 It's good seeing you, man. So OK, I just want to go back, right? So I remember when we first met in that meeting in Fox. And one of the things that struck me was just your humility. And just like, I'm like, wait, has that always been your approach, or is that just natural? It's always been my approach. I had been blessed with great parents. Obviously, it kind of set me on my way early. We could never get too big headed about anything. I grew up, obviously, my dad played professional basketball for 16 years. So I was around kind of the life that I live now in the industry that he was in. So I learned from him how he handled fan interaction, how he was a professional in every way, shape, or form of how he carried himself. And that rubbed off on me and my siblings well. And I've tried not to stray too far from that in terms of no matter what happens in life, I try to stay as even keyless possible knowing everything is a blessing. Everything that I do, there's no accidents in life. But I'm in this position because I've been blessed with the talents and the perspective that I'd be able to handle all of this, the success and the failure. So they set me on my way for sure. Got it, got it, got it. I was just, I mean, clearly they did because having known of you, but not knowing you when we had that meeting, it was like, wow, bringing that humility when you're one of the most recognizable people in the world, but you don't wear that. And I've been in Hollywood for 20 years, so most people who have done a fraction of what you do wear that, so I thought that was pretty amazing. But when did you get the idea of like, I want to move into entertainment. I want to start making films. What transpired and what gave you that idea to say, you know what, now's the time to do it? I mean, the genesis of pretty much anything I do is to try to inspire and find different ways to reach the masses, to use a platform that I have to kind of share the core values of who I am as a person. And so when the idea and the kind of approach that we wanted to have in terms of immediate space and getting into film, we wanted to do it the right way, stay true and authentic to who I am and what I stand for, and find projects that I really believed in and could get behind, not just as a face or just because, but there's a reason and a mission and a perspective behind it. And so obviously you're only good as the people that you put around you and have a great team that has kind of helped me get that far. You're one of the best teams going for sure. I know you know them. That happens. That's kind of how I approach on and off the court in terms of obviously I want to bring something to the table from a leadership perspective, but again, you're only as good as the people that are around you, you can be able to grow together and go through different experiences. And obviously you fall in that basket as well. So it's all about inspiring and hopefully anything that I touch that has my name on it or something attached to it that they know what it stands for. Yeah, I mean literally I think that's one of the reasons why we're aligned because that's why I'm in entertainment. Because I do believe entertainment's one of the most powerful mediums in the world. And if we can use it for good, the change that can happen in the world is just exponential. So going back, so I sent you the script, right? So what happened when you cracked it open and you started reading it? What was your experience reading this script? To be honest with you, this is probably one of the first scripts I've read in its entirety in terms of like, you kind of, I guess when you read them, you know kind of the flow. You kind of get a feeling, you know, at first glance kind of look, but my team would tell you when I sat down and read it for one sitting, read it all the way through. You made the script in one sitting. And that speaks to obviously the impact that this movie's gonna have for everybody who watches it in terms of, I was reading these words on a piece of paper and I could visualize the journey of each character knowing what John went through and the community that was around him, how they were affected positively in terms of just being touched and finding faith and finding things to believe in and whatnot. And it was a cool experience for me to follow the journey in script form knowing where this could go as a project. Right. So in sitting you the script and you're reading it in the first sitting, what kept you turning the pages about this story? Mostly was John's mom's faith first and foremost, how bold she was in terms of obviously when she goes to the hospital and here's basically all the bad news that's being sent to her about the prognosis of her son's chance of living. She wasn't taking no for an answer because of her belief in God and knowing that he can do miracles and he can do powerful things. I was really drawn to that. I have a very strong mom as well who instilled my faith in me. So I could kind of connect to that as well. My mom did the same thing with the belt though. Trust me, there was a little bit of that. I know that's not PC these days, but she's like, you gonna get this face in here. I've got a lot of that, a lot of prayer. My kind of fun stories are growing up. I'd be asleep in my room probably between like 10 and 12, 13 years old, and you'd wake up to a hand on your forehead and I'd hear whispering and my mom was praying over me in my sleep. And like, when you have that habit, you don't know whether to wake up or like to say anything. I know what's going on, so I'm just gonna stay quiet, stay still and understand what she's praying over my future and over my well-being. But like in terms of having a bold mom that kind of instilled that faith in me for rents and planted the seed, obviously I had to find that out for myself, but I could connect with that extremely well. And yeah, it was just a powerful testimony to faith, to be honest. And that's something that I gravitated towards. And so you gravitated towards it, you put it down and then you're like, okay, I'm in, I wanna do this. It took one phone call with my team and they asked me, hey, how'd you like the script? And I'm pretty sure they were shocked at how excited I was about it. But yeah, try to find a way to latch on and hopefully... Not latch on, man, partner up. Yeah, partner up, yes. And find ways to again help use this story to inspire. Absolutely, yeah. I mean, listen, when I got the call, I was like, what, are you serious? It was cool because it was on the heels of our meeting at Fox. So I could tell by your energy and any projects that you get behind, there's gotta be a good reason for it. And that, we didn't talk about it before I read the script or anything, but in terms of knowing who's behind a project and understanding full integrity in terms of bringing us to life, that was, I could get behind that. Appreciate it, man. Yeah, definitely. I mean, what spoke to me was your desire to do faith, your desire to do sports, and your desire to do family. And literally after that meeting, I'm like, well, I'm getting ready to make breakthroughs. What do you think, man? And speaking of teams, because you've mentioned it quite a bit, in the story, even though it was Joyce's prayer that started, was a catalyst for John's recovery. It did take a team. It took the pastor, it took the firefighters, it took the community, praying around John and really rallying around his success. Why is teamwork so important to you? Because in your life, especially also your profession, you seem to value that almost more than what's good for you. It seems like you're asking what's good for the team. Why is teamwork so important to you? It's something that I've always just appreciated in terms of, it's not always about me. It's not, it never really is about me. It's about, obviously, I know what I'm capable of and what I can bring to the table. But again, nothing that you do in life, you do alone, nothing successful you do, I should say. That's true. Having appreciation for the value in others, I can learn something from the person next to me, on my right or my left. They can challenge me, the sense of accountability. It's how you grow and for me, that's where you really make memories in terms of, I can do all this stuff by myself. If I have nobody to share it with and nobody to kind of go back and say, hey, look what we did, I don't think there's any value in that. So I've always had that perspective from middle playing, AAU, baseball and basketball, all the way through now in the NBA, really understanding that there's so much good in the collective. And I value everybody that's a part of that equation to achieve success and achieve great things. Because again, when you come together and you have a collective goal in mind, that journey is the best part about it. That's the part you talk about. You don't even talk about, hey, remember when we were on the podium and we were holding that trophy? It was like, no, I remember all that work we put in the off-season, remember the five games we lost in the road and we had a players-only meeting, we talked about it, we figured out how to get through it, the ups and downs and all that, that's the stuff that you remember the most. So for me, it's always been, having had a hard time sacrificing for that. Right, right, right. Well, some do. So it's definitely unique and I think it's fascinating that your own personal belief in teamwork is mirrored so closely in the film. And that's also kind of what inspired, for me to want to say, hey, Steph, let's do this. Because I do believe it's about a team. I do believe, especially in this space when it's about, how do we get inspiration to the world? We're stronger together than we are apart. And so I felt like on a film like this, building a strong team between ourselves and our director, Roxanne, our other executive producers, Pastor San Rodriguez and Chrissy and Topher and the whole cast, like, let's stack the deck for as much success as we can so we can get a breakthrough. That's it. You know what I mean? I like that. Speaking of breakthroughs. Okay, so the movie's a breakthrough, right? I'm curious to see how you respond to this and what this feels like. There are a lot of people that may see this that are struggling in life and trying to go from where they are to where they want to be. Recently, you had a breakthrough performance on the court. 51 points, you know all the stats. What does it take to produce a breakthrough? And how does it feel when you're in that moment? How much is in your control or out of your control? Man, it takes patience and it takes a commitment to whatever the discipline is. And so for me, you talk about that game, 51 points, everything's clicking. All I think I can think about in that moment, one, this is so much fun. I'm gonna enjoy this, but more so in that moment, I think about the random Wednesday morning at 6.30 a.m. that I was running on a treadmill and threw up because I was exhausted and pushing myself to a limit that I really didn't know. It's all about just the patience and the discipline to stay the course, to have faith and belief in yourself that eventually something's gonna happen, the door's gonna open, you'll be prepared to walk through it. And for me, I do remember the last three I made in that game we're talking about. I was doing this, I was having a good time, literally in my head right after that possession I was thinking about that workout in the summer where I didn't wanna be there. I could think of a hundred million things I could have been doing otherwise, but I showed up there and that kinda kept me on the course. That's deep. What I love about what you're saying is that this idea of habits in preparation and consistency. And there's a book James Clear has out, man, if you ever read, you gotta read it, it's called Atomic Habits. Atomic Habits. About how small habits make big changes. And he talks about this idea that so many people wonder, okay, when's it gonna happen for me? Versus just create a system that produces discipline and habits and your habits will take you everywhere you need to be. That's beautiful. That's the tough in this generation too, especially when you see, like from social media perspective and everything, you see the end result. You see the minute clip of me on the court doing all these crazy celebrations. We don't see it throwing up. 100%. Don't see the process. And you don't see how many edits of the trailers you do. Right. And all the conversations you have around how breakthrough is supposed to come to life, you see the finished product. And so if you can talk about it and understand like the habits and a consistency of your daily efforts that sets you up for that success, you can get there. Love that. I love that. I have a quote that says, you and I are in control of only two things. How we prepare for what might happen or how we respond to what just happened. When things happen, that's up to God. And so I love what you're saying in that it's about the preparation. Put yourself in a position to win and whenever it's up to God, God's gonna do it. Same thing with Joyce. Before Joyce went in that emergency room, she was doing a women's Bible study where they were studying Beth Moore's book about believing God. And what does it mean to believe God? What does it mean to take God at His word that He is who He says He is and will do what He says He can do? So before she got in that emergency room, she was already practicing breakthrough prayers. What role, you've been so vocal about your faith. What role does faith play on a day-to-day basis for you? Faith gives me the right perspective in terms of I could really tap into what the world says about me and what they value as what success means and things like that. And I'm on a continual journey of really understanding how to be a better human being, a better person, no matter how many points I score or whatever the case is. My faith allows me to stay focused on why I'm on this planet to begin with. Because if I were to listen to the noise and to continually feed into what is rewarded in this life on earth, material things or whatever, fame, money, all that type of stuff, like I would be lost. And I think for me, I understand that I'm on this, I have the skills that I've been given for a reason. I have this platform I have for a reason. And that's to shine light on who I am playing for on a daily basis. That's not about, I would say, that's not about me. It's about what that means in terms of what God's doing in my life through all these different things. And so, again, we all know too much is given, much is required, but no burden is too tall, too heavy. And so for me, every day is a challenge in terms of continually to stay focused in things, being fed with the right things, staying in the word, all those type of vibes. But again, I'm on this stage and this platform and have these talents for a reason. And I have to shine light on that reason every single day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally understand it, man. And it's interesting, being here from the Bay, when I decided as a kid, hey, I wanna go to entertainment, it wasn't just about going to entertainment, it was about how to do it. And as a kid, I got baptized when I was, I think, 12 years old. And my intention was like, okay, how do I use faith to go where God wants me to be and do it? But to the point you just made, it's all about perspective. Because as you're in whatever profession or live in life, it's so easy to get distracted. It's so easy to focus on things that really aren't the things. So you're right about faith being an anchor and really keeping us where God wants us to be and how he wants us to be. I'm speaking in terms of how God wants us to be. One of the things that I think is fascinating about the film is by the time you get to the end of it, everyone says they're crying all the way through. It's a Kleenex and a popcorn film. So what do you think audiences will take away from this movie? I think first, no matter kind of where you come from, no matter what your faith or what your experience in faith is or who you believe in or whatever, there's somebody in this movie that you can relate to. Again, it is an emotional and tear-jerker or something. You're gonna be touched. You're gonna be moved by obviously John's story in terms of his comeback and the miracle that takes place. But the depth of how his story affects his community around him, I feel like it will resonate in terms of whatever's going on in your personal life. It might not be as catastrophic as something that John's going through. There's something that's testing your faith that this movie will hopefully inspire you to get in state of the course, to have that belief, rally around people that are in your corner. And just believe, man. I think the power of the community and power of faith is strong and it's something that this world needs all through and through with the chaos that's going on in our world. Amen. You'll be moved by this movie. It's gonna be awesome. Yeah, man. Man, appreciate you, man. No problem. Right on.