 It does to Smith, Jabari for three and the win, yeah! A star is born. Well, I mean, the intro was right there. Jabari Smith Jr joins us right now. The reactions from teammates, perfect. We have three rockets in the house, Shoms. I feel like you and I are sort of left out on the Houston connection, but we're gonna try to make it work, Jabari, your team is on a hot streak. Six straight, you've beaten Denver, you've beaten people that you're like, okay, this is surprising to some, maybe not to you guys. What has been the key so far to the hot start? Just togetherness, you know what I'm saying? Like we just coming out with that fight. We lost a lot of games last year and bringing in coach Udoka. He just don't like to lose, you know what I'm saying? That was his biggest thing, like play the win, play for each other and that's what we're doing, you know what I'm saying? It's working out for us. Jabari, like you said, Eme Udoka, first year's head coach. What's the biggest thing he's brought to this team and this organization, you guys as a group? I would say just culture. You know, like everybody knows how he is as a person and how serious he is and just his approach to the game and his competitiveness. So I feel like he's just bringing that to us, you know, with the guys he brought in, like Dylan Brooks and Fred Van Vleet, just their demeanor in there, how they go about the game, you know what I'm saying? It's just rubbing off on everybody else. It's just working. What's the biggest difference been from last season under Steven Siles and this year with Eme Udoka? Biggest difference. I would say just it's not as much looseness. You know, I would say it's a lot more strict, a lot more, I'm trying to look for the right word. Structure, I would say. Structure, accountability, a lot more of that. You know what I'm saying? That comes with veterans and taking the pressure off of the coach a little bit, you know what I'm saying? So, you know, all of that coming in and just helping, you know, just making it easier for everybody. Bar, you now got a year under your belt, learning what the NBA game is like, finding out what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are over this summer. I know you've worked on your game, you've built on your game. What's the difference between your game this season and how it was last? This season, I feel like I'm just a lot more sure, you know what I'm saying? I think everything was there, but I just think I was just a lot more sure and still I started to tighten up. So I just wanted to focus on like my hand and being able to take bumps. Just getting a lot stronger, being able to guard more positions. And it was just a confidence thing for me. You know what I'm saying? Just going into it, I just wanted to go into the season, confident, get back to myself and just trust my work. You know what I'm saying? A lot of hours in the gym and I just wanted to trust that and just get back to me. Jibari, like you said, you got added a lot more vets, a lot of talent this off season. So how much pressure, how much motivation do you feel on a nightly basis to bring it? Otherwise, you could lose your minutes. Like Eme Udoka, new coach here, he doesn't know all the young guys. So how much pressure, how much expectations do you feel? I feel like it's more pressure on myself. I feel like I'll bring the pressure to myself just off of expectations. I'm just not wanting to lose, you know what I'm saying? I'm not no loser. I don't feel like so. Just going into it, just playing with that fight. And it just, everybody's competing, everybody's working to the same thing. So with that, with people playing behind me, like Tari and learning from Jeff, it's like you always know they're behind you, you know, always know they got your back. So it's not like people take your minutes type of thing. It's just like a learn and grow together type of thing I'm feeling. I'm kind of glad you brought up the fact you're not a loser. I'm gonna go ahead and tell you that right now. Fared in a state championship, SEC championship with Auburn. And then you get to the league and you're on a young Houston Rockets team that doesn't win a lot of games. So for you, that sort of mental roller coaster, how did you take that? What did you learn from it? And how do you learn from it? It was tough, honestly. You know, I'll be sitting here lying here on face. If I say, I just took it like a champ and I was all smiles and knew how to handle it. You know, it was real tough on me at first. You know, it was a lot of days where I didn't want to go to practice. A lot of days I didn't want to play. It was a lot of that, you know, and I just had to find that spark. You know what I mean? Find why I played the game, why I love the game and just get back to have a fun with it. You know, because the record and the losses can get to you. You know, it can get repetitive, it can get tough. You know what I'm saying? I don't know if you all been on losing teams or not, but you know, it's just... Absolutely, you know that. Man, it's a crime. It's tough, you know what I'm saying? So just finding, leaning on your brothers, leaning on your teammates, because you know, they're the only ones going through it with you. So that's kind of what I did. And just get close to the family and just know why you play the game. You know what I'm saying? Just play for the love of it. Try to look at your record a lot and just go out there and do what you can. You know what I'm saying, Colin? Jabari, the Rockets added some vets to that locker room to that team this summer, one of them being Dylan Brooks, who's become a real thing, to say the least. What's been your experience playing with him from outside looking in with him last year on Memphis to now, you know, being in that locker room with you? Man, I love it. You know, like people can stay what they want from like looking outside of it, but I feel like everybody who's played one of them probably said the same thing, like just somebody you love to play with, like somebody who don't care about getting the ball, like he's just playing to win. Like he just play hard, like even in practice, like you play like his game seven, like he just, it's just something that, that tringles down to everybody. You know, that everybody can like feed off of. Like they see how hard he playing, seeing how much he talking, seeing just the edge he playing with, it just kind of goes to everybody. You know what I'm saying? He, he own you like all the time. Just a rotation. He gonna let you know, you miss the pass. He gonna let you know, like, and that's kind of what you need. You know what I mean? Not kind of, it is what you need. You need, you need events like that. You need people who are not scared to speak up and they can show by their, lead by their actions. You know what I'm saying? Cause he don't take no plays off. He don't own up to his mistakes. He just, just playing to win, you know? He got a lot of other stuff to come with him. You know what I'm saying? But you know, it worked. So be honest, so be honest. You're saying you're feeding off the things he's doing, things he's saying, as a young guy, what do you think of when he said he's gonna lock up LeBron? Does that motivate you to get his back more? Or are you like, oh shit, he just poked a bear. I'm with him. We put a lock him up. Let's go. I'm with him. You know what I'm saying? When he say that, like he just, he just fired me up. Like, yeah, we got LeBron. Let's lock him up. Like, we just let him come in here and do what he do. Like, nah, that's what you're supposed to say. What are you supposed to say? You know what I'm saying? So I'm with it. Speaking of LeBron, man, you guys were joking last year about him being old, being as dead he played against your dad. And I don't know what they say about me because I also played against, I also played against your dad. Who has better LeBron stories at this point? You or Pops? I'll say Pops got the best one. You know, Pops seen him when he first stepped quickly, you know, like his first game, it was against Pops. So I feel like he's seen him from the jump. And he always said like, when he seen him play, he was slight. He knew, you know, nobody know how true that is. But, you know, he's seen it when he, when he said he's seen him play, he said he knew. But I mean, I think I might got a better story. I mean, the first time I'm playing against him in LA, he had 48. My matchup, you see on the screen before the game, matchup, Smith, Julia, James, he ended up with 48, season high in them. And Crypto, he hit all three. He's like, I don't know. I think my story might be a little better. With my dad sitting in front row, so you can see all of it. All of the whooping I got. That's 48 a lot. Okay, this next one's close to my heart. You picked up some yoga in the off season and there's video of you, like you're in a room. I mean, these rooms, for anyone who hasn't done it, it's just a bunch of people. Dude, you're just popping up in a wheel, like it's nothing. No one else is doing it around you. And they're not 6'11 either. How have you loved it? Have you found that this has become sort of addictive for you? Yeah, when I first did it, it was so challenging. And I'm seeing the people around me, seeing all the people just breeze through it and like, I mean, I'm in there like laying down, like that's a dial, almost like I need to step out. So it was like, I liked it. Like it was like a challenge. And like as I kept doing it, I felt my body, like I felt my body getting more like flexible. I wasn't getting sore as much. And you know, like when, when you do it for a long time and you stop doing it, like you can feel the difference. Like you can feel like, you know, you get tighter a little bit. Like you can feel it. I kind of like just fell in love with it just off the fact that it was challenging. You know, like it was like a grind going in there. I wanted to see if I could, if I could keep up with the person, the person who'd been teaching the class or if I could keep up. It was like competitive to me. And I knew it was benefiting me. So it was like just something new to do, you know? And it was like a help with breathing and stuff. It's a lot of benefits to it as, as y'all know. Preach, Jabari, I love it. My favorite. Sorry, Shumps. Jabari, earlier this season, you went up against Bigger Women Yama. What was that experience like? Like how does that compare to any experience you've ever had playing basketball? It's different, you know, just how tall he is. Like he just, just, I don't think people really understand how much space he takes up. Like he just, like even, like he can be at the nail and his man on the wing. Like he's, he's like, he got both of them. Like it's like his arms so long and he takes up so much space. Like it's just, it's just tough. And as y'all know, he can shoot over anybody. So it's not like you can test his shots. It's just, it's just tough. He just takes up so much space, you know? Like I tried to walk to a three. I'm talking about, he looked like he got two feet of the pain. He tipped it. I'm like, whoa! It's just, it's just stuff like that. Like you really can't, you really can't teach. You really can't get. Like it's just, it's just alien. You know what I'm saying? Like some people say, you know, he, he young, he don't figure it out. But, you know, it's, it was tough. Just real tall, a lot of skill. And, and he got a great coach with him. So Gert teammate. So he playing the game the right way. You know, it was gonna work out for him. You mentioned that game against LeBron. Everybody has their coming to the NBA moment, right? Was that one of them or do you have something that happened before in your career? You're like, man, this is different. I think mine personally was the second game of the season. We played the Bucks. And yeah, he, and Yannis was my matchup on the board to say, I says a Coupon, slip junior. I'm going into it, excited. People coming out of draft, people say I'm a defender. Woo, woo, people making a big deal, all of that. Nah, he probably had 40. Probably like, he was probably like 16 for 18 from the field. Like it was like, nah, I wasn't. Making everything done. Man, I'm in a locker room like, man, where y'all was at? Like, what's up? Nah, I think that was my first welcome to the NBA moment. Like just playing Yannis and seeing how hard you play. You know, you think superstar, you think, you know, chill, buckets, whatever, but like he crashed him. Like he, like he, he, he was a problem. You know what I'm saying? And then later in the season, we got to play him again. And I felt like I was more ready for it. It was just, I felt like that was my first welcome to the NBA moment though. Yannis, the second game of the season last year. And that was at home opener, so it was crazy. I got ripped three times in a row my rookie year. You ripped? Ripped three times in a row. Brevin Knight picked me up full court. Ripped me layup, ripped me layup. I almost get the half court, ripped me again. They sell me out. Allen Iverson said, damn man, I meant to tell you, he got quick hands. You know what's funny, Jabbar, you're talking about when you see the name on the board. That's like I had, it said Parsons dash Bryant. When we played the Lakers and I'm just, I'm like taking a picture, sending it to my boys. Like I'm really about to guard Kobe. It's just crazy how it comes at you. You watch these dudes your whole life, right? Then you get mashed up with them. It's the craziest feeling ever. And he thinking on the other side, he don't care about none of that. Oh, he's trying to say I'm about to bust this white boy's ass. Ah. He's offended I was guarding him, Jabari. I'm sure that's how they took it. That's amazing. So the end season tournament continues tonight. Yay, courts. You guys beat Pelicans in your first one. Yay, courts. Those courts suck. I mean, it's some of them do. The all reds are rough. How are you guys approaching it? And when they came to you and told you about this whole format, was the $500,000, did that get your interest up a little bit at all? Yeah, I'm doing my interest up. Might not get somebody into it. Might not get some people interest up. People like Lula and stuff, but they definitely got mine. No, I would love that $500,000, especially going to Vegas. I'm going to leave half of it there. No, it's great, though, just the playoff environment. And they told us it was just an opportunity to win a championship, but win something, you know what I'm saying? Plan for something. And you can feel the playoff environment in it. The courts make it kind of unserious. I think the courts is too much. But it definitely gives the playoff feel in the arenas. And you can feel it. You see on NBA App and say, in season tournament, it's just different. I think it's a great addition. I think it's going to work out great. Yeah, I think it's kind of a cool addition. And you know what? If we hate it, we hate it. But so far, it's good. You guys get the Clippers on Friday for your next season tournament, a team that is, well, it's something. When the scouting report on this Clippers, this version with Harden, how are you guys going into that one? I'm sure we'll talk about it today. But I think it's just worried about us, you know what I'm saying, not focus on them too much. Just see what areas we can improve and see if we can come out with that same fighting energy that we've had these last six games or seven games. And just see, can we put a full game together on the road? All these games are better home. So it's our test to go on the road and see, can we do it in the bright lights? And just focus on us. We're not going to go into it and focus on them too much. Just go into it, focus on us, see what we can improve and hopefully come out with that. Trebar, you obviously got drafted third overall to Houston. There were some chatter that night. Is he going one? Is he going two? Were you expecting to go number one that night to Orlando? Definitely. I definitely thought I was going to go number one. I thought my workout was good. I thought my meeting went good, everything like that. And I thought I was going to go number one. And I thought I was going to go number two. And then it was just got me a little welcome to the NBA moment right there, saying how much of a business it is and how much, how you can't take a person, they picked who they wanted and you can't really think about it too much. But I definitely had a tip on your shoulder and all of that. But it's not something I really think about too much, but in the moment, I was definitely in awe. And it was just a crazy experience, just because you got so much emotion right. Because I thought I was going to go one, I thought I was going to go two, am I going to go three? I'm thinking like, you know what I'm saying? So it was just a lot going through my head. But with my name, I called everything back to my body. It was just achieving my life on a dream. So now, obviously, this happens. So when you do play against Orlando or you do play against Oklahoma City, do you have extra fuel playing against Palo and Chet, who went one and two? Oh, for sure. You know, it's just always that, you know, we've always been like, you know, I was in that top five range of high school. So I think the competitiveness is just mutual, like just growing up, you know, and just competing against each other, you know? So it's just always there, you know, just going, just going into the game, ready to compete, ready to prove people wrong, you know what I'm saying? And I'm sure they're trying to prove people right when they play against me. So, you know, it's just a mutual competitiveness. Jabari, the other team in town, the Texans are surprising some folks in the NFL, winning some games that people are thinking they have no business winning so far, but they did lose to Atlanta and you did troll them. And then you took some heat. Did you learn any lessons about trolling about football in the great state of Texas? No, I ain't learning no lessons. I'm gonna troll if we beat them again. I don't understand. I don't know if I was bad. I don't care who getting mad at it. Yes, that was it. I don't care who getting mad at it, but it's like, it's like you can't get, you know, if they were the one, I probably would have got something from it, you know what I'm saying? So it's just both ways, you know? So, no, the Texans are good. If he does try, he can go. He can, he can, he can go, take Bill out of them. Like they got, they got a good thing going over there. So, you know, I can say that's my second tip. Like how does that work if you guys are both young stars in the same city? Like, do you cross paths? I mean, I know your season's sort of overlap, but how does that work? He was actually just at the Lakers game we had, you know, he shot like the first shot or something. So I got to say what's up to him and just tell him to keep going and keep doing what you're doing. Like, like I know the city had before because I know the Texas ain't been good. I know they probably were mad at that, but the Texans, they've been, Texans ain't been good. And I know that it's just give them hope, you know what I'm saying? They were 5-4 right now, 12-4, something like that. So, you know, they headed in the right direction. They got a great player, great leader to lead them to that. Man, Houston sports on a hot streak right now. Jabari Smith, Jr., we appreciate the time. Best of luck the rest of the way. Also, nice art behind you. Well done. Chefs, I appreciate it. That's good stuff.