Courtside Conversations | Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal

Courtside Conversations | Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal

Bre breing Up peace my brother I need more in the peace my brother if you rolling with me my brother just know we going past the peak my brother and I keep my eyes in the prize so I can never see de feat my brother walking the finest L between the

Sh with the fleet take a seat I stay out the reach word is M I ain’t claiming a pieace thrown his mind but I stay on my feet lo lo that I pray that you get low if you roll it I pray you don’t get cold

Is he ready for war my brother is he ready for war my brother backing they backing Up you ready for all my brother is he ready boy Oh That’s right thanks guys so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us today we’re just going to have a casual conversation get to know you guys more on a personal level of course we’re going to talk a little bit of basketball um and we’re

Also going to sip and enjoy some espresso martinis so I think it’s only appropriate that we maybe start this off by by cheersing with the the espresso martinis if you guys want to have some we have a game tomorrow okay all right well then I’ll I’ll just I’ll have a

Sit oh pretty good I might have to Uber home after this those are great um but guys we obviously we have some few props here the espresso martinis as well as your guys’ shoes we’ll get into that a in a little bit but what’s the story behind the espresso

Martinis uh ask book okay book what’s what’s the story behind those I don’t know every good night starts to one though okay I like that answer well we’ll uh we’ll start with you on this one book getting into your signature shoe deal the Nike book one we have them right over

Here pretty awesome and you’ve been introducing a lot of new colorways to this season just for you what was the process like designing your signature shoe um I mean every kid’s dream is is how I explain it you know growing up actually being a sneaker head and you

Know saving up my money and just following sneaker culture my entire life it was always something I wanted to be a part of so you know once Nike gave me the word about 2 years ago and we started the process then you know I haven’t looked back you know it’s

Occupied my mind and my thoughts for the past two years what was that first moment like for you when you when you saw the shoe you got to touch it feel it and and just know that it had come to life uh it’s just hard to explain to be

Honest like I said it it really is a dream um and it it feels like a dream every day every new color you know I enjoy I try to tell a story through all of them um following this man growing up I wore his shoes and you know still did

Recently when I was in the NBA too so you know just trying to tell the most stories that I can through them KD you have the KD 16s and we have the Texas edition ones behind here what’s what’s the story behind them uh say it again sorry just the story behind these shoes

Oh yeah I mean I got so many ties with the state of Texas and the University of Texas and um I always wanted to somehow honor the cities and the people I came across in those cities as I played throughout this journey so that’s a huge

Part of my journey and just my my shoe line in my line in general is there just to tell stories and and hopefully it lines up with my play as well so me and the you know the the fan can have a more of an intimate relationship you know so

I’m grateful for the opportunity I had with Nike you’re Yeah you mentioned Nike you’re one of the three athletes to have a lifetime contract with them what’s it mean to you to just be in the company of of MJ and LeBron I mean you I mean just saying those names I

Mean that’s basketball royalty to me and guys that I followed and wanted to be like and you know they set the blueprint for what it is to be a signature athlete and I just try to follow that blueprint along with having my own twist with it

As well and uh and being around for so long helps as well so being around for 16 17 years had that many shoes um I’m just grateful I can continue to tell stories like that and Brad you’re you’re a Jordan guy we have your shoes back

Behind here the you’ve done a few player exclusive ones uh the Hot Wheel Jordan 38s uh tell us tell us a little bit more about them and there’s some detail inside as well with with your kids names yeah so uh my wife and I had three beautiful boys Bradley the second

Brillan and Braxton uh if you say them really fast you’ll Butch their names like we do every day um but yeah we love cars uh the boys love Hot Wheels and so this is like a true dedication and them they’re always sitting on the Baseline driving me crazy driving her crazy and

They’re huge fans of these two guys in our whole team man so uh those are specifically dedicated to them well we’re going to do uh a lot of new faces on this Sun’s team this season and obviously not not the whole team is here right now but we want to get to

Know more about the teammates that you guys are with day in day out so we’re going to do some rapid fire questions on these guys um and if you think maybe one pertains to you don’t don’t be afraid to say that that it’s you on this one too

So are you guys ready all right first one who is the funniest teammate in the locker room tough one one I’m GNA go Brad I knew was Brad or saving for me yeah I would say sa you just got to watch Brad He’s like a watching he’s like a walking mem every

Game me and book was talking about this yesterday he got a and one over there he just laid out for a couple seconds got to have fun man you got to have fun enjoy it I I’ll say me again I’m funny I try to be light keep the keep the energy

Going but saving is hilarious though saving you gotta watch sa which teammate would you say is the best dress I go book book come to practice dress b b b b b b the love for B though right no for real yeah no it’s it probably is a tie

Between bowl and book okay Devin when you’re when you’re picking out an outfit what what goes into that for you uh just what the day is going like you know it’s just mov you know what I feel like dressing just expressing you know how you feel that

Day um um you know so if you try to plan it two accordingly then you know it feels for so whatever you’re comfortable wearing you have a favorite outfit of all time that that you’ve worn or that you look back on where you’re like man

That’s that’s the one that I love no I just say it’s kind of like uniform dressing it’s the same thing over and over and over again um just in different styles and colors Brad why are you laughing cuz he’s dead serious but he’s so Uh next one who’s the go-to for the positive energy on the team the Good Vibes the one that can pick you guys up in the locker room definitely not me doing Brad I would say me or goody goody goodie goody you get us going Jay good yeah I go with good

Too what what goes into that Brad for you just as a player of of being having that energy and wanting to help the guys and lift them up for me it’s uh I’ve never been a part of a team like this so I like I I literally Embrace every

Single moment there is you know every step of the journey uh cuz you don’t get opportunity like this every single day you know so I I truly take pride in that and understanding that these opportunities don’t come around a lot and we have a good group of guys so like

Let’s enjoy that let’s uplift the each other and have fun doing it you know this is we played this game since we were this tall and it was fun then so let’s not let’s not lose that so and then finally for this one who has the

Best and worst taste in music on the team oh the young guys man um I say he is the best KD he’s in tune very Versa I don’t want to say to say that I say bck is probably up there too we all listen to the same stuff though

Say we listen to the same stuff when B got the auxes like turned on a drake just like I would I think we just operating we operating on the same you know mind frame um the worst though that’s probably the hardest question who would you say is the

Worst we have a lot of headphones though yeah it’s a lot of we’re big headphone 10 it’s like choose what you want to listen to yeah exactly so we wouldn’t know actually who’s the that’s a good point Who’s the when you turn on Drake it feels like everybody know the word so

I guess yeah and and and Jay-Z at practice too right I’ve I’ve heard that lot of Jay-Z yeah yeah so no no bad taste in music been cool so far we got a high taste level team you know mhm all right well we’re going to switch

Gears a little bit here um just talking some off the court stuff I hear that you guys are all really into gaming as well um tell me we can start with you Brad your your favorite game and and why uh for me it’s Call of Duty I’m I’m

A big Call of Duty guy um Call of Duty and Madden those are my my two go-tos but we we’re in the field we’re in the field it’s nice where after a game I’m playing with these two and Brad’s wife until 4 in the morning we got practice at noon but we

Playing till 4:00 a.m. playing Call of Duty that’s a true story that should that should tell you what we like that’s facts it’s facts and Devon I had heard you I think it was last week you were talking in the locker room to Sav Lee

And Joo about Mario Kart too is that is that up there for you yeah that’s for our NE that’s our next trip plan everyone’s bringing their switches cuz I guess we have a lot of Mario Kart fans and I wasn’t aware so I think we have seven seven people bringing their

Switches next trip if y’all didn’t get the memo my boys got me one for Christmas I’m in I know I have my own well you know you know you got siblings you got to share amongst you well you had mentioned too that you that you guys play with um Kamaya and

Just you would fix the PC the G the gaming PC uh we had we saw that on Tik Tok what uh what went into that yeah I’m a little nerd man I you know I venture out and do some things but no I had a lot of help our Chef is actually really

Good our Chef wears like 50 hats and he helped me set up the PC which is something i’ I’ve had interest in doing but it’s pretty cool it was a cool process that’s nice yeah that’s that’s pretty impressive that’s a nice setup yeah and not only are you guys into gaming but

You’re also animal lovers even more importantly um I hear do you guys all have the same the same breed of dog that the king Coro I think I’m saying saying that right we do yes okay so did you guys go through the same breeder um how

How did you all come up with the the same breed well I spent the summer with but well not a summer like like a month or so and we book in the Olympics and all he talked about was Haven and and I just fell in love with can cor so I had one

Before and I was like you know I’m going to get another one and I was inspired by book to be honest that whole summer and um mine’s still getting trained and but I see Haven all the time it’s just incredible dog so yes I have I have a lot of dogs

Actually I have I got five dogs all right y need bear with me all right bear with me can we go through all their names and and what breed they are okay got you so it started off with a Rottweiler and a French bull dog right

All there were two boys my wife and I we had I had the rotweiler she had the Frenchie I don’t do the small dogs I love Frenchies they’re really cute so bright idea for our anniversary one year we decide to buy each each other the opposite sex of the

Dog and our friends don’t tell us right so they all know that we’re doing this and they know we’re soon enough about to have four dogs so anniversary comes around we hand each other bags both big bags are moving and we’re like okay we can kind of feel where this is

Going open the bags two other dogs so we like okay like this is this is a lot right and two months later she was pregnant I’m like okay so now we got to really pump the brakes all right we got five five animals potentially running around

The house all right so we thank God her her mom takes the French Bulldog oh I’m sorry I skipped the step our French Bulldogs end up mating and they have a litter of six puppies right my wife obviously wants to keep one puppy so we legitly have five dogs now

Right three French Bulldogs two rottweilers one baby it’s a lot going on as an NBA player trying to manage all of this stress on the court you know uh fast forward we get her mom to take the three French bll dogs we’re stuck with the two rodes unfortunately our boy Rotty passed

In January when we were still in DC but we’ve always been a fan of K coros the funny story about it as we’re training Arcane Coro we meet Haven his dog all the way in damn DC learning how to train and and and be books dog and fast forward I get traded

To the Suns and we all got can coros I love that now do your dogs ever ever get together at all or you ever have them have them play together I know they’re huge yeah yeah yeah his dog I told him to bring him over oh yeah we

Should we should have brought him here today I’m with it my my dog still need a he needs some more training Ms too Ms too no I love it but you guys obviously dogs gaming you also have a big love for music like you were just talking about

With with Drake maybe who is your favorite artist and maybe who’s in the top rotation for you guys as well I can’t say my dad’s right here I can’t not say Jay-Z or else he’s not going to let me out of here man um so my whole childhood was me listening to

Drake and then him explaining Jay-Z lyrics to me as a 10-year-old what about you KD oh yeah it’s probably the same too guys I grew up listening to Jay-Z and then when I came into the league Drake had just came out as an artist so he kind of carried

My career once J once I was done with Jay-Z but those two meant a lot to you know the culture of sports as well as music Brad BR all right I didn’t really grow up on Jay-Z so don’t don’t you know don’t shoot me down but I grew up a

Nelly fan we had Nelly in St Louis so I’m I grew up on Nelly uh but as got older jcole has been my my favorite my favorite artist yeah now Kevin you received an anr credit on Drake’s recent album uh can you talk a little bit about what

Went into that and and how this kind of happened for you it was definitely a surprise for me I mean me and Dr has always had ongoing conversations about like my career and what it means and what I’ve done and his career and just what it all means so just I guess having

Those conversations over time prompting him to just you know name me or credit me on his album um I didn’t know about it until a few days before and I heard some of the songs before they came out that’s just about it I didn’t help

People ask me Y what what beats did you pick or did you help with lyrics I was like that’s Drake come on you think he needs help with anything uh but it was cool just hearing the stuff and and listening to him throughout his creative process that was fun that was always

Been a dream when I started making music me and my uncle right here we bought first beat machine when I first got into the league and I since then I just was intrigued with the process of making music and I guess learning that process has made me appreciate the music and the

Art a little bit more so always wanted to be a part of something like as big as a Drake album what was that like for you to to have that happen and and just your interest in music at a young age and then coming fast forwarding now to this

Yeah I mean it was it was cool I mean it just all started from just being a hobby it’s still a hobby you know I’m not trying to put music out or become an artist I just like getting in the studio and vibing and having a good time you

Know I think people would love it though if you did no no I keep that I keep that secret but I I just enjoyed like I said I enjoy the process of becoming an artist and what it takes and to have that opportunity to just have a conversation one of the

Biggest artists in the world was cool what was the maybe the biggest thing that you learned from him when you were able to uh just the consistency in which he approaches the work just the craft and what’s most important when he steps into the studio to make music and just having

A clear mind and and to to create and not be being distracted from anything he has tunnel vision and I think that’s how we approach our craft as as artists on a basketball court is trying to be consistent and get better every day but also having that Tunnel Vision on what

The goal is at the end of the season and book you you got some love from Drake this summer he wore your signature shoe during his concert I mean how did that come about for you um just an idea at first um you know the shoe hadn’t even been made yet you

Know I had one pair and you know once I found out he was coming to Phoenix you know it just started as an idea and two months later Nike um made the shoe and you know I hand delivered it I didn’t know if he was actually going to wear it on stage

Or not and then you know I was just as surprised as everybody else once he pulled up in it and then he continued wearing it the rest of his show not even in Phoenix so I think that was a product of him getting his foot in there and actually

Feeling you know how comfortable it was and you know he expressed that to me and I felt like it was a dope way to just debut it and let the world see it for the first time yeah that’s that’s pretty special and you would to follow up on

That with with how comfortable your shoes are your teammates have been wearing them I know that you gifted the whole team a pair you had nerk saying how comfortable they were just the first time that he put them on what is that mean to you to have your teammates

Support in that too and being able to see that I mean that that’s everything you know that’s what you want I mean you can have an idea on something and you can wear it yourself and think it feels a certain way but until you get a actual

Review and a real opinion for from people that are doing what you’re doing it means a lot all right well we’re going to transition a little bit to kind of what a game day can be like for you guys we I mean not myself but you guys

The travel the grind of it the day in the day out um how do you guys find maybe your personal balance I know that that can probably be a challenge but finding the personal balance but then also you know being able to be so focused on the

Game if there is a personal balance sometimes when it’s like a back toback or something you know I mean we play Call of Duty a lot we’ll we’ll play before game sometimes like just you know eases this you a just not feel with basketball all the

Time um then I have my boys that keep me entertained if they’re not in school they’ve been home for a long they had a long break by the way that break it’s about time for them to go back to school but uh that that gives you a good

Balance just having you know a good support system and having Hobbies like man just keep you basketball yeah we’re focused all the time but it’s good to have little Hobbies like we have to like you said keep that balance B what about you game day routine or just just how do

You have personal balance in your life with the craziness of the schedule um they just go hand in hand you know I really enjoy you know what we’re doing I enjoy traveling I enjoy experiencing new cities obviously you know your body can get worn down a little bit but you know

I still wake up appreciative and grateful you know to be doing what we’re doing um you know we’re like on tour going around you know the United States selling out Arenas and you know getting to play the game that we love ktie yeah I just Echo what book said I mean k

Once you commit to this life you commit to it and everything I mean this is personal for us getting up and doing this and going through this journey every single day of trying to be great basketball players there some ups and downs but I think that’s the beauty of

It all and we enjoy it you know that’s why we’ve been around so long what’s this 12 Brad for you how many years d k you do all that yeah age all the time 12 it’s 12 for me I mean for you and it’s nine you OG now

Book you’ve been in over literally over half your life you’ve been in the NBA longer than you that’s why I had to ask yall cuz everybody bring up my age all the time but these dudes getting old too long you know but if you to get up and

Do this every day you got to have that love for it like that and you know 12 9 16 years in the league that shows that this is this is our balance doing this every day what would you say fuels you guys maybe on those days and I don’t

Know if you guys have those days where you get up and it’s it’s a back to back you’re exhausted oh there we go it’s it’s really good dein I think you guys should what about just a sip is is Frank here is Frank Fogle here no okay so we won’t we won’t

Tell anyone it’s pretty good right it is good is it tequila base I think it’s vodka there how it’s supposed to be done it’s tequila base it’s tequila yeah it is I watch I watched them make it selection I’m going to have another sip actually oh no but

Um uh anyway Brad you know or I was saying what kind of feels you guys on those those days where maybe you’re exhausted and it’s coming in really late at night 2: a.m. and then you have a game the next day what continues to motivate you oh that eases you for sure

Uh that’s a good question man I think I think honestly from like as you get older in your career um you have to find ways to kind of motivate you more and more and more as you go um and I would say being around these two like and if

We’ve only been around each other a few months I have like a whole new like energy a whole new life a whole new like perspective of the game to where like I have a new challenge now right and so I’m in a position now to where we have

Something that we we’re playing for every single night we have an opportunity to win and that’s valued Beyond limits right for me and so um for me that’s my motivation now it is tough you have your ups and downs like we’re human beings too there’s times we don’t want to get

Up and go to practice there’s times we don’t want to do things but it’s understanding you know all those days and works and when you were a kid up to this point like you worked your tail off to do this and at the end of the day we

Got the best job in the world we work for two hours a day and like you said we get to go play Call of Duty K what about you about you one of my main motivations as I got older is like the off days like if we got if we

Come in and we got a back to back I know we going to have an off day the next day so it’s like I’m so excited to have that off day and and so like I just feel we want to handle business in these two

Days so we so we can really enjoy our off day you know so I think the little things like that as I got older in the league I started to appreciate a little bit more um you know cuz we play so much and it’s hard to get free time for

Yourself so we we usually use that off day to play Call of Duty all day I’m going to ask what you guys do yeah as much as we talked about of Duty that’s usually what we always do um but it’s a motivation to know that you can

Give it your all for that much and now you can decompress for a second and then rant back up again I think that’s I just that’s what I love about the NBA and that usually happens around this time January February where the it’s the thick of the season and you really got

To you know dig deep those off days definitely help book what about you what about you what about um about I didn’t answer this question just just more so about what feels you you know when it’s craziness of the season um just a task at hand

Um you said we put a lot of work to get here so you know why I stop now it’s the lifestyle Brad uh family has been very important to you throughout your career you have three kids you were you know in the middle of a five brothers I think

Your mom’s probably the MVP there on that but how does a family play a role in your life and um even the off days of of getting that time and having that support system um family is everything man like uh we’re very valued um I I come from a blessed household

Both my parents married still together five boys which is crazy and I’m warning my wife right now cuz we already at three all right my mom made the same mistake I was the third child she said I want to have a girl all right bam God said twin girl twin

Boys so now she had five boys she’s creeping right up the same alley but we value family um it’s nothing like it my boys motivate me to continue to do what I do on the floor um and family is everything man family loves you whether you’re up you’re down

No matter what so that’s that’s what we hold up we hang out hats on and bringing your your family to Phoenix during this transition how how has this city been for you and and just the welcome that you’ve received the city’s been awesome everybody’s been welcoming with open

Arms um from interacting with people on a daily basis to my teammates to our staff you know that works in our building every single day um everything has been smooth my family loves it my boys love it they they love their school they love their new friends

They love these two guys now I can’t get a bill Jersey around the house to save my life anymore so uh but but I’m I’m happy about that uh but man Phoenix has been awesome I’ve this is a complete 360 from DC but I’ve embraced every moment of it and one

Thing about me I love to eat and the food has been A1 and you had said too that you you don’t have to use your GPS as much anymore now you’re kind of learning your way crack down on on on the GPS a little bit now I can I’m starting to figure out

And like you said earlier it’s convenient like everything is like you can you can get there pretty quick so got good good memory of where to get book helps me out a lot too so we good do you have a f maybe you mentioned restaurants do you have a favorite spot

That you go to O you put me on the spot now TOA is really good toa’s good um Blanco is good as as you can see I’m going with a Mexican Trend you know uh those have been my two favorites so far what’s the sushi place schuma

Schuma Maya something like that you know what I’m talking about the other one come on May my man there you go do you guys have suggestions too for for Brad on spots maybe your guys go to that you could share with him he’ll figure it out Dorito Express

Okay I’m all ears man I’m all listen whatever you got shout them out I’m big Panda over here I can eat clown we might need a pen and paper for you to to be able to write these down we’ll get them this is all recorded

So we’ll get it later about it but uh Devon for you last um last season you had the honor of retiring your high school Jersey in in Moss Point and you join your Jad on the wall with that um The Legends in your hometown you have

Photos right there but we know that MOS Point means a lot to you but can you just tell us more about your family Legacy there and just kind of how it imprinted on you and and and shaped you as a person and a player oh yeah I moved

Down there for my high school years I grew up um most people know in Grand Rapids Michigan so you know moving from you know the Midwest down to you know the Deep South was just a you know it was a culture shock for me and you know something I didn’t understand at first

And you you learn in the South you know family is very important and southern hospitality and respect for your elders um is a is a key to life down there so you know it it taught me so many things and you know to be in that situation to

Be able to bring my teammates coaches and you know the whole organization to the small town of mos point you know the the kids there the whole town going to remember it forever we talked a little bit about you know off days and in the grind of the

NBA season but during a typical game day if there is shoot around not shoot around do you guys have any particular routines that you do every day besides Call of Duty maybe like certain foods that you eat meditations that you do to get ready for the game um game day

Naps I know that’s a big one sometimes for certain guys just a nap maybe and head to the game yeah I mean I don’t even want to say it no more at this point yeah okay um we can we can go to the next topic for you Katie but um um boardroom

Is a media brand that you helped found in I believe it was 2019 oh yeah yeah and um you kind of have given life to it tell us a little bit more about about it and kind of how it came about uh I just wanted to tell more stories around

Sports culture and give people a peek behind the curtain of sports business and it’s been uh it’s been fun it’s been a fun Journey just you know like I said telling stories and you know getting to understand understand different perspectives in from the sports um um

Platform and you know so we continue to keep growing I mean moving out to Phoenix exp expanding our brand and trying to bring it out here it’s been been fun as well trying to do more activation so yeah boardroom is a huge part of what I’m trying to do going

Forward um which is storytelling around the game of basketball and around Sports in general um yeah and it’s been cool uh Brad and and book are there other business ventures that that you guys are looking at right now or or ways to expand even just here in the

Valley I’m still getting my feet feet on the ground here uh I’m definitely big in the community and one giving back but two I’m definitely open to um investment opportunities and uh and just growing a portfolio in that fashion but well you did you did a a video series too with

With ESP ‘s and and Mike Spears just kind of a diary of your transition here how did how did that um happen for you and and just wanting to maybe do that and put that out there of this transition uh Mark Spears is a LSU guy I

Kind of lost a b to him you know Florida LSU just like don’t say a book I don’t want to talk about it um no Florida lost to Kentucky today uh but no Mark is a great guy he’s a great um journalist uh great Storyteller and uh it’s just a way to just

Transition my life of being in one place for 11 years and uh you know kind of jump ship your whole family across the country and just kind of what that’s like and what your first year is like in a different uniform and embracing that that whole transition so it’s been it’s

Been a fun fun story book what about you about you Global Ambassador new new hotel right next to the practice facility you guys will check it out all right this is uh going to be for all of you guys uh getting to know you even more we’re some basketball but also just

Giving the fans and season ticket members an inside look but what’s maybe something that people don’t know about you or would be really surprised to know about you as a player as a person besides Call of Duty yeah I feel like I’ve been an open book since I’ve been in the league

Um I don’t feel like I have any hidden Talent they’re both classic car collectors and nobody knows that they both do have school cars okay yeah okay don’t put me on that level yet as a car collector I do got a couple though so you guys connect on that

Really well then Brad and getting to see their car collection too he got the cars he got all the cars have he has more than a few yeah I got a couple I got a a couple when did you guys first fall in love with the game was there a certain moment growing

Up uh when I was five my mom taught me how to how to shoot my mom still to this day will text me get your elbow up get your legs in your shot uh but no she’s um she taught me how to hoop ever since I was 5 years old

And that’s kind of how it all started never never stopped from there look yeah I think it’s the first thing they handed me um this Fisher Price dream started on the Fisher Price goal in the house and yeah it just went from there what about you yeah I mean

Earliest I remember I want to say seven eight six I don’t know R run around that time I feel like I was born with it too um and it’s just grew at a rapid Pace from there you know everything’s been a blur it feels like was there a particular time where

Where it was maybe that aha moment of wow I I can play in the NBA I think it comes and goes like I still feel it you know I might feel it tomorrow um you know I wake up and you know I definitely feel exactly what you

Said like it’s oh wild moment I get the chance to lace him up again it’s beautiful Brad what about you what about you what about about not the same I’m going say like I think when we were younger you kind of know you kind of have like an

Like a feel like yeah maybe I can play in a league but you won’t know until obviously you’re there and then you’ll do some moves in the game like okay yeah okay like when you start impressing yourself you’re like okay maybe yeah I belong yeah yeah who is uh on your

Guys’s Mount Rushmore of basketball Katie we’ll start with you first uh Michael Jordan LeBron Kobe Bryant Uh Kevin [Applause] Durant I like that I like that yeah we actually had a a photo of you and Kobe too we W I wasn’t sure this one can you man can you explain that to us that was a fun game I think that’s the game Kobe had took like 45 shots that

Night and it was like a back to back he had like 48 hit the game winner on us and that showed me like as levels to where I am you know I’m coming in as the top high school play player I was killing in college number two pick got a

Shoe deal I felt I was feeling myself and it’s early in the season I was playing well and then the biggest star in the world coming to the gym is just you can’t compete with stuff like that and then he showed it man seeing that photo always bring back that memory for

Sure Devin what about you about you already said it yeah Brad too yeah now not one change on that well another topic that I know you guys are very involved with is is charity work as well as just being involved in the community I know that that’s very important to all

Of you I mean Brad you’ve spearheaded Community effort starting during your time in DC you won the NBA season long Community assist award Kevin you and your mom launched the Durant Family Foundation and then Devan you’ve done your Devon Booker starting five since 2019 can you each just walk through

Being involved in the community and and why it’s important to you giving back and those moments of where you have that that special feeling of of knowing that you are making a difference in someone’s life Brad we can start with you first uh I always credit my parents my my parents

Raised me to be a humble um young man and understand where you come from and we didn’t have everything but we were comfortable and understanding that there are people people in the world who don’t have as much as you or can’t afford what you can and and as I got older we become

Role Models unexpectedly whether we like it or not and so you know with that comes a lot of responsibility of you know how you carry yourself how you act and things like that but also of just giving back to the community and being involved and and showing love back to

People who come and support you on a nightly basis and you never know what that you know that sick kid or that family who can’t afford Christmas gifts you know that those five of interaction with you means the world to them and little do they know like that lifts us

Up too you know that boosts our ego a little bit and knowing that you know we can make a positive impact on people outside of basketball you know so uh for me it’s always a no-brainer to be able to give back and show love and express my gratitude and and however I

Can Katie just for you too and and maybe tell us a little bit more I know you and your mom are are so close I mean she’s at a lot of games and just launching that with her the importance of that and in your relationship as you guys both

Have an impact yeah I mean uh just wanted to always be of service to people um I seen my mom be of service working as a kid and how she always took care of people that that you know every day and I just wanted to be a service especially

When my feet were planted so wherever I played in Texas Oklahoma City golden uh San Francisco Bay Area um New York City I just try to be of service to the community as much as I can um my try to do my little part as well as by playing

As hard as I can on the court and hopefully that just brighten somebody day or night or whatever year week or whatever you know by playing hard and then if I’m out in the community just try to find out how I can help any way I

Can and then then finally for you just giving back I mean you’ve been involved and even on the road during Thanksgiving you were you were giving out turkeys to families when I think we were in Utah for that too yeah Jordan asked me to pull up and you know I didn’t think

Twice about it you know piggybacking off what those guys said just just understanding the impact and understand that this is you know just you know a game that we play um and you know like briad said you know you don’t understand your your impact or power

Um on these people in in just a short amount of time so you know whenever I can have authentic conversation with somebody you know outside of the Arena that recognizes me and I can look them in their eyes and and shake their hand that’s always better than you know kind

Of like a a force situation so you know I understand how much time is and you know caring about people and you know it’s been a staple for me since I got here love hearing that I think we need another round of applause for the these guys pretty special the impact they

Have well we have a little bit of time left so we’re actually going to go to some important questions from our PayPal six-man members that had some questions for you guys and this is for all three of you um the first question that we have is from Jeffrey buau who’s a member

Who has been a member since 1978 his question for all of you uh what are the keys to building your Chemistry as a group Call of Duty for the win again oh man uh I just I just think the more and more we show up I mean these guys just

Showing up and being who they are every single day just the hardworking dedicated guys we feed off one another just showing up and being the best that we can and it’s been consistent every day with these guys it’s just you know they going to be there you know they

Going you going to have somebody to work out with every day and I think that builds chemistry in itself there not a lot of conversations we have about building chemistry it just happens you know it kind of formulates on its own and it starts with guys who just

Consistently show up every day all right we have one more before uh we have to close out the next question is from Alan gerwitz a member since 2006 Allan wants to know outside of footprint Center is there a specific City or Arena that you enjoy playing in the most Brad we can

Start with you first hey how many teams in the NBA man I don’t know man New York’s always fun New York’s fun Miami’s fun Chicago’s fun I don’t know man we scores man we we play We love to play everywhere but if I had to pick one I would say I

Would say MSG yeah MSG the liting B what about you I know we’ve talked about how important MSG is and how just the history of that and you love playing yeah I’d say MSG for sure um definitely just the history feel it when you’re walking through KY yeah I’mma go crypto.com Staple

Center at Lakers the Lakers yellow when you come out in the the crowd is uh you don’t really see the crowd how dark it is it just feel like you on the stage sure and MSG too I mean it’s probably them two probably even to me well guys that that’s going to

Conclude our Courtside conversation we can’t thank you guys enough for taking the time your day thank you everyone for being here this this was a great event um and everyone please get home safely we’ll see you tomorrow night and as always go [Applause] Suns

Join us for Courtside Conversation, an engaging afternoon of programming with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal!