Transcript of How I Turned Basketball Into a 6-Figure Business | Hezi Almighty DSH #1040

As much as we spend time working out, we spend more time talking about life and books. Dang, that's why he's so intelligent. That's why he moves the way he move on the basketball court. I do want to apologize to him because I think he's upset that I posted me having some good moves on them when we play one-on-one because you posted on social media and the world goes crazy.

All right, guys. Hezzy got in the building. Thanks for coming on, man.

I appreciate you for having me.

Absolutely. I balled with you a few times. I don't know if you remember me.

Yeah, not for sure. From the ball dog celebrity game.

I had to guard you a couple of times. You got me good ones.

Yeah, I think it was the Miami one. I think I got you.

Yeah, you got me good, man. Don't post that one, please. But you put a lot of people on that.

Yeah, not for sure. I just play a lot of basketball, so it comes with the opportunity.

What was the highest level you played?

What did you get to? Big three is probably my highest level as far as professional goes. That's probably as close as somebody like I'll get to the NBA. Yeah.

Well, those guys can still play, man.

Yeah, not for sure. Guys like Jero Green and Jason Richardson still got 40-inch verticals.

So easy. Jay Rich was playing in the Lifetime League in Vegas right before he moved. Oh, yeah. He could still get you 30.

For sure.

Yeah, because just because they're in their 30s and 40s now, don't mean they could still hoop.

No. Then when you've been doing something for so long, it's It's second nature. They don't really know how to do anything else when you've been training for something your whole life. You don't know what else to do, but to continue to practice that crap. So even though you're getting older and certain things slow down, you're going to get better in your area because you work on it.

You got to develop a shot as you get older, right? Yeah, for sure. Did you have to add that to your game as you got older?

I've always been blessed with the ability to score. I guess my hindrance was my height and the way I look. I I look like a running back, and so you don't really look for that. But then when you see me score, it's like, I wonder if he can do it against this guy, this guy, and this guy. I mean, I guess you don't know until it actually happens. So I guess the big three gave me that opportunity to show that I could do it on a higher level with top-tier guys.

There's not many content creators that could do that, honestly, I don't think.

I feel like right situation. Yeah. Right opportunity. Some guys could succeed, but it's not as easy as guys try to make it out to be. It's not a thing where it's like, Oh, I'm going to go try out for the big three next year, and you just think you're going to make it because you won a couple of games on YouTube.

Did you have to try out?

I actually did. I went to the combine, and I didn't even make the draft or get picked up my first year. But the second year, they didn't actually have a combine, but my name was still in the pool. And so a guy He left to go play in China. Isiah Brosco left to go play in China. Deion Glover, who's like an ex-Georgia Tech legend. His son watches me on YouTube. He's over player personnel and stuff like that. And so he just shot the idea as Steven Jackson. And because me and him had an interaction prior to that, he knew who I was. Nice.

Steven Jackson, that's Matt Barnes co-host?

Yeah, that's my... It's like my uncle now.

Oh, yeah? I love that, You're in good hands.

Yeah, not for sure. Even Matt Barnes shows me love just because of how Steven Jackson loves me.

That's dope. Do you like the three-on-three format more than five-on-five?

I'm a five-on-five guy just because that's always what I've played. So I've understood angles, and it's a lot easier to get four other players involved because you don't always have to touch the ball. You can come set the screen. So it's a lot more ways to get four other guys involved versus It's three on three. It's like whoever has the mismatch take advantage of it because you're trying to win.

Yeah, three on three, you're gast.

It's a lot more space, too.

Yeah, you're gast in three on three, too.

Yeah, for sure.

When you see LeBron say one on one is in real basketball, what do you think of that?

I agree because one on one, even if you plan it with three dribbles, you can go from the top of the key to the corner in three dribbles. When in actuality, in a real game, you wouldn't be able to dribble from the top of the key to the corner without someone else helping or stepping up. So it's not realistic, but it does showcase the ability to score the ball. If you're an extremely great scorer, one-on-one showcases your ability to score in a variety of ways.

I feel that. There's guys that are nasty at one-on-one, but in a five-on-five setting, they just...

110 %. A lot of your favorite YouTube players are really good one-on-one players, but then you see them in a five-on-five setting, and it's like, where'd that guy go? You know what I'm saying? So I take pride in being good at decent or above average at one-on-one, three-on-three, five-on-five, because it just shows, I guess, your overall ability to play the game. Yeah.

And I saw you training with Dev in the lab. You're still working with him?

We don't train as often, but Dev's like a brother to me. We spend so much time together traveling and training. He's just like one of those guys I could call, and it's like I talked to him yesterday. So Dev's my guy. I learned a lot of stuff from him just with how to maneuver in the, I guess, social media world as a basketball player.

Because you started blowing up overnight, right?

Yeah. I wouldn't say overnight because I've been playing basketball my whole life. So it was not an overnight success, but in a sense, to the social media world, yeah. Once I got on the scene, it was rolling.

What was How did you make that first video that went viral?

I actually went viral a few times before I was actually the Hezzy guy. So I used to make music, or I still make music in my free time. But my music name or rap name is Camero Carter. And so Prior to becoming a Hezzy guy, I moved out here and I played in the Superstar League. Rest in peace to the owner who owned that league. But I bounced the ball and the defender ran under and I caught it and dunked it. And so I posted it, and that was when I had 2,000 followers. Over time, posted it. It went crazy on Twitter and Snap, and then it made its way to Instagram. And then maybe the next year is when I was at Venice and they coined the Hezzy got in for me.

Wow. So you were dunking back in those days?

Yeah, I can still dunk, but-I don't see it often. Yeah, it's no need for it now. I'd rather save my knees for a time when I really have to dunk it.

I mean, you're already using so much energy just getting by them.

Yeah, and even just playing so much, just playing every day and stuff. But I'm one of those people who feels the soreness when I don't work out versus just staying active every day. You don't really feel those little nicks I feel that.

So you're hooping every day, though?

I pretty much do something every day, like workout, whether it's shoot for an hour. I do something every day.

Wow. That's respect, man. You're working on your craft still.

Seven days a week.

Holy crap. So no recovery You don't take any time?

I take time to recover, but I mean, recovering doesn't mean not doing anything. You know what I'm saying? Recovery means, I guess, being light on those muscles and stretching those muscles, hitting the sauna, doing things like that. I hit the sauna every day. I stretch every day in the sauna.

Yeah, I hit the sauna daily. It's a necessity. You ever have any bad injuries?

Not since I started playing in the social media world. Okay.

Taking good care of yourself. Yeah. Respect. You like outdoor or indoor better?

I don't particularly care, bro. I'm just a hooper, bro. I really just like to hoop. If it's a nice event at an outdoor court, I'm going to pull up and put on the show, same as well as in the gym.

Dude, those outdoor courts, I just feel so sore after?

You can feel the difference, but I don't particularly care, bro. I really just love to play basketball, bro. I really just love hoop.

Damn, I love that. It's cool to see your mindset with the game.

Yeah, and then it makes it easier to love it when you find the way to make some money off of it. It's hard to love something when you got to still provide for yourself outside of that love. But when that love is providing the money for you, it makes it easy to love it so much.

Yeah. That's probably why a lot of people give up sports because only a certain amount of people can go pro.

Yeah, not 110 %. But I think that was my advantage as far as the social media realm goes with basketball and making it to the big three. Just stand the course, bro. A lot of people just I wouldn't say give up, but don't continue to hone their skills, don't continue to work on it, go to work, be like, Oh, yeah, I'm tired. I'm not going to the gym today. That could be the difference from when that phone call come and you get the opportunity Now, I was confident when I got the call for the big three because I know I had been working on my game. So the confidence was there. All I had to do was have the opportunity. And when it presented itself, my confidence showed.

Yeah, because you were working for years about getting paid.

Yeah, not for sure. Even from college. You know what I'm saying? That was before NIL, right? Yeah, before NIL. I broke my foot as a senior because I played football and basketball. I was literally on a fractured foot playing throughout a whole football season, but didn't know it. Then basketball came and I literally just tapped my foot against somebody else's foot on the screen, and it broke finally. I missed almost 20 games It was 20 plus games in my senior year, but because then you couldn't get a medical red shirt if you played more than 33 %, I played 33.7 %, and they wouldn't give me a year back. Damn. So that took a toll on me. But even after that, I continued to work out, playing the summer programs back in Charlotte, just still be a face of like, Oh, yeah, that guy can get a bucket. I've won Summer League, Summer League Championships in Charlotte. I've won MVPs at money tournaments in Charlotte. So even before I moved to California, I was a pretty prevalent face in my city with the basketball.

That's cool that you're saying that because I read your comments, you get some haters, and they say you're selfish and stuff, but at the end of the day, you got some championships under your belt.

Yeah. No. What people don't know is I played college basketball for one of those coaches who called to play every time down. And so as a freshman, I was that I'm a high school kid who averaged 20 plus points, like third or fourth in the state in scoring. So I came to college, considering I had some division one AA offers and small mid-major offers. I went to a division two school to play both sports. So I'm thinking like, oh, yeah, I'm going to go in there and do what I got to do. But when you're playing for an older coach, he holds his seniors to a high level. They've been with him for four years. They understand what he wants to do. And at the end of the day, it's about winning. And so I played behind two guys who scored over 15,000 points in their career in college. One of them is Dennis Scott, the three-point shooter from the Orlando Magic, NBA analyst now, his son. So I played with some really good guys. So my way of standing on the court was running his plays and making sure those guys got the ball.

And it's better to do what you have to do to get get minutes versus doing what you want to do and get no minutes. It sucks to be in college and you walk around campus and everybody like, dang, bro, you don't get no playing time versus playing 30 minutes and only scoring four points. But you've seen me on the court. Not to mention I average eight assists in my career. So that's why now I like to showcase my scoring ability because that was something that I wasn't able to showcase in college because I just I had to do what I had to do.

You had a chip on your shoulder.

Then I played quarterback as far as football is concerned. So my coach looked at me as a leader facilitator. So he wanted me to bring that onto the basketball court, and I just did what I had to do to play.

Love it. Were you better at football or basketball compared to everyone else?

Some people who know me from growing up and knowing my story of how I became a quarterback would say I'm a better football player. But those who truly have known me since I was elementary school know basketball was my first love.

I feel that. Did you always want to go pro? Was that the goal growing up? Yeah.

The goal was always to play two sports in college. I used to always say I wanted to play two sports for the University of North Carolina, but I played two sports, just not there.

Well, that's unheard of these days to do two sports, and those are two of the most physically demanding sports, I'd say.

Yeah, and to play point guard and quarterback. It's tough because you got to know both all- You're in the game the whole time. Yeah. Damn. Yeah. Touch the ball almost every single play.

I don't know anyone that's pulled that off football and basketball?

Well, one of my influences growing up was Ronald Curry. He was actually a Tar Heels quarterback and point guard. Oh, wow. Yeah. But he also became a wide receiver in the NFL for the Raiders. Damn.

These days, I feel like the competition is so big that it's almost impossible to choose.

Yeah. Now, you got to choose. Even kids like Jalen Sugs was the top player in his state at quarterback. But it's like, all right, which route are you going to choose? Because there's no way you could play NBA and an NFL. Just, for example, we're in week, what, six of the NFL? And the NBA just started yesterday or two days ago. So it's like there's no way you could physically do it. So with those two sports, you got to choose one. Whereas if you're a football player and a baseball player or a basketball and the baseball player, it could work itself out.

Yeah, I'm a Notre Dame fan. I remember when Pat Connaughton was thinking about going to the NBA and MLB, I thought he was going to pull up both, but he chose NBA.

I would love to see Russell Westbrook play baseball. He was a heck of a player. He played? Yeah, he played at NC State. Oh, wow.

I didn't know that. Dude's an athlete, man. 50-inch vertical. Have you ever measured yours?

Well, not Russell Westbrook. I'm sorry. Russell Wilson. Oh, Wilson. Okay. He played quarterback and I think he pitched at NC State. Damn.

Have you measured your vert, though, before?

It's been so long.

What was your peak, though?

Probably like 35 or something like that.

I get up there. Yeah, I've never measured mine. It's harder when you're taller, though, I feel like.

Yeah, not for sure. When you're shorter, the vertical is... You know what I'm saying? It's a lot taller because you, I guess, essentially jumping.

May Robinson. Right. 50 inches. Who were your favorite players growing When you were growing up watching?

Growing up watching, or I'll take you through the process. So I was a huge Penny Hardaway fan as a kid, with a small Penny doll. I love Penny Hardaway. And of course, when you grow up in early '90s, there's no choice but to be a Michael Jordan fan. He was essentially the GOAT. But I always liked that guy who challenged the best player. And so Penny Harder way was that for me. Him and Shaq were that for me. And then I got to this middle school stage where everybody were Laker fans because Shaq and Kobe was together. And so I loved Chris Webber, but it was Jason Williams, White Chocolate, that made me grow a liking for the Kings. But then when I realized Chris Webber was the actual best player, he throws the nice dimes, too, as a 610 big man, then I did my Research. When you love basketball, you watch those things. So I was a huge Fab 5 fan before they even dropped the documentary from just doing my research on Chris Webber and realizing basketball players didn't wear black socks or black shoes until they decided to do it. It was just like, I guess my love is for the innovators.

You know what I'm saying? And so I grew a strong liking for Chris Webber. True fact, I wore the patent leather Dada's as a middle school basketball player because it was Chris Webbers' shoe, and I was just such a huge Chris Webber fan. Shout out to Chris Webbers. And nobody Dada's. Come on. People don't even really remember. I didn't have those. It was a no-name ran and I got them. That was Kyrie now doing what he did with Anta. Chris Webbers did that, and I wore him.

Yeah. Anything other than Nike.

I really didn't like Kobe at that time because the Kings and the Lakers were always always battling in the Western Conference Finals. I always felt like the Kings got cheated. But then once the Kings broke up, Jason Williams left, Mike Bibi came. I love that they became a better team when Mike Bibi came, but Jason Williams was that swag that I liked about him. And so I got older and started really watching Kobe and seeing how he just approached the game and how he just really spend more time in the lab than everybody else. That's what made him better. How he took Michael Jordan's game and, I guess, made it a 2.0 to, dang, Michael Jordan looks at Kobe like, Hey, I couldn't even do that. And that's my move. You know what I'm saying? I grew a strong liking for Kobe once I got to high school. And then once Kobe passed RIP, I became a huge Kyrie fan. It helped that I got in the gym with him, with Devon in the lab, and just seeing the type of person he was, genuine human being. As much as we spend time working out, we spend more time talking about life and books.

I'm not a reader, but just to hear, dang, that's why he's so intelligent. That's why he moves the way he move on the basketball court. Just, I guess, an intellectual person, and he plays that type of way. And since I'm here on your platform, I do want to apologize to him because I think he's upset that I posted me having some good moves on him when we play one-on-one. No, seriously. I had some good moves on him, and I think he took offense to it because you posted on social media and the world goes crazy. Like, oh, you let regular everyday Hezzy guy cook you. You know what I'm saying? But the only reason I posted it, and I didn't even actually have the video, somebody basically Actually, Dev put it on YouTube. No, in the Lab Plus. And so you had to pay for it to actually watch it. And so somebody paid for it, basically screen recorded it or whatever they did and did a reaction video to it. And that guy sent me my highlights. You know what I'm saying? But I had been getting cooked online by saying, Oh, Kyrie was cooking you.

This, that, and the third. You know what I'm saying? And so, of course, that's how I make my money. I'm a basketball player on social media, so I'm like, Hold on, that's not how it went. We were cooking each other. And so nobody actually ever seen an NBA guy just call Rip Kyrie Irvins' crossover. And I did it in a video and I posted it. And I understand he's one of the greatest ball handlers of all time. So it doesn't look good on his image that I pluck this pocket one out of 30 times that we were there. You know what I'm saying? But I just wanted to... In case this runs across them, I I just wanted him.

It might. What did you learn from playing against him?

Anything you took away from him? I learned a lot from him, bro. His patience is bar none. How he can just make his move and you'll be right there and he'll just wait you out and just rise over the top and shoot it without you even being there. How he uses his off-hands to keep defenders from being in a place to knock the ball down. And the finishing ability is just bar none, how he plays the backboard. I just got to see all of that firsthand. It was cool. But it was dope that he liked the way that me and the other guys who worked out with him were playing, and he stole some stuff from us. It was dope to hear him asking questions about moves we were making. That just lets you know what person he is.

That's cool, man.

Not too high and mighty to ask somebody he just met Hey, bro, how you do that? And of course, he going to take what you gave him and put his own sauce on it. So Nobody will ever know that it's something you did.

That's probably why he's successful. He's open-minded.

Yeah, open-minded. Yeah, you have to be.

It's cool to see that side of him because the media painted him in such a way.

Yeah. Now, without really understanding who he is. You know what I'm saying? I guess that's partly his fault. I have that problem. I'll show you what I want to show you. I'm a basketball player, so that's what I show you. But sometimes the way I play basketball could come off as a or an asshole. And so that's not who I am as a person. I just know that character brings entertainment on the basketball court, and it's about winning, entertaining. You're playing in there. Yeah.

I read your comments, man. You get some hate.

Yeah, but it doesn't bother me. At times, I'm like, Bro, what? I can't believe they mad about this, but it doesn't bother me because I'm one of those people who know it's As long as people are like, Hey, then, you're relevant. You're being talked about. Even if you're being talked about where they're like, Oh, all he does is travel. This, that, and the third. There's a conversation about you. There's another conversation about you. You know what I'm saying? And now you got a debate amongst the whole world. Bro, do you think he traveled when he did the... And now you got somebody with an opinion of, No, I don't think it was a travel. I actually like the move. You know what I'm saying?

There's whole pages on that. Yeah. Mpw basketball.

Yeah, not for sure. I'm not even going to lie, he helped open my eyes up. All of the Euro between the legs and all of the stop on one leg and pause. A lot of those videos that went viral for me, it was him saying that it wasn't a travel and me just going to these leads and runs and just testing it out to see if people would call travel. And a lot of times people be so confused that they just play on and don't say anything.

The one I always see you is a slow two-step.

And I just pause calls and the referee calls a travel. But do you know the referee went back to the league owner and was like, Yeah, I missed that call. Really?

Yeah. So at least he owned up. Yeah.

He said, At least I... I was wrong about that one.

I think it's a new type of playing that they're not used to, so they just see it. They're like, What the hell?

Yeah. And I was actually thinking about posting that clip alongside of the one LeBron did the other day where he actually traveled.

Oh, I saw that.

That was a travel. Yeah, but I was going to post it alongside of it and say what LeBron tried to do.

I mean, these NBA players, they be traveling, let's be honest.

Yeah, but with the way the rules set up, it's based on the referee, when the referee considers the ball dead, because knowing Once we all learn something, we manipulate it. All right, even so much as, All right, let's go to cryptocurrency. All right, that was something new, fresh. Everybody was hip to it. Everybody was trying to do it, but not really realizing there were millions of ways to manipulate it and take your money, his money, their money. But you know what I'm saying? It's the same way with the rules of basketball. Once I learned something or once I learned that you can manipulate it this way, now I can come up with a million ways to manipulate it, and it's not a travel or it's not illegal. And you're like, It looks fishy, though. You know what I'm saying?

No facts. That's why these NBA players are so good.

Yeah, and that's why I say A lot of times, yeah, some NBA players get away with travels, but a lot of times it's based on when the referee considers the ball dead or stopped. It's the referees more than it's the players.

You know what I'm saying? Yeah. They got to change their roles constantly. I remember if you jumped into someone while they were shooting, that was a foul at first.

Yeah, and it was like a shooting foul, and now they call it on the floor. But a lot of times those rules are made in regards to certain players. You know what I'm saying? If you watched the Clippers game last night, a lot of those fouls that weren't called in the fourth quarter for James Harden, three years ago, they called him without a hesitation. But because so many people complained about him being at the line so much, referees falling for him, grabbing the opponent's arm and then going up. But now he don't even get to just do it when he really gets fouled because he manipulated the rules so much.

I could see it from a business point of view, because if you're at the free throw line, that's going to hurt viewers and make the game harder.

Yeah, no, 110 %. So you want to see high-level moves.

Are you just a fan of the game? Do you have a team? Do you have a player?

I don't have a team. I'm just a fan of the game. I like players, certain players. I've grown into certain players. Now that I've I guess, become a face in basketball, I've grown into players that I've met. I'm a huge fan of Darius Baisley. He's not actually in the NBA anymore, but he's one of those guys. It's like Man, it's really people out here, 6'10, who can dribble the ball like me, move like me, do everything I can do when he's 6'10.

These days, you have to. You got to shoot.

You got to be able to dribble. Yeah. So I've grown a lot of liking to guys like that. But like I said, Kyrie is probably my favorite player as far as basketball player now. I love Devin Booker. He's just that second image of Kobe to me with how he moves. I'm growing a liking for Jason Tatum, too, just because he gives that Kobe movement feel.

And Adwerp?

I love his attitude more than I like the way That's the way he play. You know what I'm saying? I just love his confidence and how he carry... He's the character I would be if I was in the NBA. You know what I'm saying? He's the YouTube. If you could compare YouTube players to NBA players, he's my personality. You know what I'm saying? You got that confidence. Yeah, it's confidence, but it's a confidence where I don't sound super arrogant because I'm joking with you, but you know that I'm serious about what I'm saying. So I appreciate Anthony Airwis. And not that he doesn't have a smooth game and not extremely athletic, but I like his confidence and his attitude more than his style of work.

Where does your confidence come from? Because I've seen you play against really good competition and you still have the same confidence?

Honestly, bro, just knowing that I put the work in. When you know you go work out every day, you know you go shoot every day, when you know you've been playing since you were five.

Damn, five. Your parents wanted you to play early?

I just grew a liking to it early, and they didn't keep it away from me. I played pretty much everything. I played baseball. I played baseball up until a senior in high school. I quit playing baseball because my The fastball was too fast for anybody on my team to catch because my high school wasn't that good.

Oh, wow. You were throwing so fast, they couldn't even catch it?

I had 19 strikeouts in a game and lost because the catcher was dropping the ball. Oh, my God. And so they were getting on base from the catcher dropping-Oh, the steals. From me striking them out on strike three and the catcher dropping the ball. So you got to now throw him out at first if he runs. And they were misthrowing the out on first. And so they were getting on base from that.

Holy What was your batting percentage in high school?

I think I batted somewhere close to 360, but I was really good. And then I played in a conference with a lot of schools who didn't have good baseball teams. There were very few far between schools where they had guys who could just strike me out because I played baseball for about just as long as I played basketball.

Was this in Cali, growing up?

No, I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina. Oh, Charlotte. So Yeah.

Wow. So baseball is not big over there?

It is big over there. Honestly, I just went to a, how do we say, urban or Black high school. And so the surrounding schools were similar. So we were all really good at football, basketball, you know what I'm saying? Track. But our soccer team sucked, our baseball team sucked.

The white people sports.

Yeah. But when I was a freshman, our baseball team was really good. But then You know, gentrification happens. New schools get built. People go to the new schools.

Who you got winning the World Series?

I honestly don't care. You don't follow it? We've been watching it, but it's like, I guess, Go Dodger since I live in LA. But I don't particularly care.

Yeah, I don't care anymore. I used to love sports growing up, but I don't watch full games anymore, to be honest.

Yeah, not me either. I honestly won't really pay attention to a game unless we're gambling on it or something.

It's not the same. As a kid, it just-Yeah, as a kid, it was like, Man, I can't wait to go watch this game.

But now it's just like, you could be waiting to watch an NBA game, and then now all four of the superstars not even playing.

Facts. How do you feel about the load management stuff?

I understand it. I'm not opposed to it because I'm a basketball player. So I do understand going at it five nights in a row or four nights in a row is what it does to your body. And then you were expected to play at an even higher level after playing 82 games.

It's a lot of games. People don't realize that's taxing on your body.

A lot of games and a lot of flying. And flying and playing basketball. That's tough. As much as we try to make it mix, it really don't mix.

Dude, when I fly, I get a cold every time. My nose is running.

I need a day, at least. To reset. No. If If I say there's a basketball event on a Saturday, I need to be there Friday. So I could just-Daclimate. Yeah, walk around, get the jet lag off me, maybe even go to a run and stink it up so that I was thinking up at the event.

Now, your game is pretty physical. I'd say it's more like '92s, 2000s era, right?

Yeah. I get to the basket so that I can really get what I want with the jump jump shot. I really want to shoot jump shots, but it's not so easy shooting jump shots with people all over you. I guess you bully them and get to the basket a few times. A guy bags up and prepares to accept the contact, and then now you could just relax and take practice.

I feel like that's a rare thing these days. I feel like everyone just wants to shoot it up.

I may, in some games, take a long jump shot the first one just to see what day it's going to be. But if I don't make one of those first three, I'm downhill.

I feel that. What's the most points you've had in the game?

113 in the ABA game. Holy crap. But to my defense, I think it was like 106 real points Real basketball points, because in the ABA, so say if your team's on offense and I get a steal before you cross half-court, however many points I score, you add one. So if I make a layup, it It's three. If I make a three, it's four. If you foul me on a three, I shoot four free throws. That's weird. Why would they do that? They add a point. I guess they're rewarding you for getting a turnover in the backcourt.

Oh, wow.

I forgot. What did they call it? I forgot what they call it. A 3D rule is what they call it or whatever.

Will Chamberlain out here. A hundred-point game, man.

Yeah, but I've done it twice. You did it in the ABA twice? No, I did it in the ABA, and then I did it in an adult League called the Elite Five last year. Good shit, bro.

What's the best city, competition-wise, you think? Because you played everywhere.

I'm not going to say no city is better than other as far as competition, but I will rank cities based on the vibe that basketball brings, the energy that they bring when you're in a basketball setting. And New York's energy is bar none. I've been New York in a small gym setting where somebody made a call and was like, Bro, Hezzy is about to pull up to the gym. We're about to start a run tonight at 10:00. And this was maybe four o'clock in the afternoon. And then they pack out a small gym and it's casting there, yelling, talking trash. You're not doing that to me. Everybody got their phones out. And then I've also been at Rucker Park. My flight got there late, showed up at halftime, stands Cool. It was like crazy love and energy. As soon as I got on the court, people were standing and clapping. The energy in New York is just different. Or maybe I just receive a different energy in the New York basketball world. But bar none.

That's your spec, man, because you live in LA and you're saying you're up to that.

Yeah. I can't say, particularly any city's competition is better because I've met cold basketball players in all Most each city I've been in.

Yeah, these days, I'm sure.

Yeah, it's a cold dude everywhere. It's a dude that challenged me everywhere.

Are you a big trash talker?

No. What people don't know about me is when you hear me talking trash, it's because someone started talking trash to me first, and I just don't shut up once I start talking trash. So it's like, you know what I'm saying? I'll hit a three pointer and you'll say something as simple as, Yeah, you want to get another one. That's your last one. You're not doing that again. So now No, every time I score, I'm going to be like, That's another one. That's another one. Then you're going to get annoyed because it's like, All right, I already know I can't stop you. You already got 20 points. It's the end of the first quarter, going into the second quarter. All right, it's evident I can't stop you. But now I'm pissed off because you won't shut up and you shouldn't have started talking to me first. I'm just one of those.

You won't let it go? Yeah, I won't let it go. Anyone try to fight you?

Of course. Hundreds of times.

Damn, that many?

Yeah, bro. Holy It's actually annoying because that's not why I'm talking trash. It makes for a good video one. I want to give you a little taste of your own medicine because if the shoe was vice versa and you were cooking me, you'd be talking crazy trash to me. Hezzy guy, Oh, I'm cooking. You'd be talking crazy trash to me. I'm just giving you the same energy you would have given me had the shoe been on the other foot.

I feel that. Are you posting on You post on YouTube and stuff?

I do post on YouTube. I think I'm at 226K. Nice. It's really good.

What's the era right now? Because I know with basketball content on YouTube, now it's making your own team, right?

That was the thing, but now it's the one-on-one. The one-on-one thing is back again. I guess not so much with the Jesses versus theash nasties, but your Nasus versus Nesco. The one-on-one world has changed dramatically since when I started YouTube.

Yeah. So So I guess, Tracy, McGrady's League is going to do well then?

I think it is going to do well because it's a lot of guys who, one, want to be in that world. It's a lot of people, I guess, starting their one-on-one platforms. And then Friega and Scottie started something next chapter that everybody has been trying to mimic, and they just have been doing an amazing job of, I guess, coming up with new ideas, staying different, staying relevant, including everybody from cities you wouldn't even thought had hoopers. I find myself watching guys from Oklahoma. You know what I'm saying? There's a guy named Bert who from Oklahoma, literally I literally had a nice little rise from all his life, doing a little one-on-one tear. There's a guy named Nesco from-I've seen him.

He's nasty.

He's from Delaware, though. What? Exactly. Who would have thought there's hoopers in Delaware? You know what I'm saying? Somebody that cold from Delaware. You know what I'm saying? So that's why I say you can't really say which city is the best. Everyone's got to look good at this point. Austin Reeves, Canada is looking nice. They're not Even just watching Dawn Connect in preseason game, it's just like, dang, bro. ' We knew you could play a little bit at Tennessee, but we didn't know you could do that.

You like in college, hoops more than pro?

Honestly, I don't particularly care. I see good basketball. I watch it. Certain people I pay attention to. I'm really intrigued with Mikey just because of what he's been through. It's like, 'All right, is he going to let that bother him? ' And then it helps that he's playing with Dior. I I wouldn't say been through something similar, but one of those top high school kids people put on the back burner because of situations. So just want to see how they're going to respond to it.

Yeah, I'm rooting for him. I mean, he's been through a lot, man. So if he could turn that around, that'd be sick.

Yeah, for sure.

And with Bronnie, too, I know he's getting a ton of hate, but he didn't ask for that.

Over time, though, he's going to be a player that we never thought he could be. Bronnie? Yeah, for sure. With just the way the NBA is, even in college, you could tell he was He was already a pro player. That's why the college system didn't work for him because he's already a pro player. He's been watching someone be the best pro player for the last 10 years.

I've heard that from a lot of pros that college is a step backwards.

It is, for real, especially if you're already ready for the next level.

Because you saw it with you. If you went from high school to maybe playing pro somewhere, it would have been better.

Just off the strength of they would have allowed me to be me or just opportunity. I wouldn't say particularly college or the pro, just opportunity. Just make sure you get the right opportunity for yourself that allows you to be you. Because when you go to an opportunity that allows you to be you, you're You'll be surprised what you see within yourself. Facts. You know what I'm saying?

If the CBA hit you up, would you take it? Chinese Basketball Association?

They would have to offer me a nice little chump of change because I know they will want me to a while, and China sucks for me. Just because I'm a smoker, I smoke weed, bro.

Oh, it's illegal there?

Yeah, it's crazy illegal.

Oh, yeah. That girl got... Was that China?

No, that was Russia. But China's even more strict You'd have to give up weed. Yeah, bro.

You think you could do that?

But that's one of my recovery things. You know what I'm saying? Just relaxing, meditating after killing yourself on the court, trying to get better.

A lot of the old NBA guys used to smoke even before or during games.

You even heard Kevin Durant say he smoked. Really? That's surprising. You didn't see him. I forgot who the interview was with, but he was actually during the interview.

Was that Logan Paul?

Who was the interviewer? It was an older guy. I want to say Letterman, but I'm not sure if it was him, though. It could have been Letterman, but I'm not sure. He was sitting down with Kevin Durant, and he asked him And he was like, Do you smoke before games? And he was like, Yeah. And Kevin Durant was like, I'm actually hot right now. You know what I'm saying? It was funny. It was super funny.

I love that. Yeah. Kd is one of a kind, man. Well, dude, what's next for you? Where can people find you and everything?

You definitely find me on YouTube, Instagram, @dhezzyguy, TikTok as well. If you're a Facebooker, Camero Carter. What's next? Working on a wee I call Hezzy O'G with my guy Quin from SaltServe.

I'll get you in some dispensaries in Vegas.

All right, for sure. So stay connected on that. I actually have hundreds of tracks I've been debating on, should I just narrow them down to the best 10, drop a mixtape, and just get back into the music?

You should drop a hoop mixtape.

Yeah. I was going to go ahead and just drop all my lost files to let people know that But I can rap and then step into dropping a hoop mixtape to try to make the 2K soundtrack.

Oh, that'd be lit.

Yeah, I already did mocap for 2K years ago.

Let's go. Do it, bro. Yeah, I wouldn't be scared of that.

Yeah, but not, man. Just staying active, trying to stay relevant. The more relevant you stay, the more money you make. You know what I'm saying? Continue to, I guess, in my case, innovate moves or in case of the world, innovate more travels.

I love it. All right, man. Thanks for coming on.

For sure. I appreciate you. Absolutely.

Thanks for watching, guys.