#737 - Caron Butler x Tai Lopez: Discipline, Mentorship, and Becoming Elite

Summary

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The Tai Lopez Show – Episode #737: Caron Butler x Tai Lopez: Discipline, Mentorship, and Becoming Elite

Date: September 6, 2025
Guest: Caron Butler (NBA All-Star, coach, entrepreneur)
Theme: Discipline, Mentorship, and the Journey from Adversity to Excellence

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Episode Overview

This episode features a candid and wide-ranging live conversation between Tai Lopez and NBA All-Star/coach Caron Butler. They delve into Caron’s harrowing upbringing, his transformation through discipline and mentorship, and how these experiences influenced his success on and off the court. The discussion also covers managing elite performers, optimizing physical and mental health routines, entrepreneurial lessons, and thoughts on basketball greatness and legacy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Caron Butler’s Early Life: Adversity and Transformation

• Juvenile Incarceration:
  • Caron shares that he was “arrested easy, 13, 14 times,” primarily for carrying guns, leading to two years away in juvenile corrections ([00:07], [14:57]).
  • He describes this period as, “the best two years ever, because it removed me out of a situation where everything has slowed down... I needed guidance, I needed mentorship, and I just, quite frankly, didn’t have it at the time” ([00:33], [14:57]).
• Environmental Influence and Mentorship:
  • Caron attributes the crucial “pivot” in his life to mentors he found during incarceration: “They start pouring life in me, they start teaching me other things. And when I got out, I developed a skill that I knew I could play basketball. And it helped that I was 6 foot 7, and I just never turned back and looked at that life ever again. Only to assist and help people” ([17:07]).

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2. On Becoming Elite: Lessons in Discipline and High Performance

Managing High Performers as a Coach ([06:12]–[08:40])

• “Everyone’s ambition is at extremely high level... To make it to the NBA, you have to be at a high functioning 10x level... But my biggest thing is to know your why and want to know your end game, and how can I help you get there spiritually, because it’s deeper than basketball functionally on the court.” – Caron Butler ([07:08])
• Caron emphasizes the importance of authenticity, mentorship, helping others clarify their “why,” and leveraging his credibility to build genuine relationships.

Knowing Your ‘Why’: Caron’s Evolution ([10:27])

• Originally, Caron’s “why” was about “retiring my mother” and achieving recognition (All Star, champion, legacy). Now it’s about mentorship, family, and being the best role model:
  • “I wanted to leave a legacy so when I pivoted away from the game of basketball, I can pretty much do whatever I wanted to do... My why now – I just want to, one, be a head coach... Two, every guy that comes through our door under our umbrella, I want them to have a success rate through the roof... These guys become leaders, they become alpha males and mentors to another whole generation...” ([10:27]–[13:41])

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3. Mentorship: Impact and Giving Back

• Caron credits life-changing mentorship for his transformation and now seeks to pay it forward to the next generation.
• Tai emphasizes the importance for all successful people to use their position to mentor:
  • “For each of you that... is successful, make sure you mentor a couple people in your life. You want to grow old and somebody walks up to you and goes, ‘you know, because of you, blank.’” – Tai Lopez ([17:26]–[18:00])

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4. Elite Health & Physical Routines

Daily Non-Negotiables & Recovery from Setbacks

• After his daughter’s diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes, Caron experienced physical setbacks, gaining significant weight but recommitted to daily non-negotiables:
  • “You got to have non negotiables in your life... things that you’re going to do no matter what... whatever tactically happened around you in your life, tragically, whatever, like you have to stay married to your non negotiables. That’s key.” – Caron Butler ([21:33], [22:17])
• Routine: Up at 4:45 AM; “Hot works” (infrared cycling, core, abs); Orange Theory class; office work; building relationships all over the facility ([23:30]–[25:00]).
  • “I try to touch everyone in our facility... just, ‘hey, good morning. How are you?’ That connection is so paramount... the vibration of this, doing good deeds like that... personally affects your optimum capacity of being successful.” ([25:00])

Tai’s Health Rapid-Fire: Caron’s Effectiveness Scores ([26:03]–[34:00])

| Activity | Caron's Effectiveness (1-10) | Notables/Comments | |----------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Daily jogging | 6 | | | Sprinting | 8 | | | Cold plunge/cryo | 10 | “So good... resets you, recalibrates you.” | | Vitamins | 8-9 | | | Power nap | Not a fan | Mark Cuban is a fan; Caron isn’t. | | Sauna | 9 | | | Low carbs | 9 | | | Fruit | 8 | | | Vegetables | 9 | | | Hyperbaric chamber | 9 | | | With trainer vs solo | 9 | | | Steady-state cardio | 2 | “That ain’t... a hard 2.” – only slight value | | Heavy weights | 5 | Favors bands/body weight for injury prevention/functional training | | Band/bodyweight training | 9 | | | Stretching | 10 | “Now that I’m 45, I give it a 10. Stretching is so important...” | | 8+ hours sleep | Not essential for him | Caron operates on 5-6 hours: “Never... eight hours since my last trip to China.”| | Meditation | 10 | “Meditation is paramount for athletes... it gets you centered, gets you in a great functional position...” ([32:45]) |

“I haven’t slept eight hours since my last trip to China.” – Caron Butler ([31:19])
“Meditation is paramount for athletes.” – Caron Butler ([32:45])

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5. Lessons in Business & Investing ([34:22]–[37:19])

Best Investment:

• Real Estate:
  • “One of my first initial investments was real estate. Got into the assistive living space in Racine, Wisconsin... over two years, we accumulated about 32 doors in that community. That was one of the funnest investments because, getting eviction notices as a kid, then being able to provide affordable housing for people, that was important.” ([35:03])

Worst/Learning Experience:

• Burger King Franchises:
  • “Bought in six franchises... didn’t understand the union aspect of franchising and how that impacted cash flow. Took a huge hit.” Sold them to a larger org after the 2009 workman strike. ([36:14])

Current Excitement:

• Graduate Hotels:
  • “We’re at a lot of college campuses... at UConn, we have the Butler Suite... So if you’re ever in Storrs, Connecticut, make sure y’all check out the King Butler Suite.” ([36:50])

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6. Basketball Cities, Debates, and Legacy ([00:57]–[05:10]; [37:51]–end)

Cities Producing Elite Players:

• Friendly debate: LA vs Chicago vs NY vs North Carolina. Tai uses ChatGPT to “fact check,” ultimately giving North Carolina the win, especially per capita ([01:36]–[05:10]).

Greatest Players:

• Tai’s all-time starting five: Magic Johnson, Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Prime Shaq ([40:03]).
• Caron’s five: Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron at the five ([41:57]).

On Michael Jordan:

• “Michael Jordan was the face of basketball and he’s taken it to new heights from a generational wealth standpoint.... Jordan has had a profound impact on the game of basketball and the way that it’s played. And he’s become the measuring stick for pretty much everyone, including statistically the greatest athlete now ever to play the game in LeBron James, where he’s still chasing ghosts.” – Caron Butler ([38:52])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Adversity & Mentorship:

  • “People say product of your environment... I was just making some dumbass decisions at a young age, and I needed guidance, I needed mentorship, and I just, quite frankly, didn’t have it at the time.” – Caron Butler ([00:33], [14:57])

• On Knowing Your Why:

  • “My why was to one retire my mother... That was my why then, my why now... every guy that come through our door under our umbrella, I want them to have a success rate through the roof... they become alpha males and mentors to another whole generation.” – Caron Butler ([10:27]–[13:41])

• On Non-Negotiables and Routine:

  • “You have to stay married to your non negotiables. That’s key. That’s number one for me.” – Caron Butler ([22:17])

• On Building Connections:

  • “I try to touch everyone in our facility... just, hey, good morning, how are you? That connection is so paramount, I think, for just your life.” – Caron Butler ([25:12])

• On Meditation:

  • “Meditation is paramount for athletes.” – Caron Butler ([32:45])

• On Legacy:

  • “A good name is better than any silver or gold.” – Caron Butler ([10:27])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Caron’s Incarceration and Turning Point: [00:00], [14:36], [17:07]
• Debate: Best Basketball City/Per Capita: [01:30]–[05:10]
• High Performer Management Advice: [06:12]–[08:40]
• Caron’s “Why”: [10:27]–[13:41]
• Mentorship, Giving Back: [17:26]–[19:50]
• Elite Daily Routines & Non-Negotiables: [21:33]–[26:00]
• Physical Optimization Rapid Fire (with ratings): [26:03]–[34:00]
• Best/Worst Investments: [35:03]–[37:19]
• Greatest Players & All-Time Lineups: [37:51]–[43:18]

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Tone & Style

Candid, humorous, and motivational—Tai’s irreverent and energetic style blends well with Caron’s grounded, honest, and mentorship-focused perspective. The episode is full of teachable moments, practical advice, and a sense of camaraderie and playful debate.

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For Listeners

If you’re looking for actionable lessons on resilience, mentorship, health, building legacy—and a peek into the mindset of elite performers and entrepreneurs—this episode is unmissable. Caron’s story illustrates that even the most unlikely beginnings can lead to greatness with the right discipline and guidance.

Transcript

[A]

I was incarcerated for numerous offenses.

[B]

What was the craziest moment in your.

[A]

Growing up years as a juvenile? I probably was arrested easy, 13, 14 times, which was all due to carrying guns. But it ended up giving me two years away from my family, which was the best two years ever, because it removed me out of a situation where everything is slowed down. Right. People say product of your environment. Product. Product of this, product of that. It. I was just making some dumbass decisions at a young age, and I needed guidance, I needed mentorship, and I just, quite frankly, didn't have it at the.

[B]

Time here in my garage. Who here is a Miami Heat fan? I know we have some kind of. Have a few, but he played a lot. He played in la. La. Clippers. That's when I remember him, because I was born in la. We were out here talking.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

So, Karan Butler, welcome to the Tai Lopez show. We're doing a special live event version, and I appreciate you coming out all the way from Miami. So you've been coaching one of the coaches there in Miami Heat. I'm gonna open with a. With a controversial question. What is the city anywhere in the world? It's the number one basketball city, and we're talking. Has created the most professional athletes. What's the city?

[A]

Oh, I know.

[B]

Okay, let's see. Because we don't agree on this, so we're gonna have a little friendly debate.

[A]

So here's the question. The. The basketball capital of the world is UConn. It's stores. Connecticut. It's the best men's program and women's program in all of college basketball. Now, the best city that produced the best talent professionally is Los Angeles. It's Chicago, it's New York. And then you can go.

[B]

You got one more. Come on.

[A]

You can go to Indiana and places like that.

[B]

North Carolina, Raleigh, Durham.

[A]

You're just trying to sneak that in there.

[B]

You got Michael Jordan comes from there.

[A]

He's from New York.

[B]

No, but Michael Jordan played. He came through.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

All right, Unc, you have Dean Smith. You could argue UCLA with John Wooden. You had Kareem Abdul Jabbar, ucla, but I think North Carolina now. So we're gonna do. This is how I like to settle my debates. Now I'm asking Chad GPT. I'm gonna. I'm starting.

[A]

What about Cleveland, though? LeBron James and Steph Curry was born in the same hospital.

[B]

Yeah, that's pretty crazy.

[A]

That's. That's different, right?

[B]

What city has the most NBA players?

[A]

So.

[B]

And you can count people played high school or College. What city in the world has produced the most NBA players? I'm here with Karam Butler. He's a pro hall of Famer. I mean, All Star. So what do we got here? Give me maybe hall of Fame. I hope you make hall of Fame.

[A]

That's coming.

[B]

That's coming. You're too young for that. All right, let's see. Here's the truth for your showdown. It says, chicago your butt. I'm pissed about that. It says. Yeah, but wait, wait, wait, wait. No, hold on. We got a mistake. Don't count where they played pro basketball. You cannot count Michael Jordan as a Chicago guy.

[A]

Start over.

[B]

So, first rule of using ChatGPT. I call it the Rule of Three. I always do three prompts in a row. The first one's usually wrong. The second one's a little better. So let's see. Got it. You're right. Only count where they're born, raised, or play high school. No, this is the rule of three. Only count where they were either born or raised or played high school or played college. Okay, now we're gonna go. There you go. Just remember that I see people using ChatGPT and using the first answer, and I'm like, you're. That ain't still has Chicago. It's got Derrick Rose, Dwayne Wade, Ant Davis, Jabari Parker, Pat Beverly. LA's number two, Russell Westbrook, Hardin, Kawhi Leonard, DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, Drew Holiday. New York cast.

[A]

Gilbert Arenas.

[B]

Yep. Marbury, Kemba Walker, Rod Strict. Okay, but wait. Ron Artest, friend of mine. But let. Let me do one thing. I want you to control for population. No, we're not controlling for population. Raleigh, North Carolina versus la. You got to do per capita what produces the most. So now we change the game. You know, one way. Change the rules to win the game.

[A]

You sounded like somebody.

[B]

Let's see.

[A]

You sounded like the commander in chief up here, right?

[B]

North Carolina, I think comes up as number one. North Carolina, number one.

[A]

Will y' all give him a clap around?

[B]

I want to clap for that. North Carolina has. The Whole State has 10.7 million people and produced 80 pro basketball players. Okay. Los Angeles alone is it. You know, la. Southern California is 12 million people and only produced 100. So only North Carolina. It says on state, on stage. Mic drop. It tells me to mic drop. All right. Anyway, so changing the subject. Thanks for being a good sport.

[A]

Thank you, man.

[B]

I didn't ask what the best college was. Yukon. Yukon. Could be.

[A]

We got a lot of banners.

[B]

You got a lot of banners.

[A]

A lot of banners. We don't even put division and conference championships up no more. We got so many championships, we put those in the attic. So we put none but the banners up in the field house in retired jerseys.

[B]

That's crazy. So I. One of the reasons I wanted you to kind of talk here. Here is not just your own experience as a pro basketball player making a lot of money, but also now you coach. So you're dealing with some of the wealthiest high performers in the world. What's the. And you don't have to go into specifics of anybody's name, but because a lot of people here are entrepreneurs, they're having to manage people. So what's, what's the number one thing you've learned with managing really talented people? Is it, you know, let them make their own mistakes? Is it don't micromanage them? Is it only be positive or constructive criticism? Like what's the kind of things for somebody here? Every company has like two or three employees that are critical for the company. So just like a team, you got your best players at the Miami Heat. What have you learned with dealing with those really high performers?

[A]

Well, that's a great question. I think for me personally is everyone's ambitious, is at extremely high level. Everyone's 10x right? And in order to make it to the NBA, you have to be at a high function in 10x level. You have to be a hybrid. But my biggest thing is to know your why and want to know your end game and how can I help you get there Spiritually, because it's deeper than basketball functionally on the court. What are your non negotiables and how do we execute that tactically? And then from a business standpoint, if you want to ask that question, I'm inviting, I'm open arms. And because of my wealth of experience, of what I've experienced over the years of being in this national basketball association for 25 years, I've seen the horror stories, I've executed some positive stories. I'm a serial entrepreneur myself. I had a lot of success. I had a lot of rainy days and I got back to the success part of it. So I can walk you through that and, and that's how I tactically attack it. So when people know that you come from a real place, a real disposition, and they know that they can touch visually, they can see some of the things that you've done, they heard about some of the things you've done, they come to you organically and you just try to Provide them a pathway to get to their why.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Has anybody read the book by Simon Sinek called Start with why? Like, know your why? Who here feels like you know your why, or and who maybe doesn't know, maybe it's changed? Who's not 100% sure of their why? Raise your hand. Be honest. Nobody? Four or five people. Okay, I get that question a lot. People say, ty, what's your why? Why don't you stop doing business? You know, is it for the money? Is it? And I always tell people, my why, really, for me, is adventure. I like adventure. I got a farm that I go to. I live in big city, you know, have kind of a exciting life in the city. But then I go out and I got a farm in the middle of Amish community. I live in Scandinavia, Viking land. So for me, the game's not. There's always going to be somebody who makes more money, you know, I was talking to a guy who wanted to come into my coaching program, and he was a cocky guy from Germany, moved to Beverly Hills, and he's like, I make 40 million a year, you know, gross. I said, how much net? 4 million. I said, Bro, you're in Beverly Hills. 4 million is a starter kit. Yeah, I did. I did business with a guy one time. We were trying to buy a company and we had to show proof of funds. And he's like, oh, I'll show one of my bank accounts. We were on a zoom call with the lawyers. He goes to his assistant, pull up my personal J.P. morgan. Pulls up his J.P. morgan. He goes, hold it up for the lawyers to see. 840 million in one checking account. That's not all his money. So for me, there's always a dude who's going to be richer. But I have for sure, in my opinion, humble opinion, one of the most adventurous entrepreneur lives. People follow me like, oh, man, you do. So that's my why. What's your why now versus what it.

[A]

Used to be, man. You know, I think initially when I was younger, my why was the way that I grew up. I grew up with eviction notices on my door, the landlord saying, get the fuck out because our rent was late. So my why was to one retire my mother. I wanted to own that house, which I do, that I used to get the eviction notices on. I wanted to own that neighborhood, which I kind of do. So that was my why immediately. And then, like, you have the symbolic recognition of whenever you in whatever sport or whatever profession that you in, you want to be considered the best of your time. We have a, basically in professional sports, we probably have a 7 to 10 year span where we're going to play at a high level. And then injuries and the wear and tear of the game, you know, just dawn upon you. So your summer and your spring become winter rather quickly. So how can I maximize this space? And from the symbolic recognition standpoint, I wanted to be an all star. Did that. I wanted to average 20 a game. Did that few times I wanted to be an NBA champion, did that. And then also I think this is like paramount and I think this is very crucial. A good name is better than any silver or gold. So you want to leave a legacy. And I wanted to leave a legacy. So when I pivoted away from the game of basketball, I can pretty much do whatever I wanted to do. I can stay in the game of basketball. I can be an asset to whatever organization. I can pivot into this space. And because of the credibility that I created amongst all these millionaires in these locker rooms, they would invest in whatever I had going on. So that was my why then, my why now. I just want to, one, be a head coach. That's extremely important for me. So working under one of the best coaches in the basketball history in Eric Spoester, that's huge for me. Two, every guy that come through our door under our umbrella, I want them to have a success rate through the roof where not only are they successful from a performance standpoint on the basketball court, but they're successful from a performance standpoint in life. These guys become leaders, they become alpha males and mentors to another whole generation. And it started with the sweat equity that we poured into them. So that's what's important for me. That's my why. And then also my kids didn't get a chance to play like see me play. So now they seeing me play this game of coaching. And I want to be doing my best because they're watching people do as you say, but not as you do. They follow exactly the footprints of what you lay in the groundwork and the framework that you do every day. So my habits are consistent and I try to leave that type of legacy for my kids. So that's my why.

[B]

That's awesome. Thank you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I. You got a couple books about 10 years ago. This is our 10 year anniversary. By the way of interviewing him, I used to live across the street. He came and we, we did a review of his book and hey, that was a.

[A]

That I don't want to interrupt you but that was a soft swag right there too.

[B]

That was.

[A]

Yeah. I used to live across the street over here now.

[B]

I used to own this block. So you got. You have two books, new ones, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So one of the things that not everybody knows here is you. You started. Let me. Let you put in your own words, what was the craziest moment in your growing up years?

[A]

Oh, man, the craziest moments. I had so many moments. But the thing that really shifted or altered my life tremendously was going to corrections for two years. I was incarcerated for numerous offenses as. As a juvenile. And I was.

[B]

How old were you then?

[A]

I was 12, 13 years old. I probably was arrested easy 13, 14 times, which was all due to carrying guns, reckless, in danger and safety, shooting at folks, being shot, got shot, all that whole thing. Super siege, indictments, everything. I was a part of a lot of different things, but it end up giving me two years away from my family, which was the best two years ever, because it removed me out of a situation where everything has slowed down. Right. Because I had expectations of being something that I really didn't. I wasn't committed to being that, but I had to be that because I was in survival mode. I didn't want to carry a pistol and be dealt with the situation of, I have to take your life or you have to take my life, because I'm out here doing something that I really don't want to do, but it's just something that it just happened. People say, product of your environment, product of this, product of that. I was just making some dumbass decisions at a young age, and I needed guidance, I needed mentorship, and I just, quite frankly, didn't have it at the time. So the two years away just really reshaped me. I started getting heavy in the Bible. I believe it or not, you know, most people go to prison to be better criminals. They pick up better tactics. This is like how a jail setting is, right? If I'm at a table playing cards right now, it's a whole bunch of inmates around, like how we are, and they talking about, yo, you went to jail for trafficking. How you go to jail for that? You supposed to put this under there and put it open? Oh, yeah. Damn. Next time when I get out in four years, I'll try your way. That got you here. And then the cycle just continues to repeat itself. So dumb. Teaching dumber. But I. I just, like, really got great mentors in there that didn't ever want to see me come back into this facility, and they start pouring Life in me, they start teaching me other things. And when I got out, I developed a skill that I knew I could play basketball. And it helped that I was 6 foot 7, and I just never turned back and looked at that life ever again. Only to assist and help people.

[B]

Yeah, that's a. For each of you that. That is successful, make sure you mentor a couple people in your life. You want to grow old, and somebody walks up to you and goes, you know, because of you, blank. Because of you, blank. And. And. And the world. You don't always get it. I don't know. Did your. Did you grow up with your dad? My dad was in prison when I was young. You know, there's a lot of people out there that don't have dads, and people respect men who make money. So you can use your position as an entrepreneur. You know, if you make a million bucks a year, I mean, to be in the 1% of America, you only have to make 400,000 net a year. So a lot of you here are comparing yourself maybe with somebody who's making a billion, but everybody here really is mentor material, male and female for people. So you. You never know who you produce. You know, I. I've had people come up to me that I don't even remember. I had a guy come up to me. I was in Dubai or something. And he's now one of the most successful richest guys in Dubai. Young guy, like 25. And he goes, you know what, Ty? You don't remember me? I came to your conference at Santa Monica in 2016. And it was a big conference, a thousand or two thousand people there. So he said, I couldn't meet you, but I wanted to go home with a picture of you. So I found out there was a cutout picture of me, like, saying, go to my conference. And he said, I pretended it was really you, and I took a picture of it and I kind of photoshopped it. And he said, I want to show it to you. And he goes, here's a cutout picture that. That conference changed my life. I met people, I got encouraged. No one in my family was entrepreneur, you know, and he made money. So you want that story, every one of you, of people coming up? That's part of my why, too. I always say I was telling somebody, there's three types of businesses, three ways you can make money, three levels. Level one is you make a lot of money, but other people are harmed. So, like Pablo Escobar or something, he was making a billion a week. But, you know, people are ODing on cocaine. Okay, that's a level one business. Level two is like a neutral business. A hotel, you own a hotel, you're not really. You're kind of improving the world. But it's neutral. That's fine. You can do level two. But level three businesses, you get rich and people get better. And, and the crazy thing is you don't have to do level one businesses. A lot of the wealthiest people in the world are actually in level three. I mean, Elon Musk is making electric cars. He just made a device that people who got in a car accident or paralyzed can now move their legs. So that's going to make him. That company is going to be worth 100 billion. He probably the largest shareholder. Let's say that makes him 30 to 50 billion. But that's level three because he got rich helping paralyzed people be able to walk again. So always keep that in mind when you're rolling out your products. You're don't just chase money. Try to find level three or level two is. Okay. Okay, question for you.

[A]

So.

[B]

Right now in the place you're at, you got your, you still have a lot of ambition become a head coach. What's just the practical. Because you're, you're a pro athlete. I always. Pro athletes, these guys know how to keep themselves in the best shape ever. Let's switch to just physical for a second because a lot of entrepreneurs are like, man, I'm making money, but I'm losing my health. What do you think for some. Who here is kind of a biohacker? You're really into health, trying to optimize the body. Okay, you're talking to a pro athlete. Nobody has, I always say pro basketball, NBA guys got the best body. They got like 9% body fat. You know, they're lean, they can jump 40 inches. So what do you think is a. For a high performer, don't give a simplistic system. What do you think's the daily routine ideal for. Let's take Luis right here. What would you encourage him to do on a daily basis or multiple times a week to optimize his body as almost as good as a pro athlete?

[A]

Well, one of the first things I would say is you got to have non negotiables in your life. And what I mean by that is by usually January 1st, everybody has these, these ambitious goals, right? It's the new year and that's really not the new year. January 1st is not the new year. It's really more like April Fool's day. But you know the calendar was changed, but we going to get into that another day. But when you think about your, your New Year's resolutions and things that you want to, you know, change about yourself and in your life, I think you got to make sure that you have non negotiables, things that you're gonna do no matter what, no matter how your body is feeling, no matter what, physical commitment, mental commitment that you have exerted yourself throughout that week and how I would go about it, because I did have a lot of slippage. My daughter was diagnosed about five years ago with type 1 diabetes. For anyone that don't know anything about the diabetic community, that's when your pancreas do not produce insulin anymore. And at the age of eight, she was hit with something that. It just turned me into a vampire because I couldn't sleep. You know, I was up late nights all the time. And you know, I had to like shift a lot of things about myself and in my life. So what had happened is I got to £315. Now this is someone that have always been in optimum condition and optimal mindset. And I had like a certain habit based structurally that I just abided by. My big brother, God rest his soul, was Kobe Bryant. It was certain things that he instilled in me when I came to play with the Lakers with the blackouts and the preparation. And I had slippage for two years because I had a real life situation. So, so one, the non negotiable of whatever tactically happened around you in your life, you know, tragically, whatever, like you have to stay married to your non negotiables. That's key. That's number one for me. And if you're on the west coast, all right, you stay here, where you stay, okay, so wherever you stay at, like, I think, like you have to equate that to if you're on a Pacific time and you know, New York, the stock market, and if you're in that space, the world wakes up at a certain time. So now you got to get up at 4 o' clock and get your regimen in. You know, you have to be consistent in that space as well. So I, I personally get up at 4:45 every day I'm on the East Coast. I get up, I go to hot works, I do 90 minutes infrared cycling, 130 degrees temperature. I do my core, I do my abs, I go to this other place called Orange Theory, literally right after that, which is about two miles up the road. I go do my sprints, I work out in that class for half of the class. And I exit, I go to the office and I check all my boxes from who's the new talent? Who's the new free agents? What's under the second apron?

[B]

Who do who.

[A]

Who can we afford to get to be an asset to this team? I check all those boxes, and then I check the boxes of which and all my players. Good morning. Because they're starting to roll up out the bed now. So I want to have that emotional connection with my players as well. And then this is one of the best things for me. I try to touch everyone in our facility, literally everyone in some capacity. From the guy at the garage, you know, who's lifting up the garage door from the valet folks, from the chef, from the coaching staff, from the players, from the executive branch upstairs in our facility, just, hey, good morning. How are you? That that connection is so paramount, I think, for just your life, you know what I mean? Like, people don't understand, like, the vibration of this, doing good deeds like that and how that personally affects, you know, your. Your optimum capacity of being successful.

[B]

So it sounds like you have two daily routines. One starts at 4. 45. You. You hit. You do the body first.

[A]

Body.

[B]

And you do. You said. Is it about an hour and a half total? Two hours?

[A]

No, two hour. About two hours and 15 minutes. Two hours of commitment.

[B]

So let me. Let me. On that note, on the physical body, let me just run by, give a 1 to 10 how effective you think these are for people here who want to change their physical body. Okay. One to ten. Jogging. Jogging two or three times a week. Long distance, one to ten. Ten's the best. One's the worst.

[A]

I would say six.

[B]

Six. Okay. Sprinting for ten, 20 minutes a day.

[A]

I would say that's like more of a 8. 8.

[B]

An 8. What about cold plunge in the ice cold?

[A]

I literally just did cryo this morning. I do it three times a week. Coach. Plunging is so good. It's. It's good for your body physically and obviously mentally too. You know, it resets you. It recalibrates you.

[B]

So what do you give that?

[A]

A 10?

[B]

Cold plunge? 10. Okay. Vitamins. Taking vitamins.

[A]

That's huge. I will give that 89.

[B]

Okay. What do you give? Taking a power nap?

[A]

I'm not a big nap guy personally.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That's just me. But a lot of guys that I know, like Mark Cuban is a huge midday nap guy. He always. He lives by that. He's like, hey, I gotta get my 90 minutes. Yeah, but I'm not a big nap guy.

[B]

You're not a nap guy. Okay, how about sauna? What do you give it?

[A]

I'll give it a nine.

[B]

Nine. What do you give eating low carbs?

[A]

I would get out of nine as well.

[B]

Nine, no carbs.

[A]

That's huge.

[B]

Fruit one to ten?

[A]

I would give that an eight.

[B]

An eight vegetables?

[A]

I'll give that a nine.

[B]

A nine. So, so far we only have a few things that have given a tip. Have you ever done hyperbaric chamber?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What do you give that knife? 9.

[A]

That 10 got to be something special as hell.

[B]

Okay. I have this. Working out at a gym with a personal trainer instead of working out on your own. Who knows what they're doing?

[A]

Nine.

[B]

Nine. What's the thing? He gave a 10 to 1. What was the thing? Coldpl. Okay, Coldplay makes it 10.

[A]

That, that, that, that is different.

[B]

I want to find an overrated thing that you're going to give a low number. How about cardio? Going to the gym and doing the whole time on the treadmill.

[A]

That ain't. That ain't none.

[B]

What do we get? 1 to 10? 1 to 10?

[A]

I get at a hard 2.

[B]

A 2. It's funny, I was up. I was up in Toronto speaking at a business conference, and I went in the gym at the hotel and there was a dude who was so skinny that the only human I've ever seen skinnier was his trainer. He had found a dude skinnier than him and they did one and a half hours of cardio. The guy had no muscle. He had a 8 inch bicep. I wanted to go up to him and go, don't you think you look in the mirror, you got cardio down, brother. Don't you want to lift one weight?

[A]

You said elliptical, right?

[B]

Yeah, it was on the elliptical sprint. I mean, I was going, what are you doing? Okay, I got, I got another one for you. Heavy weights. Lifting heavy multiple times a week.

[A]

I would get out of five. I'm more of a band guy.

[B]

Okay. What do you give band workouts or body weight workouts?

[A]

I would give that like a nine.

[B]

That's a nine.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So what do you not like about heavy weights? Injury. What's the, what's the thought there?

[A]

Injury also too. Because if you don't have a trainer, if you don't have a program that you following, sometimes, you know, from an ego standpoint, people just want to go in and lift the heaviest thing in the gym.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

You want to show off for, you know, the beautiful lady to your left. Or whatever, like some man thing. So I think it's very important that you have, like, a tactical plan when you go and attack something in the gym. You know, just not going in and lifting the heaviest weight. So sometimes people get caught up in that. But your body weight.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is just as heavy because, you know, you do enough reps, you're getting a lot of calories burnt and you're getting stronger.

[B]

So a lot of pro athletes are big on bands, you know? Big on bands. I had AB Here, you know, Antonio Brown football, and he's a big band guy. He's one of the fastest guys. I was like, how you get so fast? He's like bands doing the bands to get all these little muscles, the abductor, all this kind of stuff.

[A]

The ad fast twitch.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Stretching 1 to 10.

[A]

Oh, that's. I would give that a 10. Now that I'm 45 years old, I give it a 10. Stretching is so important because, you know, the pounding and the wear and tear over the years. For those who don't know, like, I'm clinically disabled from a athletic standpoint, my work comp check proves it, really. I'm clinically disabled, so they say. But I feel the best I've ever felt really, in life.

[B]

Okay, what do you give? Making sure you always get at least eight hours of sleep. What do you give that one to 10?

[A]

I've never. I haven't slept eight hours since my last trip to China.

[B]

When you were playing pro basketball and you were at that high performance, did you need eight?

[A]

Nah, I needed like a good five and a half, six hours. I was good.

[B]

That mean. You know what that means? He's. I'm gonna tell you this. I'm gonna beg to disagree with him. You, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump have super jeans. Do not try to copy them. Really. Like, there's just some dudes that have jeans. Because if I. It's funny, high performers are. Either people need like four hours, or Albert Einstein said he needed 12 hours. LeBron says he tries to get 10. It's a weird. There must be a cluster of genes because you were a high performer on five hour. Shit.

[A]

I couldn't. I can't cut my. I can't. I can't cut my brain off.

[B]

Really.

[A]

It's. It's the toughest thing. And I. I know some of you probably experienced this, but as a player, if I played in the game by sequence, I. I'm. I'm seeing the game in my head as I'm trying to sleep. I'm a pattern recognition individual.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I think that's why, from a coaching standpoint, is really good for me, because if I see something visually, I can, I can copy and paste it.

[B]

Like so with that, then 1 to 10, what do you give meditation?

[A]

That's he. 10.

[B]

10. Did you ever have coaches like Phil Jackson or any of them that made you do meditation?

[A]

Eddie Jordan, meditation. Me do meditation. And we do that with sports science and sports psychology with our players as well. Meditation is paramount for athletes. It. It gets you centered. It gets you in a great functional position to have an advantage.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it just like quiets the noise around you. Literally.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where you get into that right space.

[B]

Yeah, I, Well, I use Headspace app. I think it's five or ten bucks a month. They got that one monk sounding, guy's got a soothing voice. I actually use it to take a nap. You're not supposed to do this. I hired once a PhD lady. She's the number one expert in the world on meditation. She's like, ty, number one rule, you're not supposed to fall asleep while you meditate. Right. Every time she would go through a training session, I'd fall asleep. She'd get all frustrated. Anyway, I finally realized what's wrong with falling asleep during meditation. However, you could take a nap. So for me, power nap is a nine. And meditation is using a meditation app. I, I set my alarm, the key to a nap, in my experience, 18 minutes. I set a timer from the time I lay down. I go, hey, Siri, set a timer for 18 minutes. Then I turn on the meditation app for 15. And usually I fall asleep for five minutes. Dude, five. You know that Geico commercial, 15 minutes will save you 15% on your car insurance. Five minutes will give you two extra hours, at least. For me.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

I don't have that NBA gene. I don't have that super gene that you have. Okay, as we kind of wrap up, I want to switch the subject to kind of, you know, money and investing. You made a lot of money playing basketball. And after in the, in the Miami Heat, in different organizations, what's been your favorite investment and your least favorite investment? If you don't want to say the exact name, that's fine. But what, what type. What did you buy a franchise, like a McDonald's? Like, what was the thing that you like? Just a practical thing that you invested in that's been making you money. And then what is one where it didn't do so well for you if you don't mind sharing.

[A]

One of my first initial investments was real estate. Right. I got into the real estate space assistant living in Racine, Wisconsin, on the south side of Racine, specifically. We was probably doing at least a house or a unit or two per month. And over two years, we accumulated about 32 doors in that community. Houses. What I mean, so we had 32 houses on the south side. Um, that was one of the funnest investments because like I said, getting the eviction notices on your door and things like that and being able to provide affordable housing for people, that was. That was important. I used to work at Burger king. Bought in six franchises. And it wasn't until 2009 where the work. The work strike, the workman strike that happened. And I didn't understand the. The union aspect of franchising and how that affect you from a cash flow standpoint. And I took a huge hit.

[B]

Those were Burger Kings you took a hit on.

[A]

Yeah, I took a huge hit. I. I was. I was always in the green for. For years. And then in 2009, I took a huge hit for two quarters, roughly, and it took almost a year to recover. And organization came in. I don't want to say the name. He just passed away. He was a billionaire. He accumulated a lot of franchises, but they came in and purchased our six, and I liquidated in that space. I was glad I did got out at the right time, but that was a huge learning experience for me. The one fun one that I'm super excited about is the graduate hotels, where on a lot of college campuses right now we're actually at Nathan Hill, which is the graduate hotel now on the stores campus at UConn, we have 11 across the country. And to be in the hospitality space is pretty cool. I get to use the likeness of some of the great players that played at these historic colleges and put it out there. And also we have the butler suite and at Yukon, so if you ever in stores, Connecticut, you know, make sure y' all check out the King butler suite.

[B]

I'm gonna go there. That's. That's named after you, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.

[B]

I'm gonna go to Connecticut when they play. We're going to Connecticut. I'm gonna wear a North Carolina jersey. Hopefully I survive. I'm staying in your suite. I'm. I'm. I'm put North Carolina paraphernalia in that suite just to make you mad. No, I'm joking. Let me ask you this final, final question here. So you played against Michael Jordan.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Any memories stand out like, what was it like at that time? I mean, for people who don't remember, at one point, Michael Jordan wasn't just famous. He was like Michael Jackson famous. Like, he said, For 10, 15 years of my life, I could either play basketball or. Or sit in a hotel room because if he went outside, he was mobbed. So you're coming. You're drafted into the league. It's a little bit older version of him. And I got to ask the cliche question. You played against him. Is it realistic that he's the greatest of all time?

[A]

Yeah. George the goat.

[B]

Jordan's the goat, in your opinion?

[A]

I think. I think when you. When you think about where. Where the game of basketball is at right now, today. Right. And you think about the Dream Team and the impact that the Dream Team had on the world.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The global impact of the NBA on the world.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Michael Jordan was the face of basketball, and he's taken it to new heights from a generational wealth standpoint. When you talk about the shoes, that's being a staple in the fabric of everything that we are. When you think about hip hop, did you think about the Jumpman? Jordan has had a profound impact on the game of basketball and the way that it's played. And he's become the measuring stick for pretty much everyone, including statistically the greatest athlete now ever to play the game in LeBron James, where he's still chasing ghosts. And Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, because he's looking at the accomplishments of Kobe being in one team for 20 plus years and, you know, winning five championships and, you know, the MVPs, and he's become a staple here in the city of Los Angeles and globally as well, how he impacted the game of basketball. But Kobe was chasing Jordan.

[B]

Yeah, Kobe was. You ever seen that video where they show, like, a silhouette of how Kobe played?

[A]

Identical.

[B]

So, okay, so here's my. We're ending with this. I'm going to give you my five best. For those who don't like sports, you can ignore this part, but five best basketball players, If I could pick any time in history, put them on one team, and I'd have to bet 100 million bucks on it. Okay, this is a team I will put together, and then I want to hear your five. All right, Number one. At my point guard, I'm gonna put Magic Johnson. Okay. I'm gonna put Magic. I know it's controversial, but here's what I would say about Magic. He's a leader. He's a good leader that got everybody together. And if I'M putting five big, big genius, I mean talented players together. There's gonna be a lot of ego. I need a leader that can manage the le. The ego. So George Magic at my point guard, at my shooting guard, I'm putting the, the most hand eye coordination human ever to walk the earth. Steph Curry. I mean Steph Curry's doing stuff. Sometimes I, I'm like, this is, is it AI or is it Steph Curry? AI or Steph Curry? You can't even tell. Okay, my three. I'm putting Michael Jordan because Michael Jordan could play small forward with his back to the basket. So I'm put three at my four. LeBron James, he's big and strong enough that I could have him at my 4. He's not an ideal power forward, but I got to have him on the team. My five, I'm putting Prime Shaq Prime. I like Kareem and all's Prime Shaq. So I just think if I had to make $100 million bet all in their prime that it would be a son of a bitch to beat that team. You got defenders, Shaq blocks. You got, you know, Magic wasn't the greatest defender, but you have. Jordan was an NBA all defensive many times and defender of the year actually. So what's your five? Forget mine. You are more professional opinion than mine.

[A]

I would. That's a great list too. That's a great list. I would say Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and I have a versatile five to LeBron at the five which how the Lakers play him now.

[B]

So if our team met, here's the only problem. Who's going to stop Prime Shaq because he's going to make LeBron look like a little boy. I mean LeBron's I, I went to a thing with LeBron. He's a big guy, but I also inter. I, I used to own bodybuilding.com and Shaq, we, I interviewed him. They're like, you want to interview him standing? I'm like, no, because the people don't know how big Shaq it is. It looks like I'm a miniature human, right? He's seven foot two. So my business partner was there who's a, he's not a tall guy. He's probably 5 5. He saw Shaq and he pulled me aside. He's a scientist PhD. He goes, I'm not sure that guy's the same species guy. Ask me. I mean when you meet Shaq, I met big guy that you know Shaq. So I got my Shaq number five now you're going to be able to beat me down the court a lot. So it's going to be an interesting game.

[A]

Pace in space.

[B]

Pace and space. Okay, well, thank you so much, Karan. Everybody grab his book up my hand.

[A]

Thank you. Appreciate, brother.

[B]

Thank you, my man. Thank you so much.