← Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
Interview Only: Black-ish creator Kenya Barris discusses his new “The Unusual Suspects” podcast.
00:33:04
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- [00:00]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday, keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:31]
Stephen A. Smith
What's up, everyone? Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [00:36]
Kenya Barris
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [00:38]
Stephen A. Smith
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [00:42]
Kenya Barris
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [00:47]
Stephen A. Smith
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [00:51]
Kenya Barris
Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [00:55]
Stephen A. Smith
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSP on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My next guest is an Emmy award winning producer and the writer, director and actor known for hit ABC sitcoms Blackish, Grownish, Mixed Ish. He's also known for directing you People starring Eddie Murphy on Netflix, among other things. Of course, now he's got a new podcast on Audible called the Unusual Suspects, and it appears that he's taken over my. My studio. I mean, that's. I don't even know what else to say. The one and only Kenya Barris is in the house. What's up, big time? How are you, man?
- [01:35]
Kenya Barris
I'm good, bro. I just want to make a couple quick changes that I. Oh, my Lord.
- [01:39]
Stephen A. Smith
That's my. That's my book.
- [01:40]
Kenya Barris
Just a couple edits.
- [01:46]
Stephen A. Smith
What could I have done better? What could I have done better, man?
- [01:48]
Kenya Barris
As perfect as. Tell me, how are you, bro?
- [01:52]
Stephen A. Smith
It's good to see you, my brother. It's good to see you. First of all, first order of business, with all that you've accomplished, with all the great things that you continue to do in Hollywood and beyond, here you are with a new podcast. Talk to me about this. The Unusual Suspects. What is it all about?
- [02:08]
Kenya Barris
I got with Malcolm. We became friends. I approached him at a restaurant. And my joke is when you see a writer in public, it's kind of like seeing a porn star because it's like you've seen somebody who you have this intimate relationship with. You know what I'm saying? And you don't see him out. So when I saw him, I was like, oh. And I did the whole, I never do this. But, like, he couldn't have been sweeter. And we struck up a friendship since then, and we kind of realized that we looked at things as, he's a million times smarter than me, but we looked at things. We both like to look at the thing behind the thing. And we kind of thought we were an odd couple, but at the same time, not odd couple. And we. I'm a huge fan of his revisionist history podcast and his books, and we were like, let's get together and talk to people we both love that other people love, but might not know that they love him or why they love him or who exactly are. And that's kind of the point behind the podcast.
- [03:06]
Stephen A. Smith
Wow, that's a great idea. Shoot. I wish I would have thought about it my damn self. But that's why you are who you are. And I'm just little old me. I'm just little old me. I mean, how interested are you in really, really doing this? Because you're a doer. Some of us are just talkers, for crying out loud. But you've done a lot. You've accomplished a lot. What is it going to be like for you to be in front of the microphone? And not only that, keep in mind that even in the age of podcasting, it almost seems like a video is attached to every podcast. So you're going to be seen and heard more from a literal perspective. And it's not just your name and people knowing the name, and that's the man who does this great work. But now they'll see you and they'll know you. How ready are you for that?
- [03:51]
Kenya Barris
We did it. So it's finished. So. So it's coming out. So we will. We will see. I was, you know, I'm. I got a little bit more comfortable being in front of the camera doing black af, but I still feel like you can rob me with a camera. Dion Cole says you can rob him with a snake. You can rob me with a camera. Like, but I do. I do like asking questions. I think that everybody's story is amazing. You know what I'm saying? Even the time we've spent just talking about just, I think everybody's story, if you just sit down and talk to anybody, everybody's story is amazing. And we got to talk to some truly amazing people who had truly amazing stories. And one of the things that we, I guess like, the narrative thematic that we were looking for, everybody is like, is there something that people who have achieved great things, is there something in them that we could kind of find a narrative to? And there were some things, you know, I'm saying, relationships to mothers or surrogate mothers, relationships to, you know, passion compared to compulsion compared to, you know, ambition. But, like, in general, it was really just amazing sitting on listening to people that we all kind of had our own, like, sort of secret, private love.
- [05:01]
Stephen A. Smith
Relationship with, you know, when I look at you and I think about the great work that you've done throughout the years, I guess the question that I think about asking you often is, what would you say you bring to Hollywood, to television, to movies, et cetera? That's an aberration. That's different than what other people have brought.
- [05:21]
Kenya Barris
A bunch of luck. No, I feel like. I think I. You know, and just to talk. Same thing, I think that you do. Same thing I think that a lot of people do. We come from a different place that Hollywood was not used to, you know what I'm saying? And I try to bring the most authentic version of who I am, the most authentic version of telling stories, and also the most authentic version of other people's stories. I think that is, for me, I don't like to play the, you know, the game of, like, trying to, you know, reach everybody. I want to reach the people who want to hear the truth. And I think that's something that we do in this podcast and, you know, hopefully do just in the work that I do.
- [06:03]
Stephen A. Smith
Why do you think you've been able to pull it off, particularly in ways that most people, especially most black folks, haven't been able to pull off, Obviously, the road, the obstacles that Hollywood presents or what have you, that's a challenge in and of itself. But you've clearly conquered a lot of the obstacles that have been placed in the path of many, many of us. That hasn't been the case for you, at least from our vantage point. How do you think you've been able to pull it off?
- [06:28]
Kenya Barris
I mean, first and foremost, like, you know, not to go. I mean, you know, obviously, God, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, I think he has plans, and he's given me, you know, some blessings and a destination that has a journey for me. So I always want to take that first. I think that I also feel like, you know, I started from the bottom. I was a PA and worked my way up. I think that's something that doesn't happen as much anymore. You know what I'm saying? People kind of get thrust into it and they aren't quite ready because the place that they're thrust into, they haven't seen all the stuff that can come before. I think working your way up and learning that, you know, what everybody's job is, what everybody's name is, what everybody's job is important and having respect for that and just like, really, really being curious. Like, I'm really, really curious about a lot of different stuff. And so I'm being curious and trying to answer my curiosities and then do it in an entertaining way. I think that's sort of. If there's been anything that's sort of been. The thing that I try to do is like, take stuff that people are curious about and how to answer it back and. And not just answer from one point of view. Make sure you put enough different people and different characters. Me and Malcolm are different, but the same in some aspects. But make sure you don't come at it from just one point of view. Come at it from a lot of different points of view and be open to, like, people disagreeing, like you disagree with your co hosts and people all the time. I think that's what makes some of the best stories.
- [07:50]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, I'm wondering what. What do you feel about the advent of podcast? And not only that, seemingly everybody having their own production company in this day and age, venturing into a world where that some would say you've now mastered. How do you feel about the proliferation of just the activity in the industry now more so than ever before? Because I imagine somebody like yourself has an idea about who's qualified to be in this space and who isn't. What are your thoughts about that?
- [08:20]
Kenya Barris
I love it. You know what I'm saying? I love it. And the reason I love it is, you know, I look up, you know, I look at you. The difference between you. I look at Cam and Mace, the difference between Shannon, the difference between, you know, Oprah or whoever, you know, same people or, you know, whatever. And I feel like there's a. I think finally there's a lot of diversity. I think it's really important. I also feel like it will show eventually that the cream will rise, which I think is really important because I think that everybody can't do something. And once people, Everybody thinks they can, it kind of actually makes the people who can do it a little bit more special. So in a little bit of an asshole way. I love that everybody's trying to do it. I love one of My favorite things is, like, people come over my house and my office is decent. My boys I grew up with will be like, man, I should start writing. And I'm like, yeah, because it's just that easy. Everybody can do it. You should start doing it, too. You know what I'm saying? It's like, I think the idea of we're in a place where the media and the tools have allowed people to feel like everybody can do it, everybody can't do it. You know what I'm saying? We'll see if I can do it. But I feel like there are certain people who are good at what they do, and you gotta give everybody a chance so that it will actually. The cream will rise. People will say, oh, that dude is actually really special.
- [09:41]
Stephen A. Smith
When you look at right now, particularly. Let me transition for a quick second to what you live in Los Angeles. And what has transpired in Los Angeles with the wildfires, obviously, has been catastrophic. So many people being displaced, so many people losing their homes, et cetera. You have folks who ain't even political getting a bit political because they're disgusted with the local government and how they've been doing things in terms of their planning, their preparation, et cetera, et cetera. You could take it anywhere you want to go. As this stuff has unfolded over the last few weeks in Los Angeles and its outskirts of Pacific Palisades and beyond Altadena, let's not forget that. What have been your thoughts watching all of this unfold?
- [10:21]
Kenya Barris
I have had a huge amount of thoughts. Him saying, and, like, it's a really big, big, big, big. It's like, it stopped me from doing a lot of my work. You know, I had a conversation with a couple filmmakers. If I had time right now, I would turn a camera on and I would tell that camera to go and start taping. And I would call it A Tale of Two Cities. And I want to see right now in real time how these two cities affected by both fired. Unbelievable tragedy where people lost. Of how it's handled and the difference in how it's handled. I'd love to tell that story. That's one thing I'd love to do. I think you could almost make a case study out of how it's, you know, the difference of how it's handled. I've also talked to, you know, a lot of friends and people that I have relationships with to try to talk about for my particular. You know what I'm saying? I'm sad for everyone, but, you know, my particular people to advocate, like, an Alt Eam was the first one of, if not the first black middle class enclave where we could have it. And it's one of the only places in America where you have, like, historic, you know, passed down like grandmothers gave the houses to mothers, gave the houses to daughters, you know what I'm saying? And that's one of the only places that's still in this country. You could see that. I'm very much so concerned that Altadena, you know, some big development group, Blackstone, Black Rock, whatever you want to call it, is going to come in and they're going to take it from us and it's going to be, you know, Pasadena Hills, you know what I'm saying? Or Pasadena too. And I feel like I want to make sure that that place continues to look like it was like it looked before it was, you know, this tragedy happened. Because I think it's really important that we have. We saw it happen to us in New Orleans, we saw it happening to us in Harlem, we saw it happen in Brooklyn, we saw it happen in Miami, the Venice canals. We saw it happen in England. The idea that when things happen, we get wiped out and they figure out another way. So I've had some conversations. I have been, in some aspects, really inspired by the response. In other aspects, which I keep to myself right now, I feel like certain people have sort of de. Galvanized from a group and sort of been more interested in their path. But I feel like, for me, I really want this to be something that we help the city and the audience and the guests and the people who live there. You know, I'm saying, and the people who've been a part of the strategy, be able to look and see that that city looks like the city that they remember when they. When they, you know, when it was at its heyday, I think the population's at 36% black. It was well over 50 or 60, and gentrification has started shrinking. It. I don't want to look up 10 years from now and it's just been wiped away.
- [13:20]
Stephen A. Smith
Please consider me a soldier on your behalf and making sure we keep a spotlight on that kind of story, because clearly we don't need to just sit back and let that happen and be quiet about it. Ain't no question about that. So I'm riding with you on that one all day, every day. I gotta ask you about Hollywood in this regard, though. Talking to Rob Lowe just a couple of days ago, he was talking about how he's lived in Los angeles since the 70s and Hollywood, meaning the business in Hollywood. Hollywood itself, you know, just the business that's everywhere. There's Atlanta, there's various other places, Detroit, various other places throughout the country, throughout the world, even Vancouver, crying out loud, stuff like that. But in Hollywood businesses, you just see the level of activity dissipating. Does Hollywood have a lot to worry about because of. Of the local government and things that are going on in the state of California? Does Hollywood have a lot to worry about?
- [14:15]
Kenya Barris
Hell, yeah. I feel like you are in an industry that is controlling the world right now in terms of entertainment. Sports controls is the number one driver right now of entertainment. All the entertainment facets, from the streamers to the linear parts to the cable, have quadrupled 10 times, tenfold. Their contracts doubled down, tripled down. They understand that sports is a driving force. I think the idea of, like, actual narrative, you know, content is taking a dive. There's been several articles that talked about, I think comedies are down 37%. I feel like I tried to, like, examine why. I think, you know, I went to a game the other day and the Clippers were down. I'm a Clipper fan. The clippers are down 26th in the first by the end, but we won the game. And I think that's one thing that people understood about sports and why those contracts in the NBA and NFL were able to sort of get the money they want. Because every night when you watch a sports game, it's like watching potentially a hit movie. And there's nothing else in the world that can give you that promise of that, you know what I'm saying? You can't promise that with the television show or promise that one movie. So I understand why sports so important, But I also feel like, you know, we're seeing a contracting of all the media studios. You know, it used to be 20, and now we're saying it's getting attracted to this many this. And it's going to be smaller and smaller. And I feel like more and more jobs are being lost. You see, when tragedies like this happen, those are people who are going to move out of Los Angeles. Where are they going to go? I feel like, you know, I was looking. I'm doing a documentary on the great Jerry West. I got to interview Adam Silver in basketball, which I'm a huge fan of. It's down and watching. I think it's down 48%, something like that, you know what I'm saying? And I think the only reason you can look at that is kids don't watch. Aren't watching TV live, right? You know what I'm saying? So if you're really a basketball fan, growing up, I, I watch my team every, you know, you had to watch them three, four times a week, you know what I'm saying? Football has a great advantage, even though there's a couple days, but in general, you get one day a week. They own a day of the week, you know what I'm saying? And it's benefited from that. Also. The thing that I. This is my own personal beef. Like, you know, NBA dominates social media. You can go look at the clips, which in some aspects probably felt like a really great thing. But when you're not watching your team every week, every night, and you can just look on clips and see Lamelo's highlights or see bronze highlights or see Jaws highlights, that helps. Hurts the things. And I also feel like the globalization of sports, you know what I'm saying? I think there's a lot of different things that are affecting what media is, but I do think that it is. We're seeing sparks of it come back. I was super happy to see Issa's movie open up. Well, I'm excited about the Oscars. Maybe it brings some excitement to it. I think if you look at the, you know, we've had to survive a pandemic, a strike, and now these fires, you know what I'm saying? And now, you know, just in an election, you know what I'm saying? I think there's been some things that have really stunted what entertainment is and having it grow. But I feel like hopefully there is some hope of some things coming back, you know what I'm saying? I think that we're seeing some of the right people, like you, Chuck, Shaq. I'm seeing people who actually know the game, getting into it in a different way. They're going to create. You guys are going to create better stuff. So I have faith, but I do, I am worried.
- [17:52]
Stephen A. Smith
Let me transition to you in this regard. Multigenerational Coca Cola commercial. I watched it. I saw my man Amari Harvick. I saw Laura London in there. I mean, I was like, I said, damn, that seemed, I mean, that seemed like a Super bowl commercial. I mean, this is some special stuff right here, right now. That's what I'm talking about with Kenya Burst. Talk to me about that. Tell me about how that came about.
- [18:14]
Kenya Barris
I got a chance. They came to me. They've only did it once before. They did with the creator of the bear. They wanted to do something that stretched over some generations, I worked with them. I pitched out idea of, like, you know, growing up in the hood, Everybody had that liquor store that they went to. And it served a lot of different purposes. It was, you know, the thing. It kind of almost becomes like a community icon. And I felt like I wanted to tell a story that, like, what happens over the generations. And I think, you know, interesting enough, Coca Cola is often a sponsor of that. You know what I'm saying? You go in there and you do your suicide at the machine. Or you play video games. Or you had your first kiss. Or you got your. In your first fight, got your bike stole. Got your bike stole there. So I feel like telling that story was really special to me. And they really, you know, we had, you know, to get that cast together. You know, get my sister Lauren London, get the great Omari Harwig, you know, Tay Hecker. I got my kid's mom. And my kids were in it with me. I'm saying Lionel Voices, I think could be the face of the next generation of black superstars. I'm saying to do it under the banner of Coke and under the banner of a store in the hood, like, that was a dream come true, man.
- [19:25]
Stephen A. Smith
I don't know if you ever realized, I mean, how phenomenal it is that you pulled off what you pulled off with Blackish. And this is what. Let me tell you this little story. Cause Anthony Anderson is a friend of mine. And he came to me and he talked to me about Blackish. He came on first take to promote Blackish before. Before the first episode. And I never forget, he and I were talking in the green room prior to it. And I said, bro, great cast. Kenya's that dude. I'm not worried about the content. Here's my problem. Look at the world we living in. The title, Blackish. Are you sure? Are you sure that that's not gonna hold it back? ABC network television Blackish. He said, we ain't worried one damn bit we gonna do this. That's what he said to me. That's what. And sure enough, y'all did it. Did you have any reservations, or was that on purpose? Purposeful? The title, Blackish. Did you think in any way that that was going to galvanize or not. Shouldn't say galvanize, but polarize or alienate an audience? Were you ever worried about that at all?
- [20:31]
Kenya Barris
I wasn't. The network was. You know what I'm saying? The network had us go on a tour, you know what I'm saying? To talk about what. Because people thought it meant, like, I don't know if I can curse. People thought it meant, like, is this saying like black shit or just, you know what I'm saying? Or like, or less than black and whatnot. And it really didn't come down from that. It really came to, like, I have six kids, they had their little friends come over. I looked around the country and there really wasn't a black or white kid that I remember left in the. You know what I'm saying? Like, even when you go to the hood, you know what I'm saying, Black kids is dressing like skaters. I feel like we're all a little bit of blackish white, black, you know what I'm saying? Black culture has penetrated the culture in such a way that I really felt like that was what, like we are, this country is blackish, you know what I'm saying? As a little bit of us is in everything we've done. And I'm a big fan of titles. I think titles matter a lot, you know what I'm saying? Like, when I saw Saw the four Year Old Virgin, you got what it was immediately, you know what I'm saying? When I, you know, saying the things that I really love. Like, I feel like, you know, you want a title that sticks out, that makes noise, it's loud. And I feel like, you know, same thing I did Black af. I feel like you want something that says what it is, you know, what it is in the title and makes people actually want to tune in it. What's that story? That's that the average Howard Stern fan listens an hour a day. The average Howard Stern hater listens two hours, you know what I'm saying? When you, when you get people sort of mad, it's awesome thing, they actually want to tune in more and sometime will actually find something that they will know the best way. I think, you know, my grandma thing, you want to exit a conversation differently than you enter it. That's a good conversation. You want people to try to exit this, this episode different than they enter it. So you want them to go into the show feeling a certain way and leave out feeling about a different way. And then I feel like that's what true success is.
- [22:20]
Stephen A. Smith
Do you care about being hated or disliked doing what you do for living?
- [22:27]
Kenya Barris
I don't, you know what I'm saying? But I do for my kids, if that makes sense, you know what I'm saying? I make jokes about the whole I'm a colorist, you know what I'm saying thing. Like, I saw a joke somebody put, you know, said, I'm a colorist. And I just did a show based around my family. My wife is biracial, and the kids that we make look like the kids that me and a biracial woman make. And people were like, you're a colorist. I'm like, I'm just doing a show based on my family. But I understand, you know, the commentary around, and I wanted to talk about that. But I do feel like when. Only time it affects me is when it affects my kids. When people come and, like, you know, leave comments like, you're not really black and things like that. That does affect me because I feel like they don't. They didn't ask to be bought into this, although they've reaped a lot of the benefits of it. Too much sometimes. But I do feel like. I think that that is. And I think you know better than anybody, you know what I'm saying? Like, you're gonna do you. You know what I'm saying? And if you do you and people don't have some shit to say, then you're probably not doing it right. Look at LeBron. Look at.
- [23:30]
Stephen A. Smith
Exactly.
- [23:30]
Kenya Barris
Look at Jordan. Look at anybody who's, you know, doing their thing. If people just like everything you're doing, you're probably not doing it right.
- [23:37]
Stephen A. Smith
With that being said, you brought up your kids on a couple of occasions from my. Understand. First of all, you got six kids, right? I'm right about that, right? You got six kids, right? With you and your wife, how many. And how many of your kids work for you? And how do you even try to shield them from the kind of things you just talked about, wanting to avoid them being subjected to?
- [24:02]
Kenya Barris
Well, my daughter and I just sold a movie yesterday. She wrote.
- [24:08]
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
- [24:09]
Kenya Barris
We wrote the Richard Pryor series, which I. With which I'm unbelievable. She was in the room, and she did an amazing job. She became one of the youngest. My middle daughter. She became one of the youngest.
- [24:18]
Stephen A. Smith
Hold on, hold on, hold on. Can you. First of all, what's her name and how old is she?
- [24:22]
Kenya Barris
What's her name? Her name is Leah Barris. Okay. She's 23.
- [24:28]
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
- [24:29]
Kenya Barris
Amazing young writer. She is, you know, just such a better writer than me. Smart, funny, you know what I'm saying? Really her own person. My daughter Kaylee runs our social media. She is. She went to usc and very interesting. Like, it's full of riz and full of always kind of telling me, you know, how I'm. What I'm not doing, right? And I'm corny, right? My daughter Lola, she called you Corny. She calls me Corny and lame constantly.
- [25:01]
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah. My. My youngest daughter, I got a 16 and a 15 year old. My youngest daughter just called me Corny. She just called me Corny two days ago. It hurt my feelings. It hurt my feelings, man. It does.
- [25:10]
Kenya Barris
It really did. It does hurt your feelings because they can get you. They don't care. My youngest daughter, not a little bit. My youngest daughter, Lola, goes to. She's been. She's interned at our company. She's at spelman right now. 4.0 student, you know what I'm saying? Went to Sierra Canyon with Juju and Bronnie and Rice and was all part of that and went out to Atlanta and is having her culture shock. My oldest son, Bo, we call him Pops, he's interned there. He's doing, you know, has his own thing. So those four have worked there. Hopefully my next two will, in some aspects, come and work, work with me. But I feel like that's the greatest thing that I've been. Been able to do, is to be able to do something. I get to work with my kids, and I've stolen so much from them in the stories and the ideas. And, you know, they're my test group. No matter what I do, they have to, like, they're forced to read, listen, hear pitches and do all that. I kind of think, like, that's something that we used to do a lot more as black people, get to, like, work with our family. And I think, to me, that's the greatest gift any of this has been given me, is the idea of not only being able to provide, but to be able to work with them and see them grow and see them be a part of what, you know, I hope is a better future.
- [26:27]
Stephen A. Smith
Why do you think we're not doing more of that as a people? I don't think what we used to do, what you just alluded to, I think the opportunities, working with our families.
- [26:34]
Kenya Barris
I think the opportunities are not there, you know what I'm saying? Are not as present, you know what I'm saying? The American dream has not been as kind to us as we would like it to be, you know what I'm saying? We've had to sort of grab it in a different kind of way. And when it has, we've kind of more so done it to, you know, provide and just, you know, get by. I think the idea of the, you know, for most of us have had any kind of real, you know, some type of success that people would say is more than nominal we're first generation. I got to work with Tracy Ross and Rashida Jones, who, like, are some of the only second generation successful people I know. But in general, for most of us, this is first generation. We don't have a blueprint who's been our blueprint of how we sort. We don't know how to pay taxes and pay taxes the right way and tax loops and when a stock is gonna split and how to do this. Like, we're kind of figuring it out for the first time. So I feel like having my kids around so that when their time comes up, they have an ability to do something that I didn't do. Like that, to me, is everything.
- [27:41]
Stephen A. Smith
Great, Great advice. I ain't gonna lie to you. Because I think about the same thing you got me thinking about. I'm thinking about going home, having conversations with my daughter's like, they gotta get to work for me. They gotta get to work for me. They've been holding off long enough. They don't want to answer to their dad. That's what they. They're like, we got to deal with you enough. We don't want to deal with you on a job, too. But I'm gonna make them anyway. I'm gonna make them anyway. Before I let you get on out of here, you brought up the Richard Pryor project, right? I know you mentioned that, but didn't you. Weren't you involved? A remake of the wizard of Oz? Weren't you involved with something along those lines as well as It's a Wonderful Life? What's going on with those two projects?
- [28:13]
Kenya Barris
I mean, we're. They were ready to go. Strike happened. I'm saying we. And now everything has to. People understand that whenever things like you, you know, you've seen it happen in sports or you've seen it happen, contract negotiations, it. It takes everything a step back. You know what I'm saying? Scripts are written. No, we're ready to go. We have to. You know, right now it's about getting things cast, and people don't understand how magical actors are. You know what I'm saying? You can't do anything with an actor. So it's about getting a cast. And budgets are shrinking because the studios are all contracting. And, like, they have to look at, you know, what is their spin for this year? What's their spend for that year? It's a lot that goes into making a movie. I don't think people understand, like, you have to not only get the script to a point where people want to make it, then you Got to get it budgeted. Then you got to get the stars. Then the stars have to be available. Then you have to get a director who's available during the time. Then you have to make sure that the company in that quarter has 100, $150 million, $200 million to spend. Then they have to make sure that they have 75 to 100 million dollars in PA. Then you have to make sure that you're ready in a place to go shoot. The things that come together to make a movie happen are. It's amazing they happen the way that they do because it is a lot of things that have to fall into place.
- [29:33]
Stephen A. Smith
I got you before I get you. Let you get on out of here, my man. You think you. You know, I'm not going to let you get on out of here without talking about your Clippers. Right. You know, I was going to have to ask you.
- [29:41]
Kenya Barris
We got to talk about.
- [29:41]
Stephen A. Smith
I mean, I. I didn't expect them to be. I didn't expect them to be as good as they were. They still got some work to do. It's nice to see Kawhi Leonard on the court. I don't know how long that's going to last, but we got to hold on to that moment. No question about that. James. Ty Lue is a hell of a coach.
- [29:57]
Kenya Barris
He's got to be a coach.
- [29:58]
Stephen A. Smith
He came on this show. He came on this show and raved. Raved about, you know, Jeff Van Gundy and what he's brought to the team defensively.
- [30:09]
Kenya Barris
Have you seen them as an assistant coach?
- [30:11]
Stephen A. Smith
How are you feeling about your Clippers right now?
- [30:13]
Kenya Barris
I'm feeling. I'm feeling excellent. I'm feeling excellent. I feel like every night before we got Kawhi, I feel like every night we were competitive. Even if we lost, every night we were competitive. And I. I feel like Tyloo. The ability to get dudes who, before they came to him, who didn't think that they could play on that level, the ability of not just the coaching side, but what it takes for a coach to get into the mentality of a player to make them believe that they can compete on the highest level and play as a team. That is an amazing thing to do.
- [30:46]
Stephen A. Smith
How the hell is somebody living in Los Angeles and they find themselves being a Clippers fan and not a Lakers fan? How does that happen?
- [30:53]
Kenya Barris
Watch. I'm a. I'm a Laker fan. I'm not a. See, Clipper fans can be Laker fans. Laker fans have to be Clipper haters. I'm a Laker. I'm, I'm a good point. I'm a laker fan. Love LeBron, you know, love JJ. JJ Redick is trying to do love ad rich. Paul is my boy. I keep saying I'm a Laker fan, but my Clippers, when I started being able to buy tickets for my family, could afford them. They were affordable. The environment felt like a real environment, like people who were there wanted to be there. It wasn't so glitzy and glossy. They were scrappy. I got to go through Lob City. I got to see the end of Pooh Richardson. I get to now see. I got to see pg, whose game was like Jazz to me. I got to see Harden, who I think might be. When it all goes said and done, is he in the top five? You know what I'm saying? When it's all said and done, I got to. No, no.
- [31:53]
Stephen A. Smith
I love him, but he's not top five.
- [31:54]
Kenya Barris
If you want to start talking about stats. If you want to start talking about stats. Stop that. Come on. Come on.
- [32:01]
Stephen A. Smith
Stop that.
- [32:02]
Kenya Barris
Stephen A.
- [32:02]
Stephen A. Smith
Can you stop it?
- [32:03]
Kenya Barris
He's top.
- [32:04]
Stephen A. Smith
He's not top five.
- [32:04]
Kenya Barris
He's top five.
- [32:05]
Stephen A. Smith
I love him.
- [32:05]
Kenya Barris
He's top five.
- [32:06]
Stephen A. Smith
One of the greatest scorers in NBA history. One of the greatest scorers, no doubt.
- [32:10]
Kenya Barris
In history. In history. Right. Okay. And when you add up all his, his stats. His stats have to put him in the top 10. His stats have to put him in the top 10.
- [32:21]
Stephen A. Smith
You know what? I'm going to dedicate a segment on this show.
- [32:24]
Kenya Barris
It's going to blow your mind on.
- [32:25]
Stephen A. Smith
This show right here. I'm going to say, I'm going to replay it for the NBA audience, and I'm going to say, Kenya Barrett said James Harden Top five.
- [32:36]
Kenya Barris
I say top ten.
- [32:37]
Stephen A. Smith
Let's look at it.
- [32:38]
Kenya Barris
I say top ten.
- [32:39]
Stephen A. Smith
Top ten. Top ten. Top ten dot I'm gonna say let's.
- [32:42]
Kenya Barris
Look at it statistically. He might be in the top five. And if you just go shooting guards, I am absolutely sure he's in the top five.
- [32:50]
Stephen A. Smith
You know you on camera, right?
- [32:51]
Kenya Barris
I'm, I will say that right now.
- [32:53]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, you, you know, you on camera, right?
- [32:54]
Kenya Barris
And James, James is not my boy. I, I, I love his game. I am saying that big.
- [32:59]
Stephen A. Smith
I respect the hell out of him.
- [33:00]
Kenya Barris
I bet. And, and he's a his. When you look at his statistics, they are phenomenal. Phenomenal. Okay. You know they are.
- [33:10]
Stephen A. Smith
I'm not knocking it. I'm saying, I'm saying you've piqued my Curiosity. I got to go back and look at.
- [33:15]
Kenya Barris
They're gonna blow your mind hard about this.
- [33:17]
Stephen A. Smith
And I gotta say, wait a minute.
- [33:18]
Kenya Barris
They're gonna blow you.
- [33:19]
Stephen A. Smith
Let's look at James Harden, Kenya Barris's vantage point, and let's see if it's right. Look, man, I'm gonna let you get on out of here. I appreciate it. The usual, the unusual suspects. When is the podcast? When does the podcast drop? It drops tomorrow, right?
- [33:31]
Kenya Barris
Yes. I'm gonna say yes because I don't have the actual they so much. Yes. Very confidently, yes.
- [33:38]
Stephen A. Smith
No, I think it drops tomorrow. I know this for sure. I was just double checking. But anyway, man, I appreciate you. I owe you big time, man. I'm sorry to get my day job. Maybe I don't run. I'm not my own boss with everything like you. Not with everything.
- [33:51]
Kenya Barris
So that's why I got out of town.
- [33:53]
Stephen A. Smith
But I owe you big time, man. Thank you.
- [33:54]
Kenya Barris
All right, bro. I appreciate you having me.
- [33:56]
Stephen A. Smith
I appreciate you.
- [33:57]
Kenya Barris
All right. Thank you.
- [33:57]
Stephen A. Smith
One and only Kenya Barris, right here with Stephen, A foreign.
- [34:07]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the king of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs, mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday. Keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [34:38]
Stephen A. Smith
What's up, everyone? Julius Ripps here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
- [34:43]
Kenya Barris
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [34:46]
Stephen A. Smith
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [34:49]
Kenya Barris
Each week, we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [34:54]
Stephen A. Smith
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [34:58]
Kenya Barris
Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [35:03]
Stephen A. Smith
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.