BACK HOME with TALEN-HORTON TUCKER 🏠 | #HomeMatters presented by Aptive

BACK HOME with TALEN-HORTON TUCKER 🏠 | #HomeMatters presented by Aptive

What does Chicago basketball mean to you it’s really like where my passion comes from if I wasn’t from Chicago I wouldn’t play basketball the way I played Chicago is just where I you know I started learning everything so I feel like it’s just was home we would go to games and I would

Ask him questions about former Chicago high school basketball players he knows all this information about you know guys that probably played 20 years before he was born so I knew that he was a student of the game he was tough he was a kid okay I’m going to play with the big kids

No matter what I’m going to do what I had to do and if I don’t do great I’m going to go home and work on it his grandmother ran the proam at the park when he was a little kid Mark guire Randy Brown Jaan Howard Michael Finley

He was at the park with all of Chicago’s greats I feel like you know my grandmother’s just big into like knowing what was going on so she was just really big in the community so just being able to be around her and you know kind of you know maneuver around the

Neighborhood and going throughout the city going to pram Gams it kind of just you know made me you know eager and you know my love for a group my mom was always involved like with the prams the young kids from her school you know she was involved with just the basketball

Community but just keeping the kids off the streets or doing any know just anything keeping them involved or keeping them active Chicago basketball scene it’s it’s tough Chicago is is the city of luk car basketball and it is played like no other place in the country but it’s going to teach you to

Get up and keep going that’s one of the things that I know that Taylor learned a lot with Chicago basketball I was going to see like jaari Parker Anthony Davis Kendrick none just being able to see that as a kid kind of like you know made

Me feel like I could do it how would you start to learn about their careers and their Journeys uh I was I was a big my Google kid I was 6 seven years old I always come back and go just to you know look up guys and just try to figure out

Everything about them cuz it was one of those things like once I found out about someone I was like almost obsessed is there one player like when you think of their Journey that you kind of felt inspiration from uh definitely darari for sure jerck Rose um there a few other guys but just

The main guys that went to Simeon where do you think you get this like inquisitive Spirit from um my mom for sure growing up my mom never She always told me if no such thing is a dumb question so you know I kind of ran with

That he was uh 10 years old he came to one of my camps I had here at Simon felt like I was just destined to go to Simeon people were telling me I was going to Simon and I was in fifth grade but when the time got closer I just was like okay

I want to go to the school where I’ll probably get opportunity and then where you know the best are going to be so I felt like Simeon was where the best players were I remember one of like I was in kids full Locker one day with my

Mom and the cashier went to semon I was probably like seven or eight years old and then then my mom was like yeah you know the Simon they had Ben Wilson and that’s the first time I ever heard Ben Wilson name so I was like probably six

Or seven years old after that I Googled everything about Ben Wilson went home seeing all the Nike commercials seeing all the you know the stories about him and um it was just something that you know stuck with me Chicago you know with all the violence that we have just

Keeping these young men safe so that they can understand they do have a family outside of their immediate family and they have an outlet I think we put that cover over these young men we build a family bomb with these guys because if they need anything or they need any

Support things that we all you know have somebody that we can reach out to to make sure that we have the resources for them they were there for me for advice that I needed if I needed a place to to stay if I needed a place you know to be

I could always count on them they basically were like Father figures for me so you know just being able to have them my life was pretty good coach Cory and Coach Rob stepped up by just being involved but the whole coaching staff when my mother mother passed first but

Then his father passed like next year they were very really really involved with helping and communicating with him and keeping him on the right track because we dealt with a lot of tragedy fast and at a young young age talk to coach Robert a pretty good amount too

Still I talked to Coach Cory almost every other day coach Cory is just unknown coach Cory since I was like 8 years old so you know we’ve always been pretty locking uh I would just send him a text message and say hey man you know good luck tonight you know go out there

And have fun we we still talk he’s just like a son to me and I think this guy still a limit from him cuz he’s still a young young man they still treat me like you know I’m still that same kid that that came in but obviously they know I’m

Just a lot older in the NBA now like my V where I am now is what they Envision for do you know his son wears your number he does how does that make you feel uh it feels good because you know Simeon is is one of those places where

You might you see a pro every other four years so just being able to be that Pro that came through while his son was still able to see me and be around me every day was you know was good for me Lakers have a chance for

Theak tuer says yeah I’m going show you what I can do great CLE tht did not up what was the welcome to the NBA moment for you yeah it was in practice just walking in practice every day and walking into training camp you got to play against LeBron you got to

Play against Ronda you got to play it’s ad you got to guard all those guys it’s kind of like okay this is really the NBA yeah I was super quiet like I was just always listening and observing everything so just being able to do that and get around them and learn and pick

Their brains a little bit was Greatful so you got to like kind of step back into the mindset of that eager kid with all the questions literally I just sat back listened and I asked when I could I think as a rookie that was like the best opportunity and it was a blessing

Because you know with him being able to work with them and learn from them so now with him being in a vet 5 years now he knows what to do and not to do he was he he received that so he’s able to give it back so I’m really proud of him in

Doing that what is it like to kind of step into that role as this leader as this vet it’s crazy it’s super crazy uh I still a really consider myself a vet yet but just being able to to to be somebody that people you know look up to

Especially like younger guys that are like good and then being able to like be around the younger generation that are coming up still it’s uh you know it’s it’s crazy honestly how do you pour into these young guys that are now on the Jazz so you got to let them learn a

Little bit then you also just got to be there for them knowing like the fact that if I could be a big brother figure for someone especially at this level it can only do like w how did it feel to see him fulfill that dream and to get

Drafted I don’t know like get jok but I always tell people I’m really really happy because he deserves it cuz he’s a good KY you know always been how he is good treat people right he likes what he does he’s respectful and he’s always been like that and I’m really proud of

Him I I’m getting a little Tey because I’m just proud of Him

We go back to Chicago with THT to talk about his childhood in Chicago, his days playing for Simeon and coming to the league. Watch now!

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