 That's right. Played in the league 17 years. He's a champ. He's a defensive player of the year. He's meta world peace and meta. I got to tell you, I love when we have guys on that spend a little time with Louisville because he's a very secretive man. He doesn't like to share too much. So if you could just give us a little bit about Lou. What was it like spending time playing with him? Man, shout out. Good morning, everybody. Playing with Lou, man. It's been great because I was at the end of my career. I was kind of going through an identity crisis because I wanted to still play, honestly. I'm so competitive, but Lou always kept things in perspective and he was a leader to the young guys. Lou was like a leader to the older guys and a leader to the young guys. I mean, it was a joy. It was like, you know, kind of built a great relationship, you know, even though we didn't see each other much after. I went back to school, did a bunch of other things, but, you know, Lou definitely stands out for sure. Hopefully that wasn't too sentimental, Lou. Yeah, Louisville, all right. No, that was, that was perfect, man. Our times playing together was an experience, man, between us trying to bring the young guys along, farewell tour and trying to stay competitive at the same time. It was definitely, it was definitely an eye-opening experience and we built great relationships out of that. You know, my son calls you Uncle Metta. He spends a lot of time around you and your family. Yeah. So, you know, we developed, we developed great relationships out of that experience. For sure, man. I love to take care of them. Yes, that's my little dude, man. Every time he come over, he, a lot of energy. He might be a six man like you, man. He might be a six man. Yeah. Yeah. He hasn't picked, he hasn't picked that ball up yet, but, but I'm giving him some time. So, yeah. That's, I like that. No pressure. All right. Your first stint with the Lakers was with Kobe. You guys won the championship. Can never get enough Kobe stories. What was it like to play with him? Did he make you better? What, what are your biggest memories? Well, I love Kobe, RIP Kobe. He was, Kobe is so competitive, honestly. First time I got there, you know, we didn't have much to say. I think he wanted to see, he just told me, don't mess it up. He didn't tell me that, but I've never heard much from Kobe. I mean, I knew the Triumph. I learned, I kind of, I was a math major too, so the concepts made sense. So I caught on to the triangle like right away. And then other than that, my work ethic was probably second to none. I made Kobe just probably up there. So other than that, we just talked about the game. We never really went out, never had lunch, none of that stuff, no dinner, but on that court, we was, we were synced. The second year after that was kind of tough, but Kobe overall, you know, seeing them in the gym at 5.30, we heard these stories, 5.30 AM, working on that Japs step, working on that pivot, you know, all that type of stuff. That's Kobe. Matty, you spend those four years with the Lakers, you went to championship, then you go on to the Knicks. And then you come back to Lakers for a couple of seasons. What was different when you, when you saw Kobe, the second go around, what was different with him those two years than compared to the first four? He was way more fun. You know, like I was talking to him to my career. I was in, I had a little knee injury at the end and then Kobe was just trying to finish out his career. But he was way more fun. The second time he was talking to rookies, laughing a little bit. And you know, my first thing with the Lakers, that wasn't so, you know, he was just really, really serious all the time. But it was good to see, it was good to see him just kind of let his guard down a little bit, even though he's still a compete when he was in the games, as we saw. But I was happy to see that he let his guard down. Matty, in 2010, you won that championship with the Lakers and hit that huge game seven three ball assisted by Kobe, actually. What do you remember the most about that shot? How special was that shot? It was crazy. It just summed up my career. I mean, I got a big ego when it comes to basketball. I think I'm better than what I am, but I needed that bad. Like I needed that championship to fill my ego. Because I don't know, honestly, I don't know if I would have been able to live with myself without a championship. I got one is not enough. And he's like, you know, it was kind of surreal that he passed the ball to the right. But you know, you had to stay ready. I remember that playoffs. I was actually with my therapist. She from Houston. So I flew her in because you just kind of be ready. Some games you taking four shots, some games you taking two shots in the playoffs. You never had a rhythm. So you just got to play in a rhythm and playing in a rhythm is going to look bad with a stat sheet because you playing in a team rhythm, but your shots is not following. You just got to try everything, deny, box out, correct passes, sprint back. You got to try to do all these things that don't show up in the stat sheet that you get no credit for. And then on top of that, squaring up, right? Squaring up when the ball comes, let it go. Some days you gonna look bad. Some days you gonna look good. And that was just like, probably, you know, just summarize my career, getting defensive player early, you know, being an all NBA team, all start early and then going through the broad and kind of awards going away, all the stuff, all the recognition going away. Even though I was still getting awards at that time, that championship just like, I just couldn't think. I didn't think the basketball gods would ever give me a championship. You know, we've talked about you playing with Kobe and winning the championship, but throughout the course of your career, you've played against them almost 30 times. What do you, what do you remember about those, those battles? I remember about him winning 70% of those battles. I got him calculated in my head. I got the first battle in Chicago. I blocked his shot to go in the overtime. It was a great block. It was crazy block. But other than that, he won the rest of the battle. So it was playing against Kobe was crazy because he wasn't lightning quick, but he was just so mentally tough. So he, he will wear on you mentally. So those games, you know, I think maybe once or twice, I went out the night before, but for the most part, I was never going out the night before playing this. I was sleeping and getting my rest because you're talking about a 50 piece. Hey, you don't want to be on the other side. That was your matchup. Yeah, that was my matchup all night. I love that it circled like, don't go out the night before that. Okay. You know what lists do to sports fans and all of us who do this for a living. We love lists. We also love to see who's left off of lists. So you did your top 10, not that long ago, but in the top five, neither Kobe nor LeBron was on the top five. Did you get heat for that? And talk to me about who, who is your top five? I mean, I'm not gonna lie. That's changed a lot, but shout out to LeBron. I love LeBron, you know, and Kobe. Obviously, I played with Kobe and I live in Los Angeles. But I think you got a guy like Will. I'm changing. He's number one. This is God. Yeah. But when you got a guy like Will, Will only averaged 13 points this first season. So everybody's saying he played against firemen. Well, those firemen kept him to 13 points and then 20 the next season. Will put in so much work where eight season later, later he averaged 50 and will also play it against Karim Al-Dujabal and Karim played it. You see, I'm saying so from that perspective, Will blocked a lot of Karim shots and we put Karim as number one sometimes. So you can't forget about the dead. You know, Will was a dominant force. And then Bill Russell with those 11 championships, even though he wasn't a scoring, he wasn't scoring a lot, but he also averaged 22 rebounds along with Will. I think that's number one. You know what I'm saying? So from that perspective, you can't, you can't just bypass Bill Russell, you know, and then you have, you know, a couple others that I forget who else I had up in there. Magic. Yeah. People sleep on magic and magic is he's older. He's a politician. He's gonna, he don't give himself a lot of credit, you know, but magic is asleep with magic. You look at magic stat line, you know, his awards, he was a, he was the man on that team. You know, magic, they don't get over the hump and those five rings with the Lakers. So you got to give him some credit. And then I don't think people get shacked enough credit. I got shacked at 10 somewhere over there. You know, Shaq has already been in top five, but I think Shaq got bored with the game. Shaq stopped working hard. And that's why people passed him. You know, because Shaq just, you know, he got bored. It was too easy. The same thing with Michael Jordan. Will Chamberlain, you gotta think about what he did. He said, I'm a set records so nobody could ever pass. That was the league first start. So he was already seeing the future. And I think Michael Jordan just got bored. But LeBron is doing what we'll do. So LeBron is when he retires and is all said and done. We got to give him that his flowers. There's no way he's not number one. He put in the work. He, you know, he's a great man off the court. I'm not saying others are not, but I'm saying to, you know, to be with the same family that is really difficult, along with being one of the greatest players that. So I think when LeBron retires, I'm gonna give him the nod. Mehta, is it true that you crack two of MJ's ribs in a game of one on one? How did that happen? What happened? Take us through it. And I, you know, actually, I didn't release that story. That story was released by my good friend Sam Smith from the Chicago Tribute. You know, I'm not gonna snitch on Michael Jordan, but when that story came out, I was 19 or 20 years old. And we was, you know, I was super competitive. People didn't really know how what I was bringing when I was 19. So we was in this gym with LeBron was there, young 15 year old LeBron, Antoine Walker, Finley, Jordan, you know, a bunch of other people, you know, and my defense was, I was, I had a lot of energy. I didn't really get tired and I was super strong coming in. So Michael was just posting me up and he had referees and everything. So he's posting me up on the left block. And as I was denying him, you know, Michael put his arms and hold you. When Michael holds you, you can't get around. And one of the issues with Mike is if you let him touch the ball, he gonna score. So in those games, those games were super competitive. So as I was denying, I moved his arm out the way. And then the ref called the offensive foul. And so he actually got called for offensive foul. But then I hit him by mistake with my right elbow went into his ribs. And, you know, and then when I found out I broke his ribs, I was in the bed for like two days. I didn't go to practice until I summer practice. I was sick. I couldn't even get out the bed. My agent called me said, maybe you got to go to practice. I said, I broke Michael Jordan ribs. I think I can't even function right now. And then Mike called me and then Mike called me. Mike was like, Hey, man. So I, you know, that happens. I want you to keep coming back to the gym. I was like, sorry, Mike, that's crazy. Mike, Mike hit me up. Then I went back to practice. Summer practice. Would you say, would you say, would you say MJ is probably one of the toughest players for you to guard? Yeah. Mike is definitely the toughest. He's not as fast as LeBron. Don't jump as high. Not as strong. LeBron for some different. And Kobe also brings something different, very similar to Mike. But Mike is strong, efficient. It ain't like you're going to contest his shot. And he, you know, he's going to be on balance, good space. Definitely the toughest dude I've played against for sure. Who would you think? Who would you think to be a toughest guard for you right now in today's game? I look at it a lot. Man, I just stopped being competitive maybe two years ago. Man, I couldn't sleep with myself now. So man, I just stopped thinking about the game like that. But I looked at some guys career as it went on and on. Cause you can't tell the first day you see a guy the first year or even at first like entrance into being a star. So you got to give it a yes to see like, wow, you know, I think I'm not going to put no names on it. Honestly, I'm not going to put no names on it. But there's definitely a few guys I feel like I would have for sure shut down. And then there's definitely a few guys I'm like, ooh, you know, uh, maybe I don't have a chance. You know, like Kobe, you know, don't really have LeBron, you know, you don't really have a shot. You also play with one of my favorite players, Tracy McGrady. And he was so cold. And I feel like people don't talk about him enough as a one-on-one scorer, just a scorer in general. What was it like playing with him? Was he one of the hardest matchups in practice or guarding him? Cause, oh man, that's what T-Mac growing up. You know, T-Mac, T-Mac was a, he was hurt when I got to Houston. But that first training camp, that training camp was incredible because, um, the thing, the pieces we had was incredible. People forget about the Ken Bay, but the Ken Bay were average 10 and 10 when he got into the game. The Ken Bay was playing incredible before he broke his knee in the playoffs. Um, I was playing only eight minutes a game before T-Mac got hurt. Then I started playing and kind of show what I could do. But that team was stacked. Um, T-Mac got hurt, I think 25 games in. So then, but, you know, when I was playing with him, you know, to watch him play and it was pretty impressive. He could pass the ball. He could score the ball. He, he's such an unselfish player. He's just so gifted offensively. Um, but definitely one of my favorite players. Definitely. All right, Metta, we got to talk Draymond Green for a second. Obviously, suspended indefinitely. The Nurkitsch hit was the, was the final straw seemingly there. And part of his suspension is he's got to go through some counseling. Um, you know, we all know your past. You've been very outspoken about everything that you've been through and what you've done to sort of better yourself. Like, do you, do you reach out to a guy like Draymond? Would you give him advice? Are you comfortable doing that? I mean, um, definitely, I think Draymond's an elite winner. And I think that just, I want that to be highlighted. You know, you don't want, you don't want the, you know, this part to be highlighted. I definitely always reach out. Anytime I see a guy getting into trouble, I don't always get a response. I used to, but, um, you know, I'm always there for any player going through anything. That's for the open line for any player. Even though I, transparently, I do have my own agencies, but I'm not trying to steal any players, but I just want to see players do well. You know, I want to see players do well. Um, I think Draymond's going through a little bit, right? Cause you're not as good as you used to be. You're not young, you're not as young as you used to be. You're not as good as you used to be, but you're still competitive and you got to, and you know, you got to, they got to be a little give and take. So I think he needs to take off the competitiveness a little bit and just have this fun, have some fun, ride it out. I was super competitive of my last year, but actually my last, it's the season before my last year, but then I started to talk more to rookies, you know, growing up in the nineties and stuff like that. You just don't have friends. You don't have friends on the court. And, and I think like if, if Draymond doesn't take his foot off the gas a little bit, I think, you know, those friendships he could, he could make and those people, he could help. There's young players out there right now that's probably like another young Draymond, right? But Draymond is so competitive, he don't see it like that. He just see food, you know? So from that perspective, I just hope he takes, takes his foot off the gas a little bit. His legacy cemented already. It's nothing else for him to prove. He's a winner. He going to be in all of it, right? So it's nothing else for him to prove, but to go out there and have fun. And hopefully, you know, he can take that into consideration. Matt, as one of the best perimeter defenders ever, who do you think is the best defender in the game today? Right now, you know, I like that kid Max from Philly because he's doing it on both ends. You know, he's, he's, he's super unique. Obviously, before Kawhi's injury, I like Kawhi. Obviously, Rudy's just walking away with a bunch of defensive play of the years. I got a little salutation on my mouth when I see so many people walk away with multiple because I shot myself in the foot. I should have had two or three of them, but I'm just getting suspended all those other nonsense. But Rudy's like walking away with it. But in terms of just like, you know, on the ball, garden, I got to go with that kid Max because he's doing it on both ends. That's pretty hard. Are you talking about, are we talking about Maxie? Yeah, he's Maxie. All right, all right. I like that. Yeah, he's pretty, he's pretty. Yeah, he can score and can lock up. That's pretty high praise. All right, that's very high praise. I like the praise part of things because you, you talked a little Victor Wimanyama. Obviously, I'm a huge Spurs fan, and that was a big moment for all of us. And you said he could average 40 at some point. You still seeing that? Or what, what is it that you see in him? I mean, just take away the size. That's, we all see that. But what? He's the closest to Will that we'll have that we'll ever see. You gotta remember, Will averaged 13 points this first year and 20 plus rebounds. But, but I think this kid gonna beef up. He gonna get better. And he gonna run into, oh, he gonna run into like a Detroit Pistons from this year or the Clippers from 20 years ago. He gonna go get 101 at some point in time in the next seven years. You know, he gonna get 101. Yeah, he's gonna, he's gonna for sure catch a rhythm where some rookie that can't guard, don't know how to deny, can't backdoor, making a ton of mistakes. And boom, 101 piece, averaging 40. I think you don't see it from here. Okay, there's a banner race for that. I don't want to hear any argument. If you get 101, you get a banner. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think he, I think he gonna be, even though Chet having a better year, but he's on the way by the team. Yeah. So I think it's gonna be special, especially when he beefed up. Remember Giannis, I didn't know Giannis wasn't here. I didn't know this kid was, he's just some string being running out there. Now he's like a force. I think this is this year. I think women, Giannis gonna be like that. Metta, you also gave really high praise to Jalen Brunson, saying he could be a top seven, I think Nick player of all time. What have you seen from him just to kind of, to justify that and to see so much of him? Well, he's young. He's putting up numbers at a fast pace. And then also, you know, I think in a garden, it's hard to play in a garden, as we know, the rim strengths in the garden. For him, it seems like it's wide open. Like he's super confident, not worried about the fans, not worried about the fair weather, Nick fans, you know, we are all bad bandwagon fans in New York, all of us. This kid seems very comfortable in the lines there. So you got to imagine he's gonna do this for a couple more years. And I got to imagine that other free agents see this and they're like, okay, I want to compare him because he, the leader looks very comfortable. Obviously, Julius Randall's really playing well in the garden also. Now, it's not easy to play well in the garden. You know, and for somebody to play well, he's playing, what point guard played better than him? You know, how many point guards? Not many, maybe Mark at some point in time. You know, so I think this kid is gonna, for sure, be in the playoffs championship, you know, we'll see. But they're for sure being the players that get past the first round at some point, they might make the Western Conference finals. And at that point, it's all about, you know, the players you have on the team, the coaching is pretty solid. You know, so I think he's gonna walk away with at the end of his career. If he stays a knit and just, you know, just keep working hard, you know, stay in shape, don't get out of shape, stay in shape and just finish a career strong. You can see him being a top knit all the time. Nick's fans everywhere are very happy. Madda, before we let you go, you were on The Masked Singer, a show that just perplexes me, honestly. You were the cuddle monster. How does that come about? I didn't know, you could sing? How's that happen? Yeah, Lou told me how to sing. You know, Lou got bars. It was fun. I try to stay off TV, honestly. But, you know, I'm always getting called to do TV. And then I told my wife, I don't feel like doing this one. And then my friend said, dude, it's gonna be fun. Then my daughter was like, you got to do it. It's gonna be fun. I said, cool. Yeah, I'll do it. And then when I got there, I had way more fun. I mean, I do, I do like to have fun. I do like to entertain. But now they I'm just not interested in anything television. But um, but that show is that show is fun. It's the only time you get a chance to sing like you in a shower with, you know, you know, at that go, you in a shower, you start singing, you think you look the Vandross. Yeah, we all sound good. Everybody's out here in the shower. They put a little auto tour to my voice. I was like, all right, we good. God, that's awesome. Yeah, that would be a fun one. I'd like to see everyone do. Madda, I know, I know you just said you don't want to do TV, but we appreciate you doing it this morning. Hopefully you'll come on again. It's been a pleasure. Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Lou. My dude. My brother. Good to see you. Good to see you. Yeah, you have a great season. All right. Thank you, sir. We'll be back with that man. How's the family after this?