← Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara
Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara
Michael Jordan, NCAA Final Four and Showtime Lakers with James Worthy
00:47:49
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- [00:00]
James Worthy
Michael Jordan, man, Not only did he hit the big shot, but there were times in that game where he really kept us within three points. And then his defense was really good too. So I know I was the most outstanding player. I was 13, I believe. 13 for 17. I was on fire.
- [00:18]
Matt
Damn.
- [00:19]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Okay.
- [00:20]
James Worthy
Michael Jordan arrived that year. Foreign.
- [00:38]
Matt
Welcome to another episode of Throwbacks. Please don't forget, give us a like and a subscribe on the YouTube. It's free. Press that subscribe button. All social platforms at Throwback Show, Leave some comments, leave reviews, whatever. When we talk about throwbacks and what is a throwback and the things that really get us going, right? It's obviously a player or actor or musician, someone from the past who's done something great, but then also gives you a great interview. I think we found maybe one of the greatest throwback guests we've ever had. Before coming on the show today, I.
- [01:12]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I gotta be honest with you, man. I was like, I'm like a kid in a candy store. I ain't gonna lie. Big game. That's all you gotta say.
- [01:20]
Matt
Big game.
- [01:21]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Big game. James Worthy, hall of Famer, national champion, legend, goat, incredible golfer, storyteller. Can you imagine, Jerry, what it was like to play for the Showtime lakers in the 1980s?
- [01:39]
Matt
You know, we're gonna find out.
- [01:41]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
We're gonna find out.
- [01:42]
Matt
Yeah. Cause I've heard him say in the past before, too. He's like, it's almost like a little bit of a death wish. He kind of called it because it's wild times. But yes, I couldn't think of a better guess also. So we did a great breakdown of like, the crazy Yukon shot.
- [01:55]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Yeah, I mean, part of March Madness back in that he won a championship with mj. Hit the shot. Played with Sam. I mean, some of those teams he played with in North Carolina, Sam Perkins, mj. Obviously, what could have been. You know, there's a big what if with James Worthy that, that we're gonna talk about that you got to stick around. But, man, what a great dude, man.
- [02:13]
James Worthy
Oh, great.
- [02:13]
Matt
Great dude. And then obviously, too, we had to. We had to talk a little bit about the current Lakers. We give you a little current stuff at the end. So let's get to it. Big Game James.
- [02:24]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Today's guest is a true basketball icon. A hall of Famer, three time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, a national champion, and he's wearing it right there, the jacket with the North Carolina Tar Heels. One of the greatest nicknames in all the sports. Big Game James for his clutch performances when it mattered most. The true definition of a throwback. The one and only James Worthy. And God damn, I am fired up to have you on, buddy. I'm like a little kid right now.
- [02:52]
James Worthy
Yeah, you're going, what's up, big guy? You're going back to the. The Way Back machine. The throwback machine. Yes, sir.
- [02:58]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
The show is called Throwbacks and you are literally the true definition of a throwb man.
- [03:03]
Matt
James, thanks for coming on. I saw, you know, everybody's obviously talking about the Yukon shot. You did an amazing breakdown on television of that shot. I really felt like obviously you broke down the shot, but you, you had some, some, some sensitive feelings for Boozer. Not a lot of, I mean, people covered it, but you covered it in such a nuanced way. I appreciated that. That was good coverage of the shot.
- [03:27]
James Worthy
You know, I hate Duke. I've always hated Duke. Everybody knows the rivalry between North Carolina and. But it was an amazing game. I hate that it had to come down to that. It shouldn't have. Duke had a 19 point lead. And I hate a game that ends on what looks like a mistake from a kid who's now got to walk around campus and have that on his shoulders. I've been in that situation before. In 1984 when I threw an Eric pass in the Boston Garden that tied that series up. We had five more games to make up for, but such a critical play. And then in 1982 in NCAA championship game against Georgetown, I was involved in a play where Fred Brown picked up his dribble and he panicked and threw me the basketball. And we went on to win a national championship. So I felt bad for Boozer to end like that. It was such a tough ending. You know, it shouldn't have come down to that. But I thought he would hold on to the ball. I actually thought the older Boozer Cam would hold the ball and just receive a foul. But it's just one of those situations where it ended up. And Duke's been on the other end of that. I remember when Grant Hill threw a long pass to Christian Laitman for a big shot against Kentucky. So that's the, that's the beauty of, of March Madness.
- [05:05]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
You mentioned Duke, Carolina, and I totally forgot because I, I've seen like some of the most heated rivalries in, in football, obviously in college football. But then in basketball you played for two of the most heated. Lakers, Celtics, Duke, Carolina. Do you have a. Is there a story from your time playing against Duke back in the day that maybe sticks out that just defines how heated it was and how much hatred you guys had for each other.
- [05:29]
James Worthy
You know, when I came to, to, to North Carolina, Coach Foster was still the coach at Duke. I can't remember his, his first name. I only had Coach K for one year and it really wasn't a, A, a big rivalry at the time. But they did have Gene Banks, you know, Mike Jinsky, you know, Jim Spinarkle and just going over 7 mile bus ride over to Durham from Chapel Hill and you know, as soon as you get into Durham area, you know, you're on the bus, everybody starts giving you the finger. You know, their fans are obnoxious and they really were back then. They camped out back then too. And if there was anything going on on your campus, they read about it. Like they had this one kid, he was about 5ft tall and Sam Perkins had really long arms, you know what I mean? And so this guy, he taped on these long arms on his arms that were touching the floor and he just kind of walked around as we were warming up. They did things like that, man, they were really obnoxious. But you know, Gene Banks and Jaminsky, you know, we didn't have a really tough time with them. But they did go on to the, to the Final Four, I think in seven. In 80. In 80. So I can't remember exactly, but not a big rivalry until coach, until Coach K arrived and I was, I was pretty much gone by then.
- [07:05]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
We all know the, the shot, right? The MJ hit the shots when the championship. You, you mentioned you had the steal. I think before that. Was there like a, a kind of a hidden play or maybe a sequence in that game that maybe people. Because we all know the ending, right? We all know the shot. But throughout that game there's a lot of plays made. Was there any, is there like a part of that game that sticks out that no one really knows about?
- [07:26]
James Worthy
Well, I, I was 13, I believe. Thirteen for 17. I was, I was, I was, I was on fire.
- [07:32]
Matt
Damn.
- [07:32]
James Worthy
But Michael Jordan arrived that year. I mean he was, he, he, he really propelled us starting in the ACC tournament against Virginia. Hit some big shots in the Georgetown game. My, you know, Georgetown, really tough. And the game could have gotten away from us. You know, Michael hit a left hand finger roll over Patrick Ewing. That was a big shot. I mean, and then there was another shot. He hit on the baseline. It was like a up and under kind of hit a little eight footer that kept us tight. Then he hit another shot. You know, it was a putback. I think Jimmy Black missed a layup so Michael Jordan, man, not only did he hit the big shot, but there were times in that game where he really kept us within three points. And then his defense was really good too. So I know I was the most outstanding player and I was the guy that was the decoy on that last shot because everyone thought that I was going to get the shot. So when I flashed in the middle, they collapsed. Jimmy Black made a cross court pass on Michael Jordan. And it's funny, during that timeout, you know, Coach Smith never really put any pressure. He just said, run the offense and take the best shot. But we came out of that timeout and everyone else was walking onto the court and I kind of looked back and I saw him pat Michael on the butt and say, hey, if you get a good look, knock it down. And that's exactly what happened.
- [09:14]
Matt
Gave him the green light. You know, I've watched that play, obviously, like we all have, thousands of times. I will say it's a good read on the pass because if I have that ball and I see James Worthy, even though there's two guys collapsing, I still might have force fed you the ball there, guys. 13 for 17. But that was a, like the pass was a great read because you're right, everyone collapsed right on you. I wanted to ask you because I'm a huge Giants fan. Full disclosure, were you at campus with the Lawrence Taylor? Cause I was doing the math. I was trying to figure out, did your guys paths cross when you were at unc?
- [09:48]
James Worthy
Yes, yes. Lawrence was a junior my freshman year and he and Al Wood, who was a teammate of mine, were really good friends and I knew Lawrence. I think I had a class with Lawrence and I think my first memory as a freshman, you know, I had an 8 o' clock class, you know, everybody does on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, whatever your setup was. So about 8:15, the campus is clear, you know, the yard is clear, nobody's walking around. Everybody's on campus in class. And I just happened to be, you know, like daydreaming looking out the window and Lawrence Taylor was walking across campus with a pool stick. He had one can of beer in his hand and he had the other five hanging down below and he was going to shoot pool like in the rec room. And that's what I remember, man. Lawrence Taylor was, I mean he was an amazing football player, man, but he was a terrorist on campus, man. He was just.
- [11:01]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
He was, he had to be a knucklehead for sure.
- [11:03]
James Worthy
They lost the game, man. You couldn't speak to him, man. He was so upset and I, I just, I love Lawrence, man. He was just a great guy, fun to be around and just, just, just a funny guy.
- [11:16]
Matt
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- [12:58]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I talked to our boy Geeter, right? And we were talking about this because I was like, God, what, what's something about James and I want to go back to the draft because we talked about on the show before some of like the, the, the what ifs in sports. Like what if this would have happened? What if that would have happened? Is it true? Because Ralph Sampson ended up coming back to school, which made you declare early for the draft. Is that accurate? If he would have. If he would have stayed or if he would have. If he would have left for the draft early, you would have stayed an extra year. Do you ever think about that? If that would have happened because then you would have been drafted by the Rockets the following year.
- [13:36]
James Worthy
Well, most likely, you know, had Raph come out, he would, he would have gone first without question. And then I think Dominique would have gone second. Terry Cummings probably would have gone third. I'm not even sure who was. Who was up, you know, fifth or team that wanted. That wanted a Dean Smith player who really wasn't scoring a lot and really, you know, just didn't come from that type of program. So I definitely would have stayed my senior year. I had, you know, helped recruit Kenny Smith, who was a freshman, who would have been a freshman my junior year. And I also had helped recruit Brad Daugherty. So that would have been a great team to come back with Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan and the additions of those players. But Ralph Sampson stayed, and I knew that the Lakers weren't looking for, like, a dominant score. I mean, obviously, Raph Sampson is a unique player, and there was a lot of rumors surrounding, you know, even that draft, like, had I come out along with. With Ralph, there were rumors that, you know, that they were going to trade Kareem to New York for. For their number, for. For their second pick, and they were going to keep me anyway, keep Ralph and I together. So there's always these rumors, but I was definitely going to stay in school and win another national championship with Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Brad Dougherty, you know, Jimmy, Brad. That. That would have been the goal that I would have set for us had I gone back. But I came out here, what a squad, and came to la. Yeah.
- [15:29]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Could you imagine if you're. If. If your Knicks got the.
- [15:33]
Matt
I'm a Knicks fan, James. If my. Yeah, that would have been interesting. I'm a big Knicks fan. So the thought of Kareem wearing a Knicks jersey for even a half a second would have been different.
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James Worthy
Yeah, Kareem was still. He was still performing. You know, he was MVP in 1985, but, you know, I think he might have been his 12th or 13th year. This is just things that you hear after you retire. You know, you're Talking to some GMs who remember things, but there's always, you know, you know, they thought maybe 13, 14 year, he might have been looking to retire anyway, so. But he went on and played 19 years. We won three more championships. And. And, you know, but to get, you know, the number one pick, Ralph Sampson, and the number two pick, James Worthy, would have been something that would have been talked about, you know, back in the 80s when players kind of stayed on one team for a longer period of time and to go along with Magic and whatever. The future was going to hold with Byron Scott, but never happened. And I'm glad it did.
- [16:45]
Matt
Well, yeah, because now we get, you know, we got the Showtime Lakers out of it. And, yeah, I mean, they made television shows and documentaries, but what really to you was the thing that made those Showtime teams so special? Because there's many options, right? As a fan, what. And so having been a part of it, what do you think made that Showtime team so special?
- [17:06]
James Worthy
You know, I think, you know, when I look back, you know, like, Kareem Abdul Jabbar had four years with John Wood. Jamal Wilkes had four years with John Wooden. I had three years with Dean Smith. You know, Magic Johnson played, came from a great program in Michigan State. Pat Riley played for Adolph. If you do some history on Kentucky, and I think, you know, a college coach would rip your ego out of your chest. That's what we all went through in college if we stayed two or three years. And I think that had a lot to do with it. We came from great programs, so we already knew how to win. And then when you put Pat Riley into the, you know, into it, he's. He's. He's a winner, man. Pat was a player that came off the bench, didn't really play that much during his career. His job was to get Jerry west ready to play. So, you know, he was always a hard worker. We were always prepared. He was a great communicator, and we accepted that. And we knew how to monitor one another. We knew how to solve problems. We didn't let anything get inside the locker room that got in the way of us winning. And whenever it happened, we always knew how to solve it. So it was a good group of guys that were together for a long period of time, and we knew how to. We knew how to, you know, create a winning atmosphere. And that's what. That's what happened.
- [18:39]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
James, you were talking about, you know, obviously, the great. The great players, and you kind of just came into the league as a part of a title contender right away. Do you remember, you know, a welcome to the NBA moment or specific moment? You're like, oh, shit. Like, I gotta. I gotta perform with these guys.
- [18:56]
James Worthy
Yeah. I'll tell you. I'll tell you my Kirk Rambis story. You know, I came into the league, you know, the number one draft pick. I thought I wasn't arrogant, but I thought I was pretty good. You know, I was the most outstanding player. I had talent. I knew the Lakers really didn't need a dominant score, okay? Otherwise they would have. They would have drafted the human highlight fam, Dominique Wilkins, that the Lakers had already won two out of three championships. So they Had Kareem, you know, Magic, Jamal Wilkes, Bob McAdoo, Michael Cooper. That's five hall of Famers right there already. So they wanted me to come in and like, you know, kind of be a role player. But I came into the training camp first day, and there was Magic, there was Kareem, there was Jamal, norm Nixon, Bob McAdoo. And then Kirk Ramish came into the gym and I looked at Kurt and he had this long hair. It looked like he hadn't showered in like two or three days. He had these glasses that had duct tape, you know, in between holding it up. And he had all this apparatus on. He fucking smelled like Ben Gay and shit. You know, I'm like, I'm like, I'm faster than he is. I'm quite. I can jump higher, I can score. I'm like, you know, I can start. I said, I'm going to get that position. In my mind, I'm saying that. Well, within about the first 15 minutes of practice, Kirk showed me what an NBA power forward was all about. And I didn't have. I didn't want to have anything to do with it, man. He beat the living shit out of me, man. Every time I came in that pain, I was bruised up. And I came back the next day and I said, I'm going to get him today, but nah. There was a big difference between a college power forward and an NBA power forward. So I started looking at Jamal Wilkes's position. I said, eventually, I'll get that one. I had to sit on the bench for a couple of years, but Kurt was not having it, man. He was not having it. So that was my first experience to the NBA. My second one was on a Tuesday night having the guard, Larry Bird. Okay, that's enough for a week. Okay. But then having a back to back game on Wednesday in New York, and you got Bernard King on a Wednesday night, Larry Bird, Bernard King on Wednesday night, get Thursday off, you know, get over to Philly, only they have to guard Dr. J on a Thursday night. So every night, Every night. Then you got fly back to Denver, you got Alex Amvis over to Portland, kick Evander way. These are all every night. You know, in college you had maybe one or two star players every now and then, but. And then you got 82 of these as opposed to 32 or 35. It just, it's. It's mind boggling how, how one can last. But through the grace of God and some good, you know, some good mentors, you know, I was able to adapt. But those first Couple years, man, you're playing against grown men. You know, some of them smoke cigarettes. You know what I'm saying? It was. It was. It was. It was a different time, but it was a tough adjustment, brother, I can tell you.
- [22:24]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Could you imagine just lighting up like Vlad Diva, just lighting up some cigarettes at halftime? I mean, you probably had to see some crazy shit like that during games.
- [22:33]
James Worthy
I mean, I think. I think maybe Vladdy rolled his own cigarettes when he came, but I think he learned quickly. He learned quickly that that wasn't going to happen. But every now and then, man, you know, you might catch a veteran player. I can't remember who it was, man, but I can remember at the forum seeing a. A veteran player tucking on a cigarette under the bleachers, looking at a stat sheet before he went back out because, you know, he had to figure out how many points he needed to get. You know, it was crazy. But, yeah, it was a few smokers, not many, but yeah, it was a different league. Commissioner Stern came in and cleaned the league up. You know, coming out of the 70s, it was a bad image. Didn't really have a drug policy, so. But Commissioner Stern came in, cleaned that up, got the TV contract. It was a. It was a. It was a cleaner league, more professional. So you didn't see too many smokers, but, man, you know, you had coaches smoking, players smoking. Everybody was smoking.
- [23:34]
Matt
So every episode, we do our throwback three where we ask you to. We'll ask you a question, to list your three. We were going to ask you your toughest covers, but I feel like you kind of just covered it right with those names, so I'm going to pivot a little bit. Who would be your throwback three from your era? Best trash talkers. The guys that you knew when you were going in are going to talk the most shit in a game.
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James Worthy
Larry was one of them. Larry was one. He didn't, you know, with. With the Lakers, he didn't really get too involved. We got into some scuffles every now and then, but he didn't really do a lot of talking. Cedric Maxwell, you know, always giving you the choke sign at the Freaked online. You know, that kind of stuff was tough, but, you know, we didn't have too many people that talked trash to us. We just didn't. Cause there were consequences if you did, and they knew what the consequences. We run your ass out of there, you know, in the second quarter. And so you didn't want to get us riled up. But Larry, you know, the bad boys, you Know, of course, with that name, you had to talk trash. So we get into it with lamb beer and Isaiah and those guys, but it was mostly Boston. Boston and Detroit didn't really have that much on the west coast. And nobody really got into it with us. They knew there were consequences for that.
- [25:02]
Matt
So I think you have one of the best nicknames if like it. For sure. We've talked about nicknames on this show and well deserved. I mean, your game seven performance, to me, I think that's the. The best game seven performance I've ever seen, just in terms of the stakes and everything. So. And we just broke down the Yukon Duke game. What is like the mindset, you know, because I know you were feeling for Boozer and sometimes it's the moment, right? Like, why did Fred Brown kind of stop his dribble? Probably 99% of the time, different moment. That never happens. So for you going into a game seven big game, James, do you approach it any differently than you would any other game one or game two of the finals?
- [25:44]
James Worthy
Yes. Yes. This is my last. My last stop at the gas tank. So I'm full and I'm using all the gas. I don't have to drive anymore after that Game seven, you know, a regular season, like I mentioned, man, you gotta play a lot of multiple players. You got to travel. And, man, we were traveling on Eastern Airlines and TWA and Delta. You know, it was going through airports. It wasn't like it was today. So it was tough during the regular season, but during the playoffs, I always thought that you had to enhance your game. You only have one team less travel, you get a lot of video, a lot of chance to prepare. So I always thought that you must be better in the playoffs. And if you can get to a game seven, what a joy, you know, what a great accomplishment just to, you know, fight to get there. Now you're leaving nothing on the table. And I guess I learned that, you know, back in college and, you know, when you. We lost to Indiana in 1981, the year before we won in 82.
- [26:51]
Matt
James, I wanted to follow up on the game seven thing, right? And it's kind of like a golf reference for me. I know, like, if I'm hitting it bad on the range, that usually means I go play. Well. If I'm hitting it good on the range, usually is a bad round. So when you're getting out there, warm ups. Game seven, that particular one in 88, did you know, like, I'm about to have a night. Because your performance all over the Court, how did you feel do. Could you go back to that time? Warm ups, game seven, 1988. Did you know you were about to go off?
- [27:21]
James Worthy
Yeah. During the warmups in game seven in 1988. You know, remember we, we were down two when we came back from Detroit. We were, we were three, two down. So it was a lot of pressure mounting. One game six and in a game seven, I. You just have this. You just block out everything and all you, all you're doing is thinking about what you have to do, you know, thinking about the defense you're getting ready to go up against, which were the bad boys? Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, John Sally. Those are my three primary. So you're just, you're portraying your game. You're living the game. Before you even play it, you have to, you have to imagine what you're doing. So I'm sweating, I'm imagining that I'm running the break, I'm diving on the floor, I'm pumped, thinking I'm doing all this stuff in my routine because it's on the line. You know, Pat Riley had guaranteed that we were going to win a back to back. So how embarrassing it would be if we didn't do it. So you have all that stress all year long and it really propelled up into the playoffs. We had to do it. It was just, no, there's no second, there was no nothing else. We were going to do it. So I had all that on my mind, all on my shoulders and I was strong, I was ready. And you know, you have this thought in your mind that you're not going to be denied at home, just not in your backyard. You're not going to. Nobody's ever going to beat you in your backyard. So you plant all that stuff in there and it worked, it grows and we just weren't going to be denied. And Kareem was a little older and I knew I had to step up and I was ready. I was ready for the moment.
- [29:13]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I could imagine, and I didn't know this, but I can imagine that you developed a lot of that mindset from your mom. Gladys, your mom was a big time Hooper back in the day. How, how instrumental and just influential was she throughout your basketball career?
- [29:30]
James Worthy
Dude, you're going to get a bottle of wine for bringing this one up, brother. Oh, yeah, Gladys. Gladys was like, I believe 1947 state championship, that's when they played with six wins.
- [29:43]
Matt
Let's go.
- [29:43]
James Worthy
Three on the offensive end and three on the defensive end. But yeah, she was very instrumental. Matt, she Was a good player. Told me to put arc on my free throw. I was kind of tall and I had a straight line. It was my mom. I didn't know what arc was in the seventh grade and she said, put a little arc on him. She went to all my games and she also kicked me off the team in the eighth grade. It was a blessing in disguise. I was getting big headed. I was playing for the ymca. I was playing for the boys club. I was playing for the church league, I was playing for the school league. I was coming in, throwing my books down and I was gone. Coming home late night, I came home with a report card. I had four Cs and one D. Passed everything. That's all I was trying to do was pass and wasn't good enough for her. She saw the direction I was going and she called my coach and kicked me off the team, man. And I hated her for a while. I hated her for a while because I was six seven, six eight in the eighth grade. And I was starting to get a little bit of tension. Starting to get like newspaper articles, you know. And in a small town, that's a big thing, you know. Got to go to basketball camp at Carolina. So I was starting to get a little bit outside of my britches, as she would say. So she signed my report card, I took it back to school, thought everything was okay at basketball practice. And Coach Bird comes out and says, sorry, you're done for the rest of the year. Blessing in disguise. Then I realized, best thing ever happened to me. Made me a better student. Made me think about if I didn't play basketball. So, yeah, she was tough. Gladys didn't play, man.
- [31:50]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I love that. By the way, I always live by the moniker of D equals degree. James. So I was with you, man. But D equals equal degree got me through.
- [31:58]
James Worthy
I'm not going to lie.
- [31:59]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Yeah, hey, me too. So. Well, one, listen, I'll gladly take a nice bottle of wine, but you might take that back because I do. I do have to ask you this question. What loss haunts you more? 1984 or your high school state championship? To Sleepy Floyd. And that's coming from. That's coming.
- [32:24]
James Worthy
I need that wine. I need that wine to drink right now, man.
- [32:27]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
That's coming from our boy. That's coming from our Bo Gator. He's like, you got to ask him about Sleepy Floyd.
- [32:33]
James Worthy
I've told G my whole life. He could write a book on, man. Haven't achieved college pro, you know, hall of fame, top 75, got a boys club championship. Got a YMC championship. Got a church championship. Yep. Never had a high school championship, man. So it hurts me to my heart. Both 84 and the high school hurt, but I would have to say that high school championship. I don't have a ring for that. I was able to redeem myself against Sleepy, however. Yes, because we did beat Georgetown, but I never. I never got a high school championship, so I can always tell him, and you've never got a college championship, so. But. But I would have. I would have liked to got that. And then we got beat on a. We beat them three times that season, and we got beat on a last second shot from a guy that we would let shoot a hundred more times. Scott Hopper.
- [33:47]
Matt
Those are the worst.
- [33:48]
James Worthy
We would let him shoot it a hundred more times and it hit the rim and it bounced around and it went in and that was it. It was a long ride home that night. But, yeah, I think Sleepy floor that, the high school one hurts.
- [34:03]
Matt
So I just want to throw out something, too. I'm sure you've heard this, but there's a great interview with your mom that our research team found from, like, 1993 at North Carolina, right. Where they interviewed her a lot about playing. And literally one of the first quotes that I listened to the whole thing. And I encourage everyone to listen. I'm sure you could Google it. But she talks about basketball. She's like, yeah, I really like basketball. I like more physical sports. Like hockey. She said hockey. She's like, basketball's great, but there's like, more physical. I like more physical. I'm like, wow, basketball is not physical enough for. It's a great interview, man. It really is an unbelievable interview for the time. 1948, women's basketball. Crazy.
- [34:41]
James Worthy
Yeah. We had a hockey. We had a minor hockey league team in Charlotte, and they were called the Charlotte Checkers. And my mom loved roller derby, too. She loved roller derby, dude. She loved it. And so. And she would tell me, son, you know, stop being so passive. You gotta meet force with force. That's where I got that term from in the ninth grade. Don't let them push you around. That was her thing. Don't let them push you around. And she was right.
- [35:19]
Matt
Amazing. Amazing. Before we let you go, because we've taken up too much of your time, though, you know, and maybe Matt, I don't know, since Matt, you know, you're the. You're the big. You're the big Laker guy here. But these Lakers are up to something, man. Yeah, they're. They're up to something.
- [35:33]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
We know you, you cover, you cover the Lakers with our, with our mutual dear friend Chris. Chris McGee. Geeter, obviously do a great job on there. I watch you all the time. It is, you know, Luka, I know how much praise you have for Luka. AR obviously, LeBron sort of taken this backseat role a little bit. Just James, I mean, do we have a shot to win a championship? You know, what is, what is your thought on the Lakers? Because they're rolling right now.
- [35:57]
James Worthy
Yeah, I really think the Lakers have arrived at a place where they now are a threat in the West. I know the spurs in Oklahoma are the teams ahead of them, but I, and I know Denver is right there behind them. But I do think regardless of all the teams that I mentioned, the Lakers have put themselves in a position to win. And I'm not saying that they're going to guarantee to win a championship, but they put themselves in a position and here's why. One, they're healthier than they've ever been and they have all their tools in the toolbox that are available. And I think after the All Star break and when they got everybody back, they decided that they wanted to play defense. The defense has been pretty good in the clutch minutes, but now for four quarters, they're committed. They like each other. They like being around each other. I think Aiden is key. He's key. I think, you know, he sees. When we lost Anthony Davis, we really needed a rim protector and a big who could score against Denver, he started to show some consistency after he said himself, I had to look in the mirror. Austin Reaves, anybody that's like a plus one handicap is good at everything. The way they think, the way they analyze their work ethic, all of that. This guy was undrafted, undrafted. And LeBron being the genius that he is, he said, there's something about this guy that I like. And so he's just an amazing player. He gets to the line and then you have probably the best entertainer in sports in Luka, who's just a phenomenal player. I mean, I played with Magic. A great scorer, a great passer. Luka is breaking records. He's reaching goals that no one has reached as fast as the way he can just pull up and score and shoot and really enhance everybody around him. It's just been amazing. And then you have Jackson Hayes, a great backup center, and guys like Jake Laravia. My favorite is, you know, Marcus Smart, who I think put his print on this team immediately with defense and diving on the floor. When's the last time you've seen a 41 year old LeBron James diving on the floor. He did it one time, and I think that might be the last time. But Marcus Smart, Marcus Smart came here and he has injected that attitude and he's been out the last three or four games. And I think it's good that he's out because he needs rest as they get ready to enter into the playoffs. But I just think the coaching staff has done a great job. I give Brooks and McMillan eight plus for being there for JJ in his second year. So they're starting to understand what it takes to win. They had a lot of injuries, Reeves out. LeBron didn't start training camp. You know, everyone has that. But you do need all your ingredients available when you're trying to cook up something. And I think they're at a place they've. They've secured, you know, the tiebreakers against Denver and the Rockets and the Suns, they're in third now, so they got to hang on. Yep. As the season goes out, they got it. They got Oklahoma coming up, Cleveland tonight. So they're still tested, but they're playing well enough to secure that spot, I believe, man.
- [39:55]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Well, I hope so. I hope they can win another championship. Big game. You have no idea. This was so cool for us. We could talk to you for hours, man. I'm telling you, we both obviously love basketball. Appreciate you coming on, man. And I want to get on the golf course. I used to play at Mountain Gate all the time, so I would love to go out there and hit some balls.
- [40:10]
James Worthy
Come on, man. Hey, look, I've been inviting G for the last five years, man.
- [40:14]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I don't think we'll go together.
- [40:15]
James Worthy
I don't think he. I don't think he likes to come north. North of, like.
- [40:20]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
He doesn't, you know, he does. He doesn't leave the bubble.
- [40:22]
James Worthy
Yeah.
- [40:24]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
All right, man. We appreciate you. Big game.
- [40:26]
James Worthy
You got it, Matt.
- [40:27]
Matt
I gotta say, not only is it Big Game James, I think that's Big Podcast James, great storyteller and guest for a podcast, man.
- [40:37]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I mean, could we not talk to him for 18 straight hours? Just.
- [40:42]
Matt
We did. When we waited for his audio to. To upload, we talked for another hour off the air.
- [40:47]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I mean, just legendary, man. He's one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He's, I mean, big. I mean, and also one of the greatest nicknames of all time. Big Game James. He always delivered in the clutch, man. What a great dude. What a great.
- [40:58]
Matt
Well, it gets you thinking, and I don't Know, me and my buddies do this. I'm sure you have had these conversations when you start saying, like, okay, you, James Worthy, pretty iconic player. Pretty iconic number 42.
- [41:11]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Oh, yeah.
- [41:11]
Matt
Like, if you could think 42, that for, you know, guys our age, it's one of the first people, if not maybe the first that come up. But let's, let's talk all time. Great. 42s. Number 42 in any sport. Okay. Because this is an interesting, interesting number. So I'm sure we're going to agree. We. We could, like, pingpong it. I think there's. There's. I got five that I would play up there.
- [41:37]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I got four.
- [41:38]
Matt
Okay, why don't you begin? Because I think I know who you're gonna leave out and I'm ready to yell at you.
- [41:43]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Well, why don't you begin? Well, I'm gonna put big game is that. Big game is.
- [41:47]
Matt
He's in there.
- [41:48]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
He's in there regardless. But he's not going to be in my top three. Just because. So I'll start with. I'm gonna go your guy, who I think you probably have number one, because you just. You just glaze the Yankees all the time. I'm gonna go Mariano Rivera as my. As number three. I mean, look, he's the greatest closer of all time. He's one of the best baseball players of all time. 5. Five time World Series champ. How about this? The last major league baseball player to wear number 42 full time. I don't know if you knew that. It's pretty cool. So I would start with Mariano Rivera as my number three.
- [42:22]
Matt
Yeah, I mean, he's definitely up there for me. I couldn't put him one.
- [42:26]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Okay, good, good.
- [42:28]
Matt
But he's now, quick little sidebar to the Twitter beef that I'm embroiled in. Look, and this goes directly to you, Matt. I'm sure you probably loved your guy, Edwin Diaz. Come out to that. Cinematic.
- [42:42]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
You're just a hater, bro.
- [42:43]
Matt
I watched it for years with the Mets. We did this thing already with the cinematic thing, and now we're bringing it
- [42:49]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
to the West Coast. We're bringing it to the West Coast World Series champions, bro.
- [42:54]
Matt
Like, the dude blows saves. What are we doing? We're talking about him like he's one of the greatest clothes closers to ever pitch in baseball. He's a very good closer. I'd want him on my team. He's a good closer. But enough with the like. It's such a cinema. Guess what? All that's cinematic about it is the Cameras are better.
- [43:15]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Can we talk about number 42?
- [43:17]
James Worthy
Where are you?
- [43:17]
Matt
Sure.
- [43:17]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
With Edwin Diaz.
- [43:18]
Matt
I just think it's ridiculous. You're falling for the trumpets. You guys in LA are falling for the trumpets. Oh, it's. It's awesome. This is.
- [43:28]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
It's spoken from someone who has a losing mentality. That's you. Okay, let's go. What's 42?
- [43:33]
Matt
Obviously the number one is Jackie Robinson. He's iconic. As iconic could be. I mean, when you think for. I mean, the movie's called 42, right? They. They.
- [43:42]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I mean, they have a. They have a day in the bigs for Jack.
- [43:46]
Matt
42. 42 is Jackie for sure. I'm gonna clear the decks for your next one and then we could wrap it up, cuz I think I know where you're going with this one.
- [43:55]
James Worthy
Yeah.
- [43:56]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Mariano 3. Obviously, Jackie Robinson is the greatest number 42 for everything that he meant for a lot of different reasons. Obviously just an icon. My number two, I'm going Ronnie Lott. The great Ronnie Lott. I think we just heard Big Game talk about lt. Who's. Who's arguably who's probably on the Mount Rushmore greatest defensive players of all time. Ronnie Lott, by far is on the Mount Rushmore of greatest defensive players of all time. Four time super bowl championship. I mean, the old myth story of just tearing the pinky off on the sideline, which we don't know if it's true or not. Ronnie Lott was in our locker room all the time at USC when I was there.
- [44:33]
Matt
Yeah. Did you get to know him a little bit?
- [44:35]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Yes. And I will say this as, as people watch Big Game James is. Is that you talk to me, you're like, man, Big Game James is one of the great. Just a great human being, a great dude and obviously great at what he did. Ronnie Lott is very similar.
- [44:47]
Matt
Yeah. What's Ronnie Lott like?
- [44:49]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
He's one of the greatest people I've ever met, man. Humble, loves being a Trojan. Every time I talk to him, he's just like, he's just the. He's just the best man. Like you, you. You walk away, you're like, man, Ronnie Lott is one of the greatest human beings. Not only is he one of the fiercest, Most hate like just one of the fiercest players of all time. So I got Mariano, Ronnie and Jackie Robinson as my top three. So. And. And James and my four. So I don't know who a number. Another 42 is that. That deserves to be on this list. And don't say Kevin Love, please.
- [45:22]
Matt
I'm not gonna say Kevin Love. You know what? There is I'm missing. No, you're not. I. I couldn't make the case for, like, a move on or Jerry Stackhouse. It just doesn't add up. I thought for a minute I got excited because I'm like, wait a minute. Wasn't I was gonna make a case for my 5 foot 7 bro, Darren Sprols, but he's number 43, so I couldn't even make the case. That's it. That's it. It's. It's Jackie, it's Mo, it's Ronnie Lott, it's Big Game James. That's. Those are the four best. 42.
- [45:51]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
So you got Mo in there?
- [45:54]
Matt
Yeah, Mariano. No, we call Mariano Rivera Mo.
- [45:57]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Oh, we call him.
- [45:59]
Matt
I mean, I got. See, this is what I'm dealing with. He's getting caught up with the Trumpets guys now. I better not see you, by the
- [46:08]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
way, from the game that the Trumpets are going to win us a third straight World Series championship.
- [46:13]
Matt
You would win it without them. You'd win it without them. You don't even need them.
- [46:16]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
He. The rich get richer, buddy. The rich get richer.
- [46:19]
Matt
Just do me a favor. If. Well, you're gonna. If you want to just piss me off, you could do this. If I catch you at a game and you post on Instagram when the lights go out and the trumpets kick up and you're like Edwin Diaz, cinematic, I will throw up all over the place.
- [46:35]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Oh, I'm gonna do that.
- [46:37]
Matt
The problem is I. U.S. championship.
- [46:40]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
I usually don't stay through the ninth inning. I always go home early.
- [46:43]
Matt
You don't want to beat that Dodger traffic, so you'll never hear the trumpet. All right, well, can't thank James Worthy enough. I really want to go play golf with him, Matt. So I'm going to ask you to hook that up next time in LA and Lakers, man. He's felt very optimistic for these Lakers, so we shall see.
- [46:59]
Co-host (possibly the main host)
Love what he said. Hey, they get. They're just giving themselves an opportunity. That's it. That's all you can do. Top three seed in the West. Tough to do. We'll see. But go, like, subscribe. Watch us on YouTube. Throwbacks, man.
- [47:11]
Matt
Back next week. Before the music comes back. One idea. Between work and family, who has time for long sports shows? TikTok gives you quick updates and highlights in seconds. Easy to watch, easy to keep up. Download TikTok now.