 was inspired by just the opportunity you know and you know I know what this brings I know that I'm gonna either kill someone someone's gonna kill me I'm gonna be incarcerated for the rest of my life and I shit I might as well try to the positive right and see what happens you know because there's no limits you know what I mean and I was exposed to more things and you know I got great results how do you rise out of your circumstances so many of us didn't grow up with the best you know circumstances didn't grow up rich didn't grow up in the best place maybe not the best family I'm talking to Koran Butler about his book tough juice this is a good book and it talks about how you went from your family poverty all the way coming to multi-millionaire drafting number 10 in the NBA professional basketball league and so thank you for coming man appreciate your family tell the story about how when you were growing up you were you were 13 and you were already six foot six yeah man I was already six foot six just you know balling hooping you know on the corner like a statue but I had to wear smaller shoe sizes all the time you know so instead of having my natural size at 13 I always had to wear 11 and a half or 12 Chinese foot yeah but now I always wear size bigger now and I'm fortunate enough to get the right size shoe now so I have it back in the day now I'm good I'm blessed so very fortunate what I want to talk about we're talking about Koran's new book it's actually a great book because sometimes athletes put out books and they're not good this one I personally read and vouch for appreciate that tough juice and by the way it's got Kobe Bryant wrote the foreword mamba black mom now for somebody watching because I got an international crowd you might not know too much about American basketball but Koran pulled off one of the biggest achievements in sports he was drafted 10 in the top 10 of the NBA was it 2002 2002 drafted number 10 so just put that perspective over 300 million people in the world play basketball 300 make it to the pros and in terms of being top 10 and a draft you know that that's hard it was special man you know getting drafted by the godfather the NBA none other than Pat Riley the legend you know him choosing me was just it spoke volumes because all the people that went and worked out for him doing that draft class yeah and I didn't even go to Miami you know I thought I'd be gone in the draft by that time and I slipped to number 10 and I got the phone call he took me and it changed my life forever Pat Riley if you don't know the Lakers Magic Johnson Kareem showtime showtime and he went to Miami in one championships and he's known as one of the best ten he got the eyes for talent absolutely because he took Miami which was an expansion team and turn them into Wade Wayne Wade Shaq so now one thing I want to talk about in this book few things and this books on Amazon right absolutely the best place to get it Amazon one of the things that I kind of I do these little bookmarks not supposed to do these they tell you not to do it in school but for me books are not for show they're for learning and so one of the things that I recorded a video on YouTube I want to get your opinion on this it was in a lot of people are resonated with it was called rising out of the ashes because when I read the stories of successful people like yourself throughout history take Winston Churchill TMZ I was at the Super Bowl TMZ said hey Todd what do you think the Falcons need to read in the off season because they lost came back you know they were up 28 to 3 and I said they should read the story of Winston Churchill because he at World War 2 he started out a hero failed went down burned up his career for 20 years no one believed him then he rose out of the ashes for you your story and you talk about this in the beginning how your family from the cotton fields in Mississippi you know rising out of poverty going to racing yeah that's how you pronounce racing racing Wisconsin and then you rising out you you're the kind of first person your family to make it big I'm assuming anything yeah you know and it was just it was a special thing because all the women in our family worked on a semi-lines you know in the industry and you know working in factory whether it was case or incinerator or things like that doing manual labor in the foundries and you know for me you know the things that fascinated me from the second that I jumped off the porch was you know drug dealers and things like that you were you you dealt drugs yeah so drug you got that Jay Z story yeah I've done everything you know on the streets and after I got incarcerated and went through that whole process when I got out you know I was inspired by just the opportunity you know and you know I know what this brings I know that I'm gonna either kill someone someone's gonna kill me I'm gonna be incarcerated for the rest of my life yeah and shit I might as well try that the positive right and see what happens you know because there's no limits you know what I mean and I was exposed to more things and you know I got great results one of the things you said here in the book let me see if I can find it you said oh I know it's here you're talking about who you think and you said when you were right here this is this is one of my favorite parts of the book so when you go out by this book read page five and six and you say I thought about the decades my grandmother had put in working at a tractor factory I thought about how far my family come from the cotton fields in Mississippi I thought about my mother working one two three shifts a day three shifts was basically no sleep thought about the rough streets selling drugs dodging bullets but here's what I thought was interesting after you said you thought about James Barker Jr. Andre King and Black Rob all close friends of mine who were shot to death then you said and this was so great because everybody in history everybody in their life story has a few people that believe no one nobody did and you said I thought about Detective Rick Geller of the racing police department who gave me a second chance I thought about Ethan Allen parole board who set you for Ethan Allen where you incarcerate yeah who set me free so what did Rick Geller do for you like he believed in your story like it was so crazy because Rick Geller was a sergeant on the racing police force and I was in a drug raid as I was in high school playing high school basketball and he comes into the house they bust down the door boom I'm thinking that I don't know what it is it could be a robbery could be anything and the ATF run upstairs and I'm in the bed I cover myself up I don't know what's gonna happen shots fired or whatever and it's the police they identify themselves guns drawn and they handcuffed me I had a cast on my hand at the time because I had a broken hand it was fractured and they handcuffed me they take me downstairs they seized the house searching everything and Rick Geller is the head detective on the case they said we got what we got bingo we got the jackpot they come back up with a little bit over an ounce and a half of crack cocaine and I'm sitting there I'm like damn with my priors with everything my mind just racing because I know I'm facing 10 to 15 years in prison and as I'm sitting there Rick they said we got him book them like take them to the patty whack I don't think it's his so he gave you the benefit of the doubt he just gave me the benefit of the doubt and and we had a conversation before he uncuffed me he didn't know I was an athlete they know anything like that but he just showed me favor it was the weirdest thing because I've been in cars where someone flee this fleet of scene and we sat there and none of the stuff is ours but because whoever flee the scene everybody go to jail for what the situation is and for them in this situation to have something yeah and not charge they had something yeah that's America what America supposed to be founded on is that you're innocent till proven guilty and there's so many people rotting away imprint my dad when I was born similar story when my mom says so when I was pregnant you the FBI kicked the door down put my dad in prison my dad's from Harlem that's why I was born in LA he got put in an island prison called Terminal Island off LA Long Beach and there's so many people though rotting in prisons because of the system that they grew up in poverty creates crime period rich people or people who have enough they don't really I've been to Sweden Norway the richest country in the world there's very little crime so you can just blame the people committing the crime selling drugs but that's oversimplifying you get you have to look at the bigger problem and you have to it's justice but also mercy so this guy had mercy on you and look how you turn you know how you turned out professional about and you could have just ended that but he had mercy and that's the lesson for all of us to remember sometimes you got to have justice sometimes you have to give the benefit of doubt and have mercy I still you know to this day I still can't believe it we talk on the daily really yeah still to this day he's part of the project that we're doing you know going forward with the bio pic and you know I've taken him on the book tour went to the White House champions have changed you know just rallying communities together talking about the relationship between grassroots and community yeah because I had that yeah like even with everything going on out there in the world I had someone that showed me favor so I had to say that you know with all the bad it's some good cops out there some good people out there I used to feel the same way I was arrested 11 or 12 times easy yeah and this guy showed me favor that just changed my life changed my whole perspective about a lot of things yeah that's awesome that's a great story now let me fast forward so you so you growing up family comes from poverty like so many people you start you get this mercy from this police officer and some things transpire you're drafted number 10 NBA draft 2002 tell us best memory you're there in the NBA who are some icons playing around you you're this rookie I got remember the first time when you looked out this guy walked on the court you're like man I used to look up to you who was it we got the shoes on right now man MJ MJ came out there MJ MJ fade away perfect it was a it was a dream come true yeah I played I played his last his last game was in Miami really Pat Riley true story Pat Riley come he said all right I don't want to see nobody shake his hand I know he's Michael Jordan I don't give a shit nobody shake his hand nobody conversate with him nothing everybody alright let's go get him like you know let's go beat the wizards because you're playing with the wizards his last game he's like 40 40 still getting the average in 20 a game yeah so you know he's like he comes out standing ovation and before the game start for tip-off Pat Riley said hold up before the game start I just want to let everybody know Michael you're the greatest and he raises his rap his number in the rafters at the Miami airline arenas so he he know he never played in Miami so he got his number retired in Miami never been done in professional sports history another team that's why Obama said at that dinner he said Michael Jordan so good that all they said they can use him to compare to anything it's like you're the Michael Jordan of swimming you're the Michael Jordan of business now he was the Michael Jordan of Miami but he never played in Miami never played but he's the greatest did you guard him the whole time he scored 20 points on me in the first quarter really at the age of 40 wait how old were you I was every bit of 20 did he talk did he talk any crap do you yeah of course you you're gonna be good one day you're gonna be good one day you're gonna be good one day that is classic I can see you never play against Larry Bird never play against Larry we have Zach in here somewhere or did Zach actually let me get the exacts there we say Zach looks like Larry Bird's uncle roll roll a little camera on there Zach and he favors Larry legend Larry legend right there you can close that press that twice close it and delete okay so what Michael Jordan say to you as a rookie what what crap did he talk man he was just like too slow and you know every time I do something you'll be great one day young fella after like he's still like he's 40 years old right here what did Jordan say to you you'd be great one day young fellow you'd be great one day that's a great that's the way to car shed on the course be good one day special man who we're talking about Jordan we've got poor Richardson here he plays a basketball he's a little bit ahead what year did you retire yeah so he came in at 0-2 pull what's going on what up bro how you you good see everything's all right yes I got a throw in my story so here's my story you can't let people tell their war stories that you tell yours so I moved in North Carolina when I was 13 never picked up a basketball played soccer out here come we move next door to projects so we lit our house the bus stop was in a project so I remember going to basketball court for the first time we had to get I got there early I don't know why everybody played basketball I remember picking that ball up and being like this is a hard sport but I went crazy I started playing 8-10 hours a day that was about 13 so 15 I went to one of the biggest high schools in Raleigh you know it's basketball John Wall League stack house Jordan all the income from Michael Jordan from the sleep so I go JV I get on the JV team at this big inner city school biggest biggest one is about 95 percent black me I was only Spanish guy there and like 100 white kids and then the coach came to me this is my story make sure you get this this is like being drafted the varsity coach came to me he said I'm putting you on varsity and I was only sophomore this one so you know I got a little story it's not like it's not it's not it's not it's this good of a story that's a special feeling right there hey and then our first game Jerry stackhouse came out and I was like wait a second they have a man on their team they got a grown man came and dunked in the end you weren't you got a technical you know you're not dunking in the warm-up but he came in there to intimidate you play a Kingston Jerry stackhouse is good in high school he's a problem