← Digital Social Hour
Loading summary
Transcript284 lines
- [00:00]
Devonte Friga
Go back in and subbed himself back in. I was like, ah, this is like. I wouldn't say it was awkward. It was just like, I gotta. You know, I really want to make sure everyone gets in because, yeah, we got people over here that have 125 million subscribers.
- [00:12]
Mark
Mark.
- [00:12]
Devonte Friga
Mark Robers over here. I'm like the fan. Their fans are going to want to see them get in the game. So I was definitely a little stressed out. But we won the game, so that's.
- [00:21]
Mark
All that matters, right? All right, guys, Devonte Friga here out in Vegas. He's got to run here tonight. Welcome to town, man.
- [00:32]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
- [00:34]
Mark
Yeah, I see you in and out, hooping and dipping right away whenever you're here.
- [00:38]
Devonte Friga
Last time we did the same thing. I mean, when it comes to Vegas, there's a straight through flights just because it's Vegas.
- [00:44]
Mark
Yeah.
- [00:44]
Devonte Friga
So it's easy for us to just fly in in the morning, shoot what we need to shoot and fly right out at night.
- [00:48]
Mark
Absolutely. Yeah. Last time you hooped with Dwight Howard out here, right?
- [00:51]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, it was Dwight. And then the. The very last time that I was here, we were with Donovan Hawkins, who's a phenomenal dunker. He's like one of the best dunkers in the world. And we did a video out here, flew in, flew out. And now tonight's demarcus Cousins.
- [01:05]
Mark
That's gonna be pretty fun. It's gonna be huge.
- [01:07]
Devonte Friga
And he's actually still playing, like, professionally, and he's in shape. He's overseas and whatnot. So I'm. I'm eager to see this one amongst all of the NBA collabs that I've done, just because a lot of the guys and a lot of the former NBA players that we are hooping with lately, they're not necessarily hooping all the time or. Or professionally, I should say.
- [01:26]
Mark
Yeah. But who's performed the best out of all the sneaking players?
- [01:30]
Devonte Friga
It's tough because there's been different settings. So, like Lou and. And Dwight and Mario have been at the park. Ty Lawson was at a men's league. Brandon Jennings was kind of like an indoor setting. So I would say Ty Lawson actually performed the best. He had 45 in this men's league. But I think if I gave. If. If of all five or six people that we've worked with all had that men's league shot, then I feel like everybody would have had 40, 50.
- [02:02]
Mark
Yeah.
- [02:02]
Devonte Friga
Because Joe Johnson played really well at the park too.
- [02:05]
Mark
Yeah. Cause men's league. They're calling all the fouls. You're just racking up free throws, right?
- [02:09]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. I mean, Ty actually didn't shoot one free throw, but he made like nine threes, so it was.
- [02:13]
Mark
Damn.
- [02:14]
Devonte Friga
He played well.
- [02:14]
Mark
He was.
- [02:15]
Devonte Friga
He's in shape, though, you know, And a lot of these guys, like, their whole life, all they know is just being in shape. Yeah. When he retired, he just. There was a moment where I knew he. He wasn't necessarily working out, but he's working out a lot more.
- [02:28]
Mark
Shout out to him. What's the most you've dropped in a men's league game?
- [02:31]
Devonte Friga
100, actually.
- [02:33]
Mark
Holy.
- [02:34]
Devonte Friga
But it was a video that was, can I score 100 points in one game? And it was literally, I just had a team of people that were just only passing me the ball the whole time just to see, like, was it possible? And it's funny because there was like 10 seconds left and I had 97 points.
- [02:50]
Mark
Yeah.
- [02:50]
Devonte Friga
And I just chucked up a three and got fouled. And one missed the free throw, but still got to 100.
- [02:56]
Mark
But it was insane. How many shot attempts was it?
- [02:58]
Devonte Friga
Oh, man, I don't know. It is in the video. Yeah, it's in the video.
- [03:02]
Mark
I got to bring you out to lifetime.
- [03:03]
Devonte Friga
Okay.
- [03:04]
Mark
I'm in the lifetime league.
- [03:05]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, you were telling me about it.
- [03:06]
Mark
Yeah. Yeah. You might have to set the record in the lifetime. Lifetime's actually a decent because they have national tournament. Have you ever played in the lifetime league?
- [03:14]
Devonte Friga
No, I have not really haven't. I've actually heard about it. I've seen some stuff from it, but I didn't know it was. It was national like that.
- [03:20]
Mark
Yeah. Like, every city has a team and they all compete in Vegas every year.
- [03:25]
Devonte Friga
Oh, damn, dude.
- [03:26]
Mark
It's pretty nuts.
- [03:27]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [03:27]
Mark
Yeah, that'd be a cool video. But you're, like, doing much different content these days, right? Like, you're not the center anymore.
- [03:33]
Devonte Friga
I mean, the idea. Right. I mean, I feel like it changes a bunch, you know, because, like, you have to, like, be super innovative with your content or else it's going to just, like, dry out. So we like to, like, do a bunch of things. And one thing hits hard, we just like to do it a couple times and then we'll probably put it on hold for a little bit. But I think. I don't know, man. Like, you know, the online world changes so much and, like, what's good on YouTube last year might not work as well this year. And you just gotta, like, keep up with the algorithm and Keep up with the people that talk about the ins and outs of the YouTube game and actually like study it.
- [04:08]
Mark
Yeah.
- [04:11]
Devonte Friga
But you know, we've got a really good team and I feel like everybody's on point with what we do, so. But yeah, recently we've been doing a lot of these NBA collabs. I know you mentioned like not being the face of it rather, but I feel like we got to a point where we were like, let's try and come up with ideas where we know the title's really good, we know the thumbnail's really good and we know it has a really good storyline. And it kind of just got to the point where it was more so about other people with the sneaking the NBA players into a park run. It's just like all of those things. The title, the thumbnail storyline, they all hit.
- [04:45]
Mark
That was so creative. You were the first to do that type of stuff.
- [04:47]
Devonte Friga
Right. Honestly, I don't want to sit here and say like oh yeah, that's me. I have no idea. But I do know that it worked. I like how we did actually started I went.
- [05:00]
Mark
The Trilite from Therasage is no joke. Medical grade red and and near infrared light with three frequencies per light. Deep healing, real results and totally portable. It's legit photo biomodulation tech in a flexible on body panel. This is the Tri Light from Therassage and it's next level red light therapy. It's got 118 high powered polychromatic lights each delivering three healing frequencies. Red and near infrared from 580 to 980 nanometers. Optimal penetration, enhanced energy, skin rejuvenation, pain, pain relief, better performance, quicker recovery and so much more. Therassage has been leading the game for over 25 years and this panel is FDA listed and USB powered. Ultra soft and flexible and ultra portable on body red light therapy. I use daily and I take it everywhere I travel. This is the Thera 03 ozone module from Therasosh. It's a portable ozone and negative ion therapy in one. It boosts oxygen, clears and sanitizes the air and even helps your mood. It's a total game changer at home or on the go. This little Device is the Thera03 ozone module by Therasog and it's one of my favorite wellness tools. In the sauna it boosts ozone absorption through your skin up to 10 times, oxygenating your blood and supporting deep detox. Outside the sauna it purifies the air killing germs, bacteria, viruses and mold and it improves mood and sleep. Negative ion therapy. It's compact, rechargeable, and perfect for travel. Plus, planes, offices, hotel rooms, you name it. It's like carrying clean energy wherever you go. This is the Thera H2 go from Therasage, the only bottle with molecular hydrogen, structured water and red light in one. It hydrates, energizes, and detoxes water upgraded. The Thera H2 go from Therasage isn't just a water bottle. It's next level hydration. It infuses your water with molecular hydrogen, one of the most powerful antioxidants out there. That means less oxidative stress, more energy, and faster recovery. But here's what makes it stand out. It's the only bottle that also structures your water and adds red light to supercharge it. It's sleek, portable, and honestly, I don't go anywhere without it.
- [07:06]
Devonte Friga
To a small town called Dyersburg, Tennessee. One of my friends was going to college there, Scar. And I was hosting a park run there. And I was like, oh, you should bring the team out. And we just, we. I had no idea what the title of the video. And so I was like, sneaking a college team into a park run because I heard hosted this pickup event at this park in Dyersburg. And I was like, just going to go out there by myself. And then the team ended up showing up and that video did really well. So just kind of going back over a few months later, we wanted to come up with a viral idea and we did another sneaking video. I can't remember what it was. And then last year, we went to Paris with the professor and we did sneaking the professor into a park.
- [07:48]
Mark
That one blew up.
- [07:49]
Devonte Friga
That one was crazy. And that's kind of like what sparked the idea of just trying to get. Okay, like, well, what if we can get like some big name people, bring them to the park, you know, and try and sneak them in with nobody noticing them. So that's how the idea kind of came up. And I don't know how many we have left until people are like, all right, which person's here today? But I guess we'll see.
- [08:09]
Mark
You've also crushed the one on one stuff. And now the NBA's even talking about incorporating one on one in their all star games.
- [08:15]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, I mean, the. The one on one scene is very interesting to me. So, like, what I do on my channel is a little different than what we focus on with the Next Chapter, which is the other platform. And the Next Chapter was founded by Scotty Weaver, and he's Just, he's a genius. Like, he's a. He's a wizard. He's got so many ideas. I think you've talked to Scotty before. We've done. You'll definitely have to have him on, but, you know, he could really only do so much because he's got the vision, but he didn't necessarily have the team with him. But he noticed, like, what we were doing for years, and, you know, we have obviously a team and all that stuff. So he kind of. We were just in contact for months and nothing really worked out, and it got to a point where it made sense, and we just. We merged what we were doing with what Scotty was doing an early time and turn the next chapter into really what it is over the course of the last two years now. And we really are. I always say this. I'm sure if people have seen some stuff, it might sound like a broken record in a way, but we really want to try and turn it into, like, the UFC of 1v1 basketball. And I'm sure being out here, you know a bunch about the ufc, just like, the impact it's had on combat fighting, really, and that whole world, I should say. But just what the UFC did with the combat sports world in the last 25 years is just insane. Like, popularizing it in their own way with the. The storylines and narrative control, the social media era, just taking advantage of all that, the press conferences, the face offs. But then you make these two people fight, and it's like, that's the only thing that matters. After months, shout out to Yay Nuts.
- [10:02]
Mark
Today'S sponsor, if you're looking for a snack that bold, crunchy, and packed with flavor, say Yay to Yay Nuts, the deliciously addictive nuts that bring the party to your taste buds. From almonds to cashews, every bite is a flavor adventure. No junk, no fillers, just straight up awesome. The next time you're craving a snack, don't just go nuts. Yay Nuts. Available now in stores@yay nuts.com of this promotion.
- [10:25]
Devonte Friga
So why can't it work in the basketball world? And, yeah, so we're definitely exploring that. Exploring the best way to do it. People are like, you can't compete with the NBA and what do you mean? The UFC. The UFC. But it's like the NBA has been around for 80 something years now, or 100, I have no idea. 85 years. The UFC has been around for 25 years. We're only in year, like two and a half with just the next chapter Obviously, we've been on social media for seven, eight years now, but we just. We just need time and we need to continually do these events, and each one will get better. I mean, our. Our second livestream ever is Michael Beasley versus Lance Stevenson. So crazy. It's for $100,000. So it's like, for that to be our second one, it really shows the potential. And then, not to mention, Kyrie is going to be commentating it too. So there's a lot of heads that are turning that I feel like people are interested in the idea of this whole 1v1 space. I just think it has to be done right. So, yeah. Excited to see where we take it.
- [11:24]
Mark
You're doing great with the storytelling for that. Michael Beasley versus Lance. Like, there's. There's a lot of videos right. Going up before.
- [11:31]
Devonte Friga
Thank you. Yeah, I mean, that's. That's a team, bro. That's everybody that's involved, though, for sure. We. We had Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson draft their teams on the Next chapter, the. The YouTube channel. And basically it's 24 episodes. 20 of them are gameplay and four of them are reality, which is just like, kind of like we get to see more of what's happening in between the days of the actual games. But Lance and Bees, they got to draft their own team, 12 people each. And then those 12 people, they play against each other in 1v1s, 3v3s. Different concept of games. And obviously, like, the record matters. And we're only past the first day now, so obviously there's a bunch. There's a bunch more episodes coming. I don't know when this podcast comes out, so I don't want to say too much, but super interesting concept where obviously every episode will promote Pay per View, which is the finale, which is Michael Beasley versus Lance Stevenson, one on one for a hundred thousand dollars. And there will be four undercards. Eli Carter versus Moon and. Oh, that's just two really good names there. And then cam verse, Latin, and obviously, like, if you guys are watching and listening and you're not familiar with those players, like, you either got to go get tapped in or wait for the pay per View, you know, see it, but. And then there's going to be 2 fan voted from the episodical stuff that we're releasing.
- [12:55]
Mark
Nice.
- [12:56]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, it'll be cool. So the fans get a chance to vote in the other two games for the Pay per View card, which obviously, like the people that are on Lance and Bees team right now. And the episodes that we're releasing will get a chance to have earn that spot. Really?
- [13:10]
Mark
That's awesome, man. Lance came to my run a few weeks ago.
- [13:12]
Devonte Friga
Oh, yeah.
- [13:13]
Mark
He's looking like he's in shape, man.
- [13:14]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, he is, bro. I'm excited. I'm excited. I know a lot of people heard Michael Beasley, and I know he's this Myth 1v1 player, but you got to watch out for Lance Stevenson. And I mean that like, like, I don't even know what the word I'm looking for here is. I mean, that as in detailed as I could get, like, Lance is definitely in shape. He's hungry. He feels like he knows he's the underdog and he just wants to take Beasley's head off.
- [13:42]
Mark
I love him, though. I can't wait to watch that. Who do you have as the goat of one one on one basketball? Oh, man, that's a tough one. People say Carmelo.
- [13:50]
Devonte Friga
I know people say Carmelo. Carmelo's a phone booth, like, a phone booth player where he can really just jab you. Like, he doesn't even need to dribble to beat you. Like, I, I, when somebody asked me this question, I always picture, like, man, who would. I genuinely just, I really don't want to play, which obviously there's a lot of people, but I think of people like Michael Beasley or like Kobe or Kyrie, but I'm just going to go with Kyrie. I feel like Kyrie's a, a, a safe answer and hopefully we get to see it one day.
- [14:28]
Mark
Yeah. Is that a biased answer because he's part of the company?
- [14:31]
Devonte Friga
I don't think so because, like, there's so much out there. There's so much out there on, like, him being the greatest isolation score of all time. He's. He's got everything that comes with it. Like I, like you said, it could be bias, though, Mike. I said Michael Beasley and Kyrie. So, I mean, that's like where we're, I mean, they're both myth. The myth. So. Yeah. Joe Johnson as well. Phenomenal isolation player. I threw Kobe in there, too.
- [15:03]
Mark
All good answers. I would throw Duran in there, too.
- [15:05]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, I mean, like I said, you can't go wrong with, like, a bunch. There's a bunch of people you could throw.
- [15:09]
Mark
Yeah. I mean, just Durant, because you can't block a shot even if you're right in front of him. Right. When you play guys that are seven feet, you know who's the toughest you've personally played against one on one.
- [15:19]
Devonte Friga
Oh, I just. I just got my ass kicked by a guy named Nazir Core. Oh, I know Nas.
- [15:23]
Mark
Yeah, I've seen him play.
- [15:24]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, Nas is very good. Like, and I give all credit to him. Like, we did what we needed to do to promote the event, and I said what I said, but honestly, bro, like, you learn a lot about people when you play against them, and I just felt his energy, like, he's just a dog, bro. When I watched him play in the season that we filmed, he played in this three on three, and he was going harder than everybody out there, and he had already had the main event game lined up, but it was just cool to see. Like, you could just tell that's. You just. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they play basketball. And he's got heart. Like, he's.
- [16:03]
Mark
He's got that dog in him for sure. I've seen comments on YouTube when you play in these, like, tournaments, and the prize pool is, like, 10 grand, and people are like, oh, Frigo doesn't care. It's not. Not enough money for him anymore. Do you see those comments?
- [16:14]
Devonte Friga
No, I. I really don't. Like, what do you mean? With the Jesser 1v1?
- [16:17]
Mark
No. I might have been like, how is it House of Highlights that has those creator games or the creator league. Yeah. And they'll have, like, a prize pool.
- [16:24]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. I mean, it's. I don't know. It's usually not 10K. I think the. The 1v1 stuff we did was maybe for 50 50s. No joke. For sure.
- [16:33]
Mark
Yeah.
- [16:33]
Devonte Friga
I. I did this 1v1 tournament with Jesser. Do you know Jesser? Yeah, he's.
- [16:39]
Mark
He.
- [16:39]
Devonte Friga
He's popping, bro. He's. He's killing it right now.
- [16:42]
Mark
He's another one that's innovated very well, like you.
- [16:44]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, he's. Man, I love everything they're doing. The production is spot on. He's got a huge team. He's just got the right people in place, and, like, being at his warehouse and just seeing how they do things was just awesome. So.
- [16:55]
Mark
Yeah.
- [16:56]
Devonte Friga
But no, I mean, you're playing for any amount of money. You want to line it up. Like, if I was playing for free, I'm still gonna go hard. I feel like that's, like, the Baske competitor in me that. N. What. Whatever comments you're seeing, they're definitely not true.
- [17:08]
Mark
That's what I thought people were like, he's not trying as hard.
- [17:11]
Devonte Friga
But, no, didn't.
- [17:12]
Mark
Didn't make sense.
- [17:13]
Devonte Friga
Do we reinvest a lot of Our money. Like we, I, I'm not going to say like, I'll take anything I can get, but I'm saying like, like in, in order to get where we really want this space to get, we have to put everything back in. That's why we're going the pay per view route. Not the only reason, but a big reason in putting things behind a paywall is because like YouTube doesn't necessarily sustain what we're doing right now.
- [17:36]
Mark
Yeah.
- [17:36]
Devonte Friga
And we have to innovate. The businesses that don't innovate die. And this is a, this is a massive jump, high risk, high reward situation. But I think doing it this way we, you know, we get a lot more people involved, we get bigger names involved, we get more money on the line. But it's also the best of both worlds. Like we're still going to release free content.
- [17:56]
Mark
Yeah.
- [17:56]
Devonte Friga
It's going to lead up into, you know, something behind a paywall. But it's like games that you feel like you should, you should pay to watch.
- [18:03]
Mark
Yeah. But is that strategy of reinvesting everything something you learned from Mr. Beast?
- [18:08]
Devonte Friga
That's actually funny. Like, I feel like, I feel like it's always been like reinvesting yourself. Reinvesting yourself because for a while it was like, I want to save up a bunch of money and reinvest in assets and all that stuff, which obviously is I, you know, still a primary. But first things first. You gotta reinvest in yourself. So that's always just been the thing. But I do know Mr. Beast has preached that for, on YouTube for years.
- [18:36]
Mark
Yeah.
- [18:37]
Devonte Friga
I don't know. Yeah, yeah. We were just with Mr. Beast out there. Oh, that was insane.
- [18:42]
Mark
That looked fun.
- [18:43]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [18:43]
Mark
USA versus Mexico. Right.
- [18:45]
Devonte Friga
It was the biggest English speaking creators versus the biggest Spanish speaking creators. And they had creators from Mexico, creators from Argentina, creators from Spain. They all spoke Spanish. But it wasn't just like Mexico versus us. It was English speaking vers. Spanish speaking. And that was really cool just to see what they've built just from YouTube. Like obviously a lot of their profit margins are probably from the products that they've gotten into now with, you know, the Feastables and the, the Lunch Lee and the apparel outside of just their adsense. I'm sure like if they relied solely on that, they wouldn't be nearly as close to everything or they wouldn't even have what they have.
- [19:29]
Mark
Yeah.
- [19:30]
Devonte Friga
But super motivating though, like just to see how many different studios he has on 125 acres out there.
- [19:38]
Mark
Yeah.
- [19:39]
Devonte Friga
And the team, the the production gear. Just everything behind this is really.
- [19:46]
Mark
Yeah, I bet it was surreal for you. You're surrounded by the biggest content creators in the world.
- [19:49]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. You know, it was insane.
- [19:51]
Mark
He personally invited you out, right?
- [19:52]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, well, actually, I got the invite because of Chandler.
- [19:56]
Mark
Okay.
- [19:56]
Devonte Friga
One of his boys, Chandler. So shout out to Chandler. When Mr. Beast dropped the promo for it, I commented on it, and then I ended up DMing him and just, like, trying to get involved because it was talking about content and basketball. I know he wanted, like, the largest creators, and I was actually supposed to be Kevin Garnett's assistant coach, and Kevin Garnett, I think, dropped out maybe a day or two before.
- [20:22]
Mark
Wow.
- [20:22]
Devonte Friga
And so I got the head coach.
- [20:23]
Mark
Holy crap.
- [20:24]
Devonte Friga
I'll take it.
- [20:25]
Mark
Was that your first time coaching a game?
- [20:28]
Devonte Friga
I coached aau, like, when I was in. When I was in college, my freshman year, I coached an AAU team, but that was probably last time I coached. You didn't like it? I was like, I actually felt a lot of pressure in the coaching position just because, like, I don't really know a lot of these creators personally that I was with. So this being the first impression is just like, I don't want to make anybody mad. Yeah, you want to sub them in, whatever. And it's like, you can't sub out Mr. Beast in his own event. So I got to work with four people, and then some people like. Like, Marlin Streamer was there, and he was like our biggest player, and he was playing really well, and he didn't, you know, he couldn't come out because these guys, they still wanted to win. So I felt like I was really working with, like, seven, three or four people. When Jimmy. When Mr. Beast came out of the game, he kind of, like, subbed himself out, and then he came over, he took a drink, and then he's like, all right, I'm ready to go back in. And subbed himself back in. I was like, this is like. I wouldn't say it was awkward. It was just like, I got to. You know, I really want to make sure everyone gets in because, yeah, we got people over here that have 125 million subscribers.
- [21:31]
Mark
Mark.
- [21:31]
Devonte Friga
Mark Robers over here. I'm like, the fan. Their fans are going to want to see them get in the game. So I was definitely a little stressed out. But we won the game, so that's all that matters.
- [21:40]
Mark
Right? Jimmy's got a bit of a jumper, too, I saw.
- [21:43]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. So I don't think he made one for me. I was, like, telling him like, dude make a three, like, shooter. He passed up a lot of open threes. He did. I mean, he passed him up for better shots, so it's like, can't be too mad about it, but I just know, like, people want to see him hit three.
- [21:56]
Mark
Yeah. Now I know you played D3. Did you want to keep playing pro after that, or what was your mindset then?
- [22:02]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, I mean, I. I talked to a few people, like a few agents and whatnot about, like, really wanting the chance to play. And I just. I wouldn't say I never got my chance. I just feel like I put most of my focus and my time and energy towards the YouTube side. Because when I started my YouTube channel in college, it took me a few years to like, really kind of find that niche of D3 Hooper, blah, blah, blah. And then I grew it from 0 to 100k with my boys. When I graduated college, I had maybe like115,000 subscribers and. And all that stuff. So there was like, this weird period where I was like, man, do I want to keep going hard on the YouTube side or do I want to, like, do the whole pro thing? And honestly, I wanted to do both because what I was doing in college was just documenting my Life as a D3 basketball player, and I wanted to just go, go overseas, document my life as a pro Hooper. And I don't know, like, looking back at it, I feel like anything in life that I truly wanted to go after, I just was like, I'm gonna go do it. Like. And that wasn't something that I was just blinded by, where I was like, I gotta play pro. I gotta do this. The YouTube side, though, I was like, I have to do this. Like, the. That stuff just motivated me so much more. And it just happened that we filmed a random video of me miked up at a park when we were going through that weird period of not really knowing what kind of content to post. When I graduated and the video went viral, it did like 2.5 million on YouTube in four or five days. And it was former D3 hooper, miked up at the park, verse X D1 recruits or something like that. And we gained like a hundred thousand subscribers in a couple days off of that. The video did super well. It made a bunch of money. We put the money back into just going all across the US to different. Different cities doing park events then. And that's when the first tour happened, when, like, all those videos were first going viral and these, like, park runs were coming back and stuff and. And I just had. I felt like we had found something that I wanted to continue to explore rather than trying to play overseas and play professionally. I still feel like I could play, but now I'm getting into even more where I'm like, I just don't think it's gonna happen.
- [24:24]
Mark
Yeah. I also think you'll make more going the content route anyways.
- [24:28]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, for sure. If it. If it's about the money side. Yeah. You know, if it's about, like, saying, like, I still played professional then, you know, but I just feel like I'm past that part now. I feel like it's. No, it's no longer like, wanting to play pro play in a pro league and like, let's start our own pro league.
- [24:47]
Mark
Right. But, yeah, I feel like you are a big part of the. The park run culture changing too. Now. If you pull up to any park run, there's someone filming. Yeah. It's inevitable now.
- [24:57]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. That's crazy.
- [24:58]
Mark
I remember 10 years ago you would pull up. No, no one was filming.
- [25:01]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. I'm like, I don't know how to feel about it. Like, it's cool, but some people are like, ah, it takes away from, you know, just going up to the park and hooping, which I think you can still do, but, you know, it's just the culture. It's the culture. It's the way that people. It's just the way it is now.
- [25:19]
Mark
It is. Yeah. But now you got a lot of ISO ball people looking for highlights.
- [25:22]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, that's true.
- [25:23]
Mark
You know, that's true.
- [25:24]
Devonte Friga
A, you is cooked.
- [25:26]
Mark
Yeah, it's interesting, man. But these nil bags are looking nice too. At least they are. You know, you got guys playing D1 making six figures a year. It's pretty insane.
- [25:35]
Devonte Friga
Seven.
- [25:36]
Mark
Yeah, some people. Seven. Cooper Flag probably made seven.
- [25:38]
Devonte Friga
Oh, yeah, for sure. I just saw something come out the other day and it was like. It was like, star player, off the bench player and then just like. Bench.
- [25:50]
Mark
Yeah.
- [25:50]
Devonte Friga
And it showed, like, how much people are still making from not even getting in the game. Like, just. They don't really have a ton of influence necessarily. Like, I wouldn't say they don't have any, but I would say they wouldn't. Maybe somebody at the end of the Duke bench doesn't have as much influence as Cooper Flag, obviously, but they're still getting a bag for something, you know?
- [26:09]
Mark
Yeah.
- [26:09]
Devonte Friga
So it's just cool to see. I'm. I feel like a little indifferent on it, though, I think, because it's like a lot of these people, they make it to the collegiate level to then fight to get to the pros to make their bag. And I don't know if maybe I feel like maybe for some people it's like, could possibly take that motivation away from them early because like, you know, if you get paid six, seven figures and you never had money before, that's a lot. One, it's going to be life changing for sure. It's definitely a lot for sure. And then you're just not really going to be. Not really going to know necessarily what to do with it or maybe how you feel or maybe like you made it. Maybe the whole thing was like, I need to do this so I can make money. And then you finally do without making it to that pro level and you're like, you know, I made it. Teach their own though. I mean, some people, maybe they get the money and they're like, maybe this isn't what I want to do. I want to take this money and invest it and do something else.
- [27:02]
Mark
But I mean, statistics show that's not the case. Your brain is still developing until 26. Like if you make a million at 18, the odds of you keeping all that are very slim.
- [27:13]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [27:14]
Mark
Unless you got the right guidance around you, which. Yeah, you know, I think a lot of teams are taking, taking that part serious these days. Yeah. Because you see a lot of pro athletes go broke after, you know, do you watch college more than NBA or.
- [27:28]
Devonte Friga
Oh, no.
- [27:32]
Mark
You watch NBA more?
- [27:34]
Devonte Friga
Dude, I really don't watch that much basketball. Damn. As like, I know people might be like, oh, really? But I mean, I don't know, man. I'm more so just like, I keep up with the, like, who won what game or like what the stats looked like or like if I was in like a prize fix or whatever. And I put some, put some money on something. I like to see like what they did or that's like maybe when I'll watch the game, just whatever. But yeah, I'm not really. I don't really watch basketball that much.
- [28:06]
Mark
You're just so busy now. Yeah.
- [28:08]
Devonte Friga
Unless like it's. And I know this is like biased, but like if I'm. I'll watch the next chapter episodes and stuff because I'm like interested in what, what obviously we're doing next and how we can make things better and whatnot. But yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say I'm too busy. I guess I'm just not. I haven't really watched it too much.
- [28:26]
Mark
I think that's becoming more and more common. I think people Are getting their highlights on social media now. Yeah, I watch YouTube. Highlights of the games, the playoff games. I don't watch the full game.
- [28:34]
Devonte Friga
No, that's. I downloaded the full game highlights before I was on the plane and I watched.
- [28:40]
Mark
And then I'll see Shaq and Shock talking and that's it. That's. That's the extent of basketball I'm watching.
- [28:44]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [28:45]
Mark
Because a full game is like a three hour block. You got to block out your calendar, man.
- [28:48]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. It's no joke. I mean, unless it's like. See what? The playoffs are different. The playoffs, like when it's 30 or 31 or 22 or. You know what I mean? Like, you're a game away from it. Like you want to have people over or whatever the case may be, then you might be interested in the game. But for me, I'm just kind of like, I'm not there right now.
- [29:06]
Mark
Yeah. How do you think you would do against a WNBA All Star? Have you played against any WNBA in a 1v1? One on one?
- [29:13]
Devonte Friga
I mean, that's. Line me up for a question there. I've played against a couple WNBA players. Like, just like in the gym training and it's always been like a shootout. Really? You know, because, bro, I don't know. There's like the WNBA players, they can shoot.
- [29:34]
Mark
Yeah.
- [29:34]
Devonte Friga
It's crazy. Women can really shoot the ball. But I just think, like, physically it's just a little bit tougher. For sure. I think I'm going to take myself over a lot of people, but I think I would do fine. I think I would win that game for sure.
- [29:49]
Mark
Okay. Yeah, I agree. I think the. The speed and the physicality is what kind of separates it to. But if it's a shootout, it's. It's anyway for sure, bro.
- [29:56]
Devonte Friga
I mean, like somebody like, like just if I did a three point contest against some of the best shooters. Caitlin Clark, wnba, bro, they're gonna torch me.
- [30:04]
Mark
Yeah.
- [30:05]
Devonte Friga
You know, but if we're playing one on one, then I. I like my chances.
- [30:08]
Mark
Yeah. Because then, you know, they're just gonna try to shoot.
- [30:10]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. Play some good defense on them, you know.
- [30:14]
Mark
Yeah. They're gonna be commenting on this club, man, that's gonna be calling you out.
- [30:17]
Devonte Friga
That's all right, bro. That's all right. I feel like I gave credit there.
- [30:20]
Mark
Yeah. No fair game. Have you seen the Brandon Jennings? Yeah, the Brandon Jennings. Pat Bev beef they want?
- [30:26]
Devonte Friga
I have, I have. I would love to set that game up. Honestly, I feel like on an unbiased platform Because I know Pat wants to set it up and all that stuff, but I feel like we're the platform to do it. I'm. Like you said earlier, I could be biased, but I, I also feel like from an outside perspective, it makes sense to do it on Next Chapter. I feel like we've. With the Michael Beasley, Lance Stevenson game, Kyrie commentating 100k on the line, I feel like we've given it that, that credit, you know, the credibility and the validity of being a real game. Like, you can go to the gym, you could check up, you know, behind closed doors, no camera, settle the beef. But it's like you've already done all the talking online. You might as well do it in the one place online that genuinely makes sense. And yeah, I don't know, man. Pat Bev versus Brandon Jennings, though, there's so many guys that are talking that 09 draft class, like, yeah, everybody just started chirping, man. Jeff Teague, Ty Lawson, Brandon Jennings and Pat, like you mentioned, they keep bringing up Drew Holiday's name in there, but he's still playing for a championship right now.
- [31:34]
Mark
So, yeah, I don't know who I got winning that because people don't know. Pat Bev averaged 40 in high school. Yeah, he's known for defense, but he could score.
- [31:43]
Devonte Friga
It was his. He. He is somebody that, like, you pay me to do a job, I'm going to get that job done. And he proved that he was capable of doing that. And that job may have not been going to score 40, but he had superstars alongside of him and he went out and did his job. So I think that that game would not only sell, but I think it would be a good game. Just because of the myth idea of not knowing how Pat Bev would do in a 1v1 situation, but I think he would prove a lot of people wrong. For sure.
- [32:13]
Mark
I'd love to see it. That's one of my favorite.
- [32:15]
Devonte Friga
We probably will.
- [32:16]
Mark
Oh yeah, yeah. Jennings was talking about a one on one tournament. I don't know if you saw that.
- [32:22]
Devonte Friga
I did, I saw it. I just feel like I have mixed feelings about a tournament as opposed to just like mono Imano. Well, I feel like the way that we're trying to do it, when I keep mentioning the UFC of 1v1 basketball, you don't just hear something on a Friday and they fight on a Saturday or Sunday. So like the promotional aspect alone, I think they've done a good job promoting it. I don't want to say that, but I do think that making it like Michael Beasley versus Lance Stevenson and that's it. And then you get to have the promotion for three or four months leading up into it. And it just makes sense, like the tournament might be days long. Like, this is just one day that we're promoting for over the course of a couple months. And you're going to stop everything you're doing that day to figure out who's going to win this game. And also, I just feel like it really solidifies the win a lot more because you. If. If Brandon and Pat end up playing each other in the finals, but Pat be Ty Lawson in the first round, who's to say Ty couldn't, you know, go and beat Pat or whatever. Whatever the case may be. I'm just throwing things out.
- [33:41]
Mark
It's all about matchups.
- [33:42]
Devonte Friga
That's exact. Exactly. Because, like, if. If you and I play one on one and I beat you, but then you go be somebody that I lost to, it's like, now I gotta play that person. You gotta play this person that I beat. And I just feel like that solidifies who you are as a 1v1 player more than just like being crowned through this tournament because you didn't play everybody.
- [34:03]
Mark
That makes sense.
- [34:04]
Devonte Friga
So that's how I feel. So I feel like I just like that mono E. Mono plus human nature's been attracted to it for so long. I always say, since the Coliseum days, like, they're fighting, putting people in the ring. Like people sit down just to watch this. Me versus you. And I just feel like the formula is there. And in the basketball world, like, this is the way to do it.
- [34:26]
Mark
Yeah. I hope they make it happen. I really do. Yeah, I think it would do very well. And shout out to Gilbert Arenas and his podcast. Yeah, that shit's hilarious. I love watching that show, bro.
- [34:34]
Devonte Friga
They're characters. Sure. I see all the clips. I love when they take it outside and play 2v2 or something like that.
- [34:43]
Mark
Yeah, yeah. Those guys are all cool, man. Shout out to them, for sure. So you've played all over the country in a lot of cities. Any cities stand out to you as having some of the top talented Hoopers?
- [34:54]
Devonte Friga
Bro, I get this question more than any question, which. And it makes sense. But. But the reason I say that is because I never have an honest answer because there's been so many places that there's good Hoopers and there's different things that I go to cities for. Like I'll go to a city and do a park run, but usually the people that are Good at the park run are maybe not popping out to do a next Chapter one on one event because, like, the talent level is just a little bit different. So in terms of the park situation north, like Charlotte has always given good competition. Who else in terms of Next Chapter, like Virginia. Virginia is like curveball, just random throwing it out. They're going to want Richmond, Virginia. That's where we went. They were really good out there for sure. You could just tell, like the city was just. They were just different. Energy was different. It kind of felt like a, like a breakthrough for that city because nobody really goes out there to do much. Yeah, when we went out there, it was like the city came out. The energy was good. It was gritty. Like, we actually had to shut down the event before the last game because, like, it was getting serious. Like it was getting dangerous, but it was real.
- [36:17]
Mark
Like in Virginia.
- [36:18]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, Richmond, Virginia sounds crazy. It sounds crazy, but Richmond, bro. Yeah, it's. It's like that in Richmond, Virginia, for sure. Sheesh, man. That. That question is so.
- [36:32]
Mark
It's tough.
- [36:32]
Devonte Friga
I need it. I need a really, like, solidifying answer.
- [36:35]
Mark
No, it's tough on the spot. I get asked, like, who's your favorite guest? And I have 1500 episodes.
- [36:39]
Devonte Friga
Like, yeah, you do have a lot of episodes, bro. You do.
- [36:42]
Mark
So I know how you feel. Does. Do your runs get shut down often like that though, when it gets out of hand?
- [36:47]
Devonte Friga
No, no, it's. It's only happened like a few times. And like there's been times where like people have like guns out at the park or something like that.
- [36:59]
Mark
Jeez, I hate that it gets to that in basketball.
- [37:02]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, it sucks for sure.
- [37:04]
Mark
Like, I'm all about talking, but once.
- [37:05]
Devonte Friga
It gets to that, it's like, yeah, it's bro. Honestly, like, it is. It is a little sad, I think partially is like the cameras and stuff. Like, people don't want to be disrespected on camera. There's like a fine line. But I think, like, like I said, that has happened not even a handful of times. Like a couple times.
- [37:26]
Mark
That's good.
- [37:27]
Devonte Friga
We've only had to like shut down maybe three events ever for park in next Chapter in all of. Well, I've been on YouTube for seven or eight years, but since we've been doing like the tour stuff, maybe four or five years, that's only happened three times, which I think is good because it's like we always try to make sure that it's family friendly atmosphere, like bring the kids out to the park. Like, let's Just have a good time, pick up runs. Um, but you know, I'd be perfect.
- [37:55]
Mark
I'll say this. I'm not as good as basketball as you, obviously, but I pulled up with cameras once to Lifetime. Yeah, People just act different.
- [38:02]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [38:02]
Mark
Like they guard you way more physically. They start talking way more shit. Guys I've been playing with for years, they'll just act completely different. Yeah, I don't know if you experience.
- [38:10]
Devonte Friga
That, but definitely, bro, definitely. People don't want to. It's the cameras, man. People don't want to.
- [38:14]
Mark
They don't want to get embarrassed.
- [38:15]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, yeah, I get it.
- [38:17]
Mark
Yeah. Like, I was getting double teamed. Like, I'm not even like that, you know, like, what the fuck?
- [38:21]
Devonte Friga
Why are you doubling me?
- [38:22]
Mark
Yeah, people are trying to yam on me.
- [38:24]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, I get it. Yeah, I get it, bro. That's how it gets.
- [38:26]
Mark
It's. It's an ego thing, I guess. You're good at, like, drawing that line, though. Like, when you're talking, you never let it get out of hand. I noticed.
- [38:33]
Devonte Friga
Yeah. I mean, I don't know, bro. It's like, I know that we're there, we're filming a video and stuff. Like, sometimes the talk gets out of, out of line, like from me personally, just because, like, as a basketball player and somebody that's super competitive, like, sometimes I black out and I just say things because we're competing, we're going. But I got to remember, like, yo, you got the cameras, I got a mic on. People are going to see this. Like, it's going to be controlled a certain way. So you just got to like, kind of take the eye road, take the back seat. Sometimes when things might get carried away or even if you do something or like, if I do something and it's like possibly viral and the person gets pissed and they say the wrong thing or do some pushing and shoving, like, you got to just, you know, you gotta just. I, I gotta understand, like, I'm the one that pulled up with the cameras and promoted this, and I'm gonna be the one putting it out to a large audience and people are gonna see it. So you kind of just gotta take.
- [39:29]
Mark
The bag, go with the flow. Yeah. Has someone ever hit you up after, like, yo, take the video down?
- [39:33]
Devonte Friga
Like, oh, yeah.
- [39:34]
Mark
I didn't like how it looked for.
- [39:35]
Devonte Friga
Sure, but it doesn't happen a lot. Like one time, and we were in Florida and we did this video. I don't know, it may have been like four years ago now. And I told somebody, like, just on the mic like, thanks for giving me my title and thumbnail, blah, blah, blah. And then hit the three pointer, ended it, talked a bunch of. And then just left. And then they were DMing me like, like, take the clip down. Don't post this. If this gets on espn, like, I'm gonna find your address. Like, I don't know how serious it was because, like, then they were like, we need rematches, blah, blah, blah. But they. People have definitely said it before you.
- [40:14]
Mark
Actually took it down.
- [40:14]
Devonte Friga
No.
- [40:15]
Mark
Oh, you did?
- [40:17]
Devonte Friga
No.
- [40:17]
Mark
Geez. I mean, hats off to you. I would have been a little nervous.
- [40:20]
Devonte Friga
No, I don't think it's that serious.
- [40:22]
Mark
Yeah, I never let it get off court, personally.
- [40:24]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, I'm definitely trying not to. I try. And like, I. I remember talking to him a little bit in the DMS and stuff and just like, you know, trying to calm the situation down a little bit.
- [40:33]
Mark
Yeah, I had an incident where he, like, he clenched up and I was like, oh, shit. Like, now this is where it ends.
- [40:39]
Devonte Friga
Like, I actually don't think I've ended up, like, squaring up with anybody.
- [40:42]
Mark
Oh, really?
- [40:43]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [40:43]
Mark
That's surprising because you play a lot of runs, for sure. Well done.
- [40:46]
Devonte Friga
My distance from people can't say the.
- [40:49]
Mark
Same with certain other content creators.
- [40:51]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, sometimes they provoke it, though. Yeah, it's like, it does. It does. Well, people, like, people are into the violence and like, the major trash talk, the pushing, the shove in the fighting. There was a period of time where, like, that made sense for YouTube basketball, like, who could post the most toxic videos. But now, like, honestly, for me, it's just, how good of a title, thumbnail storyline can we have? Like, what type of guests can we get out there and all that stuff. But hello, there was a period of time where it was like, man, like, we gotta get some toxic to happen.
- [41:20]
Mark
I remember those days. Yeah, we both know who we're thinking of, I think, but bro, but they.
- [41:25]
Devonte Friga
Were killing it, though. It was entertaining. Although. And we're talking about Nick, right? Yeah, Nick and them. Nick Briz. A savage squad. Like, people can say what they want about it, Bar, but people were watching that. They were smart.
- [41:36]
Mark
They were pulling a million a video.
- [41:37]
Devonte Friga
Easy, bro in a day or two.
- [41:40]
Mark
And I was on his YouTube yesterday. He hasn't posted in five months, so shout out to him.
- [41:44]
Devonte Friga
I gotta, I gotta hit him up, see how he's doing. We always, like, had an interesting relationship, but now obviously we're cool for sure. But definitely make sure he's good.
- [41:53]
Mark
Yeah, hopefully he can bounce back. So you've had some beats and rivalries in the.
- [41:58]
Devonte Friga
Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I definitely have.
- [42:00]
Mark
I never know if that shit's actually real or it's just to sell stuff.
- [42:04]
Devonte Friga
I think it's just competitive. Like, it's definitely real. A lot of the stuff that we say online, back and forth, like, nobody's like friends. Like, nobody really sees each other every day. Like, when me and Nas were promoting the pay per view, obviously we knew we were promoting it to try and like get it. To get it to more eyes and whatnot. But the things we were saying were definitely for real. Like, I was trying to promote it, but I meant what I said because I was trying to compete and I'd probably never been in the same room as him more than maybe two or three times before that.
- [42:35]
Mark
Damn.
- [42:35]
Devonte Friga
So it's definitely real. Same with Nick Briz. Like, when we were going back and forth a while ago, like, the beef was definitely real because we were just saying some crazy about it about each other. But we settled it as men behind closed doors, not online and all that stuff.
- [42:50]
Mark
Respect.
- [42:51]
Devonte Friga
And then with Dev, like, Dev in the lab, I had some beefs with him. We settled it.
- [42:54]
Mark
Really.
- [42:55]
Devonte Friga
1V1. Oh, it was a while ago. We were setting up another Pay per view. 1v1, a while ago, three, four years ago. And we were just going back and forth online. But again, we knew what we were doing to promote it. But also the things we were saying, like, we definitely meant it. But I don't think it was like hatred beef. It was just like competitive nature. Like, I'm going to beat you. I could see, though I wasn't talking about his family or his kids or anybody.
- [43:16]
Mark
Yeah. Once it gets personal.
- [43:17]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, it's. It's not personal. Yeah.
- [43:20]
Mark
What about. Has he got. Are you cool with him? Yeah.
- [43:22]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, me and Hezzy are cool for sure.
- [43:23]
Mark
He gets a lot of hate, man. I had him on the show and I was like, dude, like, you might get the most hate out of anyone I've seen in the basketball space, bro.
- [43:30]
Devonte Friga
Julian Newman gets hate for sure, in my opinion. But has he definitely in this space? Like, because Julian's not necessarily, like, it's different because Julian's getting into the social media creator basketball world. But Hezzy definitely gets a lot of hate. I just think it's his style of play. Like, he's always going for a clip in a way. And some people are with it, some people aren't. Like, it's. He talks his. Like, I. I like Hesi. I like watching Hesi play. So I could see why make everybody, you know, you can't please everybody.
- [44:02]
Mark
I could see why people would hate him. Yeah, like the, the push off is like the biggest comment. It's just like disrespectful, you know, stuff.
- [44:09]
Devonte Friga
I guess so. Yeah, I get it. But I don't hate him.
- [44:13]
Mark
Yeah, I mean, you're doing well, man. Last year I saw you made a video. Best year your life. Two and a half million dollars in revenue.
- [44:19]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [44:19]
Mark
That's insane, man.
- [44:20]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, man, we. We did some cool stuff last year. I can't wait to make this year's year. And I was just talking to you about this. I was like, man, like the difference in last year's year in review video and this year's is going to be insane, bro.
- [44:33]
Mark
You might hit 10 M's this year.
- [44:37]
Devonte Friga
It's possible.
- [44:38]
Mark
I can see it with your growth. I mean, you're really growing right now. And with the next chapter taking off. Yeah, yeah. And you'll be close.
- [44:46]
Devonte Friga
Yeah, bro, I don't know. I gotta.
- [44:48]
Mark
That's crazy to think about, right? Eight figures. Yeah, I've only done it once.
- [44:52]
Devonte Friga
Yeah.
- [44:53]
Mark
Yeah. I've been stuck at seven for a bit. But eight figures is different. You in a different league at eight figures.
- [44:58]
Devonte Friga
That's. Yeah, that's different. But you know, people are gonna hear this and be like, oh my God. Like, you know, but they don't know. Like you to get to that, you've really got to like reinvest it. It's definitely a lot of money. Like we, we can definitely make a lot of money.
- [45:11]
Mark
Yeah.
- [45:11]
Devonte Friga
But it's like to get this to where we really want it to be, you got to turn around and put all eight of them figures back in.
- [45:20]
Mark
Oh yeah.
- [45:20]
Devonte Friga
You know?
- [45:21]
Mark
Yeah. People hear seven eight figures and they assume you're making millions, but you're not. Yeah, I remember making like doing that in revenue, but making like 100k. Of course, like people don't realize you got to reinvest it all.
- [45:31]
Devonte Friga
Have to.
- [45:32]
Mark
I love that mindset, man. Well, anything else you want to close off with here, bro?
- [45:36]
Devonte Friga
How long has it been?
- [45:37]
Mark
I mean, it's been 42 minutes, 43 minutes bad.
- [45:39]
Devonte Friga
Do you usually keep them like pretty.
- [45:41]
Mark
Usually 45. Yeah.
- [45:42]
Devonte Friga
Okay. No, man, just I super grateful to come on to the show. I know we've been trying to do this for years now.
- [45:50]
Mark
Yeah, I think two years. You were one of the first people I hit up to. Come on, man.
- [45:53]
Devonte Friga
Okay.
- [45:54]
Mark
I've been watching you for like five years.
- [45:57]
Devonte Friga
Really?
- [45:57]
Mark
Since you ran in Florida.
- [45:58]
Devonte Friga
Wow. Okay. Yeah, man. No, definitely super grateful. Excited about this. I also want to bring it up one more time. The Michael Beasley Lance Stevenson game live on pay per view June 6 on tncleague.com it's it's going to be insane. They're playing for a hundred thousand dollars. We got Kyrie Irving commentating it. There's going to be a bunch of celebs, a VIP booth, a bunch of, like, really cool names out there. It's going to be open to the public. We haven't announced that yet. Just because, like, it's going to be massive when we do it. I believe it might be in Miami. Miami, Florida. Yeah, man.
- [46:36]
Mark
Dude, thanks for coming on. That was fun. Yeah, check them out, guys. Peace.