deserve my spot over that young guy and So I have to continue to to reinvent myself and be flexible Well, that's that's incredible. So so walk me through a little bit about how you actually Do that like tactically speaking, you know What you you mentioned the discipline is one of your your strong suits. What do you mean? Break that down for us. Did you always have that or is that something you developed or when did you decide? You need to develop just break that down man Yeah, I mean, I think it's something I've always had a certain amount of it, you know innate I just kind of like that's been who I've been since I was a Kid, you know, I would be the kid that you know, my mom would have to come outside and say what are you doing? We're about to eat dinner. You got to come inside. You can't shoot you can't shoot all day long, right? You can't after YMCA you can't play one-on-one, you know from nine in the morning till nine at night And you know not every day, right? Like you have to you have to do other things, right? So I've always had a work ethic in wanting to get better and it's kind of an obsession with the game With the process and so for me, it's always been about You know making sure that I'm doing I've never had an issue with doing enough actually sometimes I do too much you know, so for me it's always been about, you know, making sure that I I hone in on you know the amount of time I'm putting into my craft and Allow, you know my body to rest and everything else is that as I've gotten older It's gotten even more important to be, you know work smarter not harder It's kind of you know, as I've gotten older it's kind of become my my motto So you just oh go ahead. Well, you're good. You're good. So you just basically learned your body learned your Schedule and then just you know scheduled in or how do you walk me through? Like what's the life of an NBA player during offseason? Is it get up at 7 a.m. And have a good meal and then work out and then what what what's that look like, buddy? Yeah, so for me You know this offseason was a little bit different. I was very blessed and fortunate to be able to build like my dream house and my dream house includes A gym in my backyard like an indoor half court gym. So I didn't have to go very far to work That's awesome used to be a commute and then that was this roll out of my bed and go to work. So Yeah this past summer It was every day Seven seven o'clock. I would be in the gym doing strength and conditioning work with my strength and conditioning coach and You know, we'd finished that in about hour and a half two hours and then Right after that I literally get a snack and then go right back into the gym and Be doing a basketball work with my personal trainer In basketball and we'd do that for an hour and a half and Then I'd be kind of done for the day and be able to go hang out with the kids jump in the pool And you know hang out with the wife. And so that was kind of that was my my deal all summer And then you know as I've gotten older, you know continuing to do other things like, you know Uh Body work like massage therapy or yoga or whatever. Maybe all that different type of stuff all comes into play as well So just continuing to you know, just you know, listen to my body and But but for me, it's about consistency and it was literally just every day. It wasn't Monday through Friday. It would be every every weekday on the weekends. I'd usually, you know You know give myself a little bit of a break, but either saturday or sunday I would I would still be in the gym, you know doing something, but it wouldn't be a full day of work but yeah, man, it's uh Definitely a full-time job and you know to add on to that You know, I would fast so in the morning I would always fast and so it would be It I would go through all these workouts, but I would have nothing in my stomach and people think some people might think that's crazy but um, it actually was um, you know, one of the best things that you know, I did all summer was just fast and Learn how to, you know, mentally get through whenever your, you know, body is Is yearning for food and stuff like that Um, it also allowed my body to adjust and and and really, uh, you know get better Hmm. That's that's where I was gonna go. I was gonna go daily routine. I was gonna go food I was gonna go all that like literally that was you just Answered several questions. So that's great. So NBA player father of four business Uh, aficionado mogul mogul does it all? So how since you're one of the rare individuals that's very successful in both, you know, athletics and business What kind of overlaps have you seen in the athletic? you know, uh Arena of your life along with the business arena of your life because I know you roll around with some circles That are super successful businessmen and you know what it's like to be around guys that have You know, achieve the highest level of business success along with the highest level of athletic success What are some common denominators that you see between those two groups? Um, you know, I might sound like a broken record today, but Uh, it there really is no secrets. Uh, that's uh, that's actually the one thing that I've learned is that If you surround yourself with great people Um, you know, whether that's in business or even in sports or entertainment I mean if you are if you're a team if you have a great team around you that support system and all that stuff Uh, that's gonna set you up for the the highest level you can get to um, and um And nothing replaces just work. I mean nobody There's not one ultra successful person I've I've met in basketball or in Business that was just like, yeah, I just woke up one day and I was one of the greatest of all time, you know It doesn't really work like that. Uh, you know, there's in basketball basketball is a little bit different because basketball there are some God gifted naturally more talented people, right? Um, But in order the only reason why LeBron James is LeBron James is not because just because this is God given talent It's because of his work ethic as well. Um, same thing with Michael Jordan. Same thing with Kobe Bryant You know, the best of the best are always the hardest workers as well And so yes, they were absolutely blessed with some unbelievable natural talent But uh, they took that and then they molded it into becoming literally a goat, right? And so For me, uh, that's what I've seen in businesses. There's just not Anything that can replace work. Um, you know working for what you want and uh, and surrounding yourself with great people Um, it's gonna be, you know, it's kind of like the secret sauce that I mean, that's it It's absolutely. Uh, that's gonna be the best chance of you being successful That's awesome, man. Um It's it's it is really is that simple man. It's it's funny how we get all these successful people around uh, you know And just talking and everyone's like man, it's just work ethic dude's work. It's surrounding yourself with good people Like you said, it's you know, it's it's being consistent. It's the routine. It's all that stuff You know, you working smarter not harder But like I also feel like when you work harder, you're naturally gonna find your way You know I'm saying the more the more times you're swinging for the fence the more time you're gonna hit Um, so, you know, how have you personally, you know, you went to Creighton University You're, you know, a very good player in college, but by no means like a top, you know You know college in the nation, right? It was Creighton in the Missouri valley. Not that they weren't any good You did great. I think you guys went to the tournament a couple years, right Yeah, it went to the tournament a couple times. I mean it at the time is the mid major Now they're in the biggie. So it's uh, you know, bigger You know, quote-unquote, you know bigger conference and stuff like that, but you know, it's uh It was at the time. It was definitely a mid major Pretty small school Then you went overseas for a couple years And then you made it to the NBA. Was there something that that you that triggered in your mind what Walk me through was it was there a mental switch? That you made when you were a young man in the d league or whatever that said, you know, what if I just do this? I'll get to the NBA and then did it or was it just you just developed as a player why why Walk me through that journey in those early years of of becoming A player that was now entitled to be an NBA, you know veteran for 14 years Uh, yeah, I mean so, you know playing in the in the d league also playing overseas Allowed me to have a different perspective on just the appreciation of this this this level and this league and You know Happen to do your own laundry, you know, not having Uh a practice facility, you know, just there's a million little things that we just don't think about That, you know that, you know, when you don't have it, you're like, oh wow like that sucks You know, so um for me, uh, you know playing overseas and playing in the d league, uh It helps to develop a toughness about me To be able to develop a a way of just not complaining Because it could always be worse You know, there's a lot of guys who have never known anything but luxury and nothing but You know going to kentucky for one year, then they're drafting the first round You're been wanting the whole career, right and you do that and it's like, all right. Well That's That's not very much adversity You know, it it it's hard for them to have a perspective like I do Of appreciation. So I mean that was the biggest thing that took away from Other times that I spent in Germany and turkey and in iowa and Idaho were, you know, hey Stop complaining Work your tail off Just do what you're supposed to do and help your team win and things will work out for you And you know that's kind of been my motto Yep, uh Jumping into jumping jumping into business you talked about business a little bit earlier. You got, you know part of several companies You got a lot going on If you had if you could have dinner with one Person in the business world Who would that be and why? Putting you on the spot Like current or past doesn't matter doesn't matter That's a really good question And it could be it could be current either way Yeah, um you know, I might I might say someone like A junior bridgeman. I don't know if you guys know who that is He is uh He played about 12 or 13 years in india He Was you know, I think he might have been also went once twice. I mean he was a good player um But in his career he played back in like the 70s and 80s, I believe And I think in his career might have made Uh a couple million bucks, you know two three four or five million bucks. I don't know not much right like comparatively, right? Uh, but um, he had about I think at the end of his career. He had saved up a million dollars And he turned that into a I think about a 400 million dollar um franchise You know Like whatever you want to call it empire Yeah, you know restaurants and all kinds of different stuff and now he actually he passed that stuff along to his kids And now he is running a distribution center for coca-cola in the midwest So I mean the guy is uh, absolutely a monster and uh, he's come, you know come from a very similar background as me Uh, you know turn into a massive massive company and Turn into an unbelievable Opportunity with coca-cola, which I think he's one of two individuals in the country um that have Control over a distribution center. So It is it is a awesome awesome story I've talked to him on the phone a couple times, but you know having lunch with that guy I think would be really really cool and uh to hear his story and to hear all the You know the things that he's brought to the table. I think it'd be amazing Wow, that's awesome. That's good. Great great answer. That's awesome. That's really cool. I'm gonna look him up. That's great. So, um You know You got you see you've seen a lot of players come and go What what is it? I mean besides work ethic, obviously when someone just doesn't work hard They're probably not gonna work out. But what what's something that you can spot on a new guy coming in the NBA that you're like that? That guy ain't gonna last like what what is that? Like what's the tell-tale? He's gonna he's gonna turn over and not really do much or do you not want to say or is that an okay question? No, it's totally fine. Uh attitude literally, uh A kid a kid's attitude a person's attitude um, this is a daily um attitude Tells me almost everything I need to know. Um, You know not not to you know, not to complain here and there or or not to be You know not even about necessarily being like a super likable person But being likable always helps don't give me wrong. Um, but just like if they have a poor attitude That almost certainly that kid, uh, that person's gonna be out of this league shortly Now if they're ultra talented that'll extend it a little bit longer but You know as you get older and as you get longer in this career like the only reason why Only reasons why guys make it as long as they do Is because teams look at you know guys and say they bring added value beyond just the court And that a lot of that is geared towards the right attitudes. So for me Um, you know, and this is really applied to every every industry probably in the world is is, you know with the right attitude Um, and you know, we talked about work ethic, but just if you have the right attitude Uh, you can just achieve so much more than you can with uh with a with a bad poor attitude It's good. I didn't think he was gonna say that. No, I didn't either. I didn't know what you're gonna say I love that answer. All right, man. Well, um, you know What, you know, you're 14 years in the NBA career. What's like some The biggest pieces of wisdom that you've picked up that you're gonna say, you know To your son one day, you know what when I was in the NBA, I learned this one principle and it and it It changed my life. Like what what kind of wisdom do you have That you've picked up that really I would say that maybe an only an NBA player could pick up Like is there any is there have you ever thought about that? Is there any Nuggets I mean, I would say the number one thing that I've picked up from this experience is that The NBA is a business first And it is The way it the way it is a run the way it flows everything about it is about the business and it's uh You know, it can it can be a good thing, but also it can be a bad thing So, you know, sometimes You know in the past I've been released or whatever from teams like earlier in my career because of a business decision, right and And so learning how to to to deal with adversity Whenever you literally did everything that you possibly could do and you did your job and you still were You know released or cut or you know had to go through That adversity It was such a great learning tool for me And to learn about the business of basketball and then you know outside of that. I mean, you know Teaching my kids. It's like, you know, sometimes you can do Everything possible the right way And it still doesn't work out for you, right? Um, that's just part of life. That's unfortunately, um, you know, NBA is not the only Um thing that's run You know business first, you know, there's a lot of a lot of industries that are the exact same way. So Um, you know, so for me, I think that would be the biggest thing I would take away and Uh, one of the biggest things I have taken away is just how you know, how is the business first and how Sometimes, you know, given even your best effort Sometimes it's not going to work out for you, but it doesn't keep you from, you know, putting that best foot forward It's good It's good. This guy has some good good. I told you be good, dude. Really really good. Uh, the only thing I else I can think of is like You probably already know the answer to this too because you're already, you know doing some business stuff. Um Is there a certain industry that you're just naturally outside of, you know, sports in the NBA? Is there like another industry or business world That you're like just naturally drawn to and you can just fill it and already tell and maybe you're already going that direction You say there's another business Area that what I'm sorry. Yeah, like a certain industry Yeah, a certain industry or business area that you're just like naturally drawn towards or that you enjoy talking about or enjoy being in Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um, I mean my number one thing outside of mba is real estate um Absolutely, I mean I was the first thing I did with my first chunk of money that I was able to save up with just buying the rest of the property Um, I didn't even buy it very well. Uh, kind of probably I probably overpaid for it. But uh, I felt like it was just uh, it was just something I, you know, something I've been, you know, learning about, you know Reading about for for a long time and I just like, you know, what it's time. It's time to jump in and so But yeah, real estate is something that gets me really excited. Um, you know, something that I'll almost certainly do Quite a bit of whenever I'm done playing basketball on top of You know, kind of a secondary to real estate would be just startups, you know, entrepreneurship just, you know Literally sitting around the table, me, you and Landon You know, coming up with an idea and saying all right, let's go do it Right and and actually going and doing it. Uh, you know, I'm, I'm a I'm an executor. I'm a doer. I'm a guy that, you know, wants to Not just talk about something that's just actually So yeah, that's what I would say. It would be, you know, kind of my two things outside of real estate outside of basketball, real estate and in startups, entrepreneurship Take action, executor. That's good. Well, and he's always been, you know, so supportive like There's a group of us that all played ball together Um And we all actually own businesses. So when we get together like, you know, me and him and Kelly and Ralph and Spence and all these guys, we all get together and have so much fun because we're all entrepreneurs like His business partner is a good friend of mine Kelly and then Ralph is a business partner. His is a friend of mine And we all it's just a lot of fun because you know, we get around the table We just kind of we're all kind of doing our different things like one of our friends owns a A fishing company he helps with and real estate and I'm doing marketing and it's a it's a fun group, man That's awesome. Um, well, hey before you get going I I want to be respectful of your time So just give me like a wink if you need to go or whatever if they're calling you up to the front But I'd love to get um, just some like fun questions out of the way that only an NBA insider would kind of be able to to have some insight on so like Would you be willing to say like who is like A couple players that come to mind When it comes to like the biggest trash talker or the guy that like, you know is just like Oh my gosh, this guy's running his mouth again. Like who is that on the court man that everybody knows? Uh Patrick Beverly for sure I mean he's he's He might be the most annoying guy In the NBA, but he's the guy that everybody wants on the team Uh, totally everybody like absolutely. I mean he plays his heart out His defense is tremendous He just does everything the right way But I'll tell you one thing whenever he's when you're playing against him You're gonna talk all kinds of trash and he's going to make you work for everything you get so He's probably number one right now. Uh, dream on green. This is is a pretty good trash substitute He never really talks to me though. I don't know I don't know if it's because I never respond or but I don't I don't really talk at all like to other team That's it's never been me at all. But Uh, but yeah, I would say Patrick Beverly is number one Right on. Well, that's cool. That's such a funny question on the uh on the flip side. Um You know, you you've you've mentioned to me a couple players that just are unguardable Um, you know, who do you feel like is like some of the players that Just have such a talent on the offensive end that you just I mean, it's almost like good grief Like I'm gonna try to hold this guy to 35 like you know, I mean like who are those kind of players to you and your personal sort of Yeah, uh, number one Kevin Durant uh, number two Anthony Davis And Yeah, I mean those two kind of are above and beyond Uh, I mean just, you know, they're both almost seven foot long athletic can shoot can dribble and post up. I mean they can kind of do a little bit of everything Uh, I would say everybody else even like a LeBron. I mean, he's he's dominant in so many different ways But you know, he's not just a dominant scorer Whereas, you know, Kevin Durant, that's that's what he does. So I would say that that's number one Right on man. Um What is um, if you had to pick, uh A starting five from from the uh from the whole NBA leaving your teammates Portland trailblazers out of the question so they don't make anybody mad Who would you uh, who would you pick as your starting five and this isn't all time? This is current NBA players not all time Uh, current, um, yeah current You say not not my teammates not your teammates. They're off. They're off the uh, I don't want to make anybody mad They're out of the game. Uh, I would say Uh LeBron James Anthony Davis Uh Steph Curry Uh Kevin Durant and maybe throw in Uh, Yannis onto the pimple Yeah, makes sense. Have you played against Yannis? Oh, you played against Yannis. You saw his block against Yannis, right? I did see the block When I saw that I couldn't even believe it. I in fact, uh Dylan you got to throw a clip of that block on this podcast During this this interview because he just stops, you know, that it was amazing. Um, well, hey, so, um Is there anything else like Do you have a couple stories before you get going like one story that's like, you know what? This is hilarious that happened in mba or this happened in the locker room or something that would just kind of like I don't know light light in the light in the conversation a little bit on on just something funny or cool or whatever that happened to you in the last 14 years in the mba um Yeah, uh, I mean there's There's a really funny story about all my ex teammates. I don't want to say any names but Um, he uh He got he got upset with me for uh for uh, you know directing right for for Telling him what to do. I guess and um, he didn't really like that and uh And told me not to talk to him anymore. I said, okay, no problem. I won't talk to you anymore and so I uh, actually, you know played the rest of practice did really well and uh made a couple shots and And for some reason that made him really mad and uh, he uh threw the ball and walked out of practice and so Yeah, I'm not going to say any names or anything like that, but uh, but yeah, it's uh, you just never know you never know with uh mba Yeah, you know the types of personalities you're going to have and types of things you're going to have to deal with It's uh, I'm gonna I'm definitely going to write a book when it's all said and done um So that's not going to be a tell-all book because I'm going to I'm going to still try and stay away from The name in a bunch of names for certain stories, but uh, but man, it's uh, there's a lot of material there That's good. I would love that. That's awesome. Well, I'm in man. I'll buy your first copy to send it my way Um, is there anything else you want to maybe talk through that you have the stage? You know, this is going to be seen by thousands of Young business professionals business executives anything, you know, you want to say to the group before we we kind of head out You know, honestly, uh, like I said, uh, I wouldn't say There'd be anything like I don't have any, you know, secret Um secret sauce or anything. Uh, it would just be You know to continue to work Um continue to put yourself in the position to be successful um allow everything else to work itself out and um In control the things you can control. Um, I think a lot of people take too much time Um spend too much time trying to control things that they have no control over And it really can drive you crazy. So control the things you can control and You know allow everything else to fall into place and you know and and don't don't allow other people's You know opinions of me of you Determine yourself your self-worth and and what you think about yourself If that was the case, I would have never made it to the highest level never made it to the NBA Because that was uh, that was not something that was supposed to be a part of my my uh, my life and what everybody else thought was It was not going to ever happen. But you know for me, uh, you know, I just never let that negative noise affect my outcome Right on man, dude. Good dude Incredible. Thank you so much for being on this. Yeah, man We appreciate you very much I know you have four children an NBA career successful businesses and you're fixing your your windshield while you're on the podcast So, you know, you're a master of time management. So I appreciate your time, buddy Next time you're just bring field hit me up, man. We'll all get together or we'll figure something out Sounds good. Absolutely. All right. Thanks for joining us, man. It's been an honor, bro. Thank you, buddy Absolutely. All right. See you