 It was worth some of the best days of my life. Well, it grows two-time champ with the Spurs, but also played in a bunch of other places. But we'd like to concentrate on the Spurs here on this show. How are you doing, buddy? I'm doing great. Good to see you, Chell. What's up, fellas? This is awesome. How are we doing? This is awesome. Look, it's that time of year. So before we get to the NBA side of things, we always want to talk to anybody who's had the experience of March Madness. You obviously had. You won a game with Drexel there. So you know what's up. 96. For you, what was it like having that whole hoopla around you? Man, it was great, the year we won in my senior year. We had kind of gotten embarrassed, my sophomore and junior years before, but finally getting over the hump, beating a good Memphis State team that year. It was just great, you know? A lot of great memories, culmination of a lot of hard work, and we did something that had never been done before at Drexel. So still remember it like it was yesterday. Was Penny on that team? Was that a Penny year, or was he gone already? No, Penny, we probably would have lost if Penny was on that team. But I know they had, friends in right, they had Cedric Henderson, Chris Johnson, they had a couple pros. So it was a good team, and they were actually picked to come out in that region, but we got lucky and upset on that day. Eight seasons in San Antonio, two of those, of course, championship years. Tim Duncan, finals MVP for both. I can't get enough Tim Duncan stories just because he's such a mysterious man, but for you, what made him so special? Oh, I don't know. I think we just came around at the same time, you know, same age and same likes and all that stuff. We kind of, you know, we bonded over video games, and you know, people know Tim is this quiet guy, and this, you know, doesn't really say much, but you know, Beto, like Tim has a great sense of humor, and one of the stories I tell about him is Tim is Godfather to my son, and my son's name is Miles, but we used to play like Madden football every day, and he wanted me to make, because that was like my favorite game. He wanted me to name my son Madden, and I never would do that. And to this day, he doesn't call his godson Miles, he calls a man, so that's just a little thing about how Tim is. That's what he wanted, and that's what he's gonna have. When we all have these discussions, and we meaning just all media, I feel like his name is either forgotten or purposely left out so many times when we talk about the greats. Do you find that as well, and why do you think it is? No, I mean, there are a lot of greats out there, and this is a, this subject is very subjective. It's like, depending on the day of the week and who you ask, who's gonna be voted the best. I think Tim is the best power forward of all time, and whether you wanna put him in history, I don't really care, and I know he doesn't care. I'm just really happy I had a chance to play with him and get to know him both on and off the court, because he is a great player, great person, like many of the greats that came before us, and like I said, he doesn't care. I think he's the best, and there were plenty of times I wanted to kinda push him down a flight of stairs so he could sit on the side and not get some minutes. That's what I remember. Well, I agree with you. I think he's the greatest power forward of all time, and he's mostly known as this quiet, laid-back guy, right? But you've heard these some stories now coming out, how he's actually hilarious, how he talks trash, KG and Boogie cousins have had great stories. Did you hear any of that playing with him or against him, or do you have any good stories about him just talking crazy trash that we would not expect? No, but it's funny. So, you know, the KG stories, they take on a life of themselves, but the Boogie cousins ones, I didn't know. Boogie is funny, like the way he tells those stories, and it's funny because I remember going through them in practice, you know, you're going, your heart is trying to score at him, and you know, he'll, he'll, good try, good try, young fella, or like, he was right. Like Tim would always hold you down on your shoulder when you go to jump and block the shot. He was a great shot blocker, but that made him even better, but it's funny, I didn't know, you know, Boogie had that type of sense of humor, but he is spot on when he talks about the stuff Tim used to say, and that would piss you off cause he would never, you know, you know, say in a bad way or in an angry way, he just talking his low, mild mannered voice while he's dropping you off, and it just makes you that much more angry. That's like perfect. I hate it when someone's calm but killing me at the same time. The pranking stuff, I love a good prank. Did he get you with Oreos? Nah, man. That's a source. Is that a word in legend? What is that? That means yes. All right, so he was good at the pranks, but one guy, Danny Ferry, Danny Ferry on the team. So I had just got this new BMW. Like, that was my baby. So anyway, long story short, you know how hot it is in San Antonio, but it's like one of those summer days, you know how they pour popcorn in your car sometimes. So this idiot who's, you know, still a friend of this day, but this idiot puts Oreos on the outside of my car. windshield top back and forth. They get melted in, the cars ruined. Man, I was livid. Anyway, so, you know, if the sun passes, but it wasn't as good as it is, but how I got him back, I put an app to sell his car in the paper and I said he was shipping out to sea, must sell immediately, put his personal phone number in the paper and people were calling him day and night trying to get his car. So I put it at a real low price. Putting the phone number in is brutal. They'll sound like good times. Malik, I want to ask you of the two championships that you won with the Spurs. Does one mean more than the other? They're both special. 99 was the first one, of course, but I would say 03 is probably more special to me because I got more time then. I went from probably getting 10, 15 minutes a game to getting about 25 minutes a game that year. So that one was special and I think it was more special because we ended the Lakers three-peat. You know, the Lakers were dominating. They were beating everybody and they beat us pretty good the year before and to be able to go in there and end their three-peat on their home port was really, really special to me. The 99 championship, like people love to sort of knock on the Spurs. You know, there's a nerdy vibe that comes out of San Antonio and I can't even defend it against this next photo because here you guys are on the plane playing video games with the trophy. What a time. Is that Sean? Oh, this is, by the way, it's... Yeah, so many chords. What do y'all play? This is nerdy, Malik. This is bad. Do you want to defend it? No, it's not. That's who we were, man. Like a lot of people played cards on a plane and we kind of tethered up our computers and played this game called Starcraft Warcraft. It was the worst. Starcraft and Warcraft and eventually, you know, we got into, you know, League of Legends and all that, but back then it was Starcraft and dude, it didn't stop on the plane. Like we would, if we could have played on the bus, we would have, but when we got back to the hotel rooms, that's like really all we did. It's a, I don't know if any of you have ever played it, but Starcraft, Warcraft, all those Blizzard games are like amazing. Like just like, you know, they can go on forever and we love them. So no, I don't want to defend it. That's who we were, but it was kind of corny. By the way, even kids now on road games, they'll bring their little consoles and their little brief kit. Way less chords than in that picture. Completely different game. Now they got a whole briefcase flat. It's a little more high attack, but they're doing it. They're playing Call of Duty. They're doing it. It's, it's, it's still goes on. I must say it's the same thing. You guys were trailblazing. But Malik, yeah. Is it true that David Robinson bought everyone Rolexes after that championship? I heard. Yeah, man. The thing about David, like David, yeah, but David is probably the, the dumbest smart guy I know. But he literally contest on the genius level. And I say that with love because there were plenty of times like Dave would, we'd come out of a huddle and he'd like, you know, leaky, what, what a pop just draw. What are we running? It's like, damn, Dave is a play for you. But like, you know, so that year he, he had a million dollar clause, I think in this contract that if we won the championship, he got a million dollars. So actually while we were back on the point, we were on the plane playing Starcraft. He says, I think I just want God a million dollars. I'm just like, what are you talking about? We won a championship. I got a million dollars. I'm like, are you serious? It's like, I'm buying all of you Rolexes. And I'm just like, this guy, man. That's a good one. That's a nice problem to have, but that's a typical day. Do you still have that watch? Yeah, I still have it. Yay! Rollies never go out, guys. You gotta keep them for free. To vintage, please. By the way, it's nice to buy a teammate a Rolex, guys. Let's keep that in mind, Chandler. Right, Chandler. All right, thank you. This is right around the corner. Just think about that. All right, so back in the day, there was that story that Papa Bitch was almost fired 99 and that Doc was gonna come in. What did you guys know of that, if anything? Well, I, if I could speak for myself, I didn't know anything. Obviously, Tim and Dave knew something because, all right, so everybody, Chandler and Lily don't know this. Like, you have your regular routine that you go through as a team, like pregame. And every time we would bring it in before a game, I'll never forget it. We were at Houston. We were six and eight, struggling at Houston. And Avery, Avery Johnson was the one that usually brought us in. All right, guys, let's bring it in. Let's, you know, get it together. That day, Dave brought us in. And, you know, I'm second, third year in the league. I'm playing around before the game or whatever. And Dave grabbed me one time. He grabbed me and put that grow mass strength on me. It's that league cut that BS out, but he didn't say BS. So anybody that knows Dave is like, when he's cursed, that'd be serious. So I'm like, wait a minute. So like, I just remember Dave brought us in. Said it's a serious game. We need to get this one, guys. We go out, blah, blah, blah. He went out and he led us to victory. But later on, you hear the story. And I know it to be true because Dave brought us in that day and he was cursing, man. And he's my arm still hurts from when he grabbed me before the game. What's crazy is I was 25 years ago and he still knew that there were six and eight at that time. Right? I know. Memories are there. Listen, I've always been fascinated with pop. Never got an opportunity to play for him, but I've always admired him from a distance. What was it like playing for him? Do you have any good, what's your best pop story? Man, some I can't say on air or whatever, but it's a great plan for pop. Like same with Tim. Everyone thinks Tim is one way because they see him on the camera. Same thing with pop. Like pop, back then we called him short hair pop. Like there are two pops in, for anyone that's in San Antonio. You got short hair pop, which is before we won anything. And he's killing us three hour practices, two hour film sessions. And then there's long hair pop who's like, oh, you get a day off. Oh, you know, take it easy. You know, minutes, minutes restrict you or whatever. So back then it was short hair pop. But the thing that I love about pop is he's, you know, he's true. He's like, it's no middle ground with him. You know, you're going to know where you stand with him at all times. So it's like he never, you know, lies to you or sugarcoats things. He shoots from the hip and that's, you know, as players, we love that. Just let me know where I stand with you. Let me know what I need to do to get on the court or whatever. And he'll tell you that. But he sews into you. He sews into his players both on and off the court. And as Beatles said, you know, I only played there eight years. I still live down there, but, you know, I can call him right now. He'd answer the phone if I had a problem. Like, you know, he sends Christmas cards and all that stuff. So it's like, he's just real. And it goes beyond basketball when you're one of his players. And that's what I treasure most, just the ability to be able to call him and talk to him about anything anytime of day. He is definitely in long hair pop mode now. Like between last year with Jeremy Sohan, it was like his kid. Then you get Wemby, a once in a generation player. I don't know if you took as much joy out of that happening as I did. But right now when you look at Wemby, where do you see him in the landscape? And do you see a world in which, you know, he's gonna be the guy in this league? He's almost the guy now. I mean, that's the scary part. Like the guy is just from a skill standpoint off the charts. He might be the most skilled, what 19-year-old or 20-hour-old. He has 19-year-old I've ever seen in my life. And it's scary how good he could be. I'm just anxious to see his progression. And I think he hit the jackpot. I mean, yeah, the Spurs hit the jackpot getting him. But I think he hit the jackpot with a coach like Popovitz because he's gonna get the most out of them. They've, you know, gone the French route before with Tony Parker and, you know, the great success. So I think the sky's the limit for him. I'm anxious to see what his career pans out. I just hope, you know, you know, he avoids all bad stuff or whatever, you know, just hope he gets a chance to maximize what looks to be just otherworldly talent. Malik, could he be the best spur of all time? Whoa. Like if he stays healthy and avoiding all that stuff, obviously we know Tim, David, Parker, Gervin. Could he be? Does he have to win five, six times? Yeah, like how does he get there? That's not on there. I mean, it's definitely winning. You have to win. Yeah. And, you know, by all accounts, he's gonna be able to do that. That's like, if we're projecting and all things, you know, in a Nirvana world, yes, he could be. But like as we know, he has some big shoes to fill. There are a lot of greats that came before him in San Antonio that have a lot of hardware and a lot of just cashier in that town. So he has a long way to go before he can do that. But if anybody can do it, I will put my money on him because of just how talented and how young he is. And he's got long hair pop, who has all the experience in the world guiding his career. Long hair pops the one. Also, Malik, I wanted to ask you when David Robinson was out back in the day and you were, and you'd go small, you would sometimes play center, you know, at six, six, six, seven. How was it guarding? More than two toes, yeah. How was it, would it be perfect now? You'd be a perfect small ball of five. How was it guarding guys like Shaq, you know, at that size? Man, I mean, you could call it center or whatever. Like back then, you know, I was on non-guaranteed contracts as well. So it was like, whoever he told me to go guard is who I tried to stop because if I did, I was gonna get cut. But no, those are some of the best times because in a weird way, I would root for those games. We played like Shaq or we played Dirk or Sheed, KG, any of those powerful forces, those guys in the West because, you know, if Dave did have his back tightened up or whatever and he couldn't go, I would get more minutes. So I loved it because I got a chance to play. Playing behind the Twin Towers isn't easy because they're the two greatest players on the team and they're gonna get the lion's share of the minutes. So I did a lot of sitting early in my career but those days, Dave went out, I absolutely loved them. Going up against Shaq, as painful as it was, I looked forward to it because I was gonna get minutes. Was Shaq the hardest player to guard back then? No, no, no, Shaq and Shaq is the greatest. Like, you know, he's the diesel, he was tough to guard. But, you know, I had a lower center of gravity so for my job, I'm not saying I stopped Shaq, but the job I had to do, it was team defense. So my job when I guarded Shaq was just not to let him get angles for a dump, just make him have to put it down. The minute he put it down, we were coming with a double. So my job was over. The hardest person for me to guard, and it goes back to high school, I hated this guy because he ended my high school career too, was Rashid Wallace. And it was simply because Rashid was seven feet, he shot it from up here. He didn't play with the ball. Like guys that used to play with the ball, I could get up into him and make it tough. But if he just caught it turned and shot, I was done. And she did that every time, I couldn't stop him. I hated him. Let's talk the poster dunk you had on Matumbo 2003 finals. Do you remember this? Does it pop in your head, random? I mean, I feel like it would if a normal person was able to pull something like that off. But for you, does this cross your mind occasionally? God, you should have wiggled the finger at me. Yeah, I know. And did you think about doing the finger? No, I thought about it. So right before that we were in a huddle, and Pop got on us, and he yelled at me for something. I think Kenyon Martin got like an offensive rebound or something. And as I said, Tim and Dave are there. So if I make the mistake, my minutes are limited. So I wanted to wave the finger. But I'm like, if I get a tech pop, it's going to bench me for the rest of the finals. I'm not going to do it. But it felt really good. Funny story with that. So I have the picture, obviously. But so we went to basketball without borders in South Africa. And I don't know if any of you have been to South Africa with Matumbo. He is like three Michael Jordan's or Michael Jackson and Obama over there. He is like large, right? So I took 150 of the pictures over there, and I gave them all to the campers. So he always does like an autograph signing. So he's thinking the campers are coming up with pictures. I mean, with a paper. They all had the picture of my poster on them. And in this fashion, he laughed or whatever and played it off. He signed them. But no, that was a great dump. See, that's a good prank. That is a perfectly executed prank. Malik, this has been awesome to catch up. I appreciate the time. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Take care, guys. I would remember it every day. Tyler Hansboro, he's up next.