Simu Liu, Tobe Nwigwe, Baron Davis and Calvin Johnson

during lowe's pro savings days save more on the products you count on to get the job done right get a free two-pack of dewalt 20 volt max xr 8 amp hour batteries when you buy a select dewalt 20 volt max power tool plus save up to 35 on select major appliances the right products the right deals ready when you need them our best lineup is here at lowe's valid through 925 while supplies last selection varies by location crown coins winning never sounded so good what would you do if you won big at crown coins casino real people win real prizes every single day hi this is michael from dallas and i won 40k and finally renovated my home visit crown coins.com sign up in seconds enter code crown and get a free lucky wheel bonus you may win up to 10,000 sweeps coins crown coins.com that's c-r-o-w-n coins.com no purchase needed code valid for new users only prohibited by law 18 plus terms and conditions apply this is matt rogers from las culturistas with matt rogers and bowen yang this is bowen yang from las culturistas with matt rogers and bowen yang you know when people try a new food and suddenly it's like okay hold on i got a new favorite food that's the reaction a lot of people are having when they first try cupi mayo yeah it's the one with the red cap and the little baby on the bottle you've probably seen it at the grocery store and this mayo is different most mayonnaise uses whole eggs only uses egg yolks which gives it this rich umami flavor it's smoother deeper almost buttery once people try it they start putting it on everything egg sandwiches fries burgers chefs use it restaurants use it people who really care about flavor use it put it on just about anything then you'll understand cupi the original japanese mayonnaise i love a brighter smile what i don't love is that little wince when i take a sip of something cold or even breathe in cold air you know that feeling it takes your breath away that ouch eek that's why i like sensodyne clinical white its triple action formula whitens polishes and helps protect against sensitivity plus it protects against new stains for up to six months so i can keep enjoying my iced coffee and everything else i love without the sensitivity whiter teeth without the wince try sensodyne clinical white today what's up it's paul river in this episode myself and mav got to sit down with an incredible group hall of famer calvin megatron johnson i came from an industry where you know we got to perform if you ain't performing you're out of there simu liu when you're the only asian guy and you know you're gonna be the only asian you're like i better represent toby weakway who the hell is playing in my email tell my we want you to audition for transformers and baron davis people can't believe you do something outside of what they've seen you do check it out now my son takes the whole thing and dumps it out and i look at him i'm like why why'd you do that he's like oh because i was looking for this i'm like but that's such a illogical way to find it you know you could have like went through them all or pick the things out you didn't want got that one he would take the whole thing and dump it and get one lego this big and and tell me like no i was looking for this my daughter would actually when she was that age she would like carefully and i was like oh that's the difference between men i have no idea would he put it back though or would he just leave it no no no walk away you put it back he walked away and look at me like why was that a problem i found that i accomplished i came what i said what does that have to do with you but you he got four kids and about to have a fifth shout out to your wife by the way i'm gonna just yeah go ahead clip me up i'm done you can just hold these it's over it's over dip them in bronze and hang them on the wall we had a great run had a great run calvin holly yours are you got three boys yeah three boys ten five and three wow ten five and three yeah i don't know anything about having a girl oh you got all it's just all energy all energy all manly energy when they get teenagers smelly shit gonna be smelling everywhere oh that's coming from the shower now what'd you say hey bro my kids don't want to shower now and he played football he played flag football i'd be like dog you got to get in the shower bro like the whole point of the athlete that you're missing is like dog we clean you know what i mean we shower we take care of ourselves like what is that smell y'all like when did you shower they go in the shower run the shower get on the ipad let the water you know i mean they get a towel and come out like that like i got a girlfriend yeah yeah that's what's gonna take you he's not gonna believe you till you get a girl yeah exactly now you've been retired for seven years do you think about your kids never really got to see you play i think about it sometimes but then i go back and think about my my initial game plan you know i i knew you know being a professional athlete you got this kind of stuff but then i got to be selfish with the time to be able to take care of this body you know for me anyway you know i felt like it'd be hard for me to you know keep this bucket full as a professional athlete you know where it comes to just keeping my body and my happiness where it needs to be at and then being able to do that for a whole nother person let alone another kid or two kids you know so that's why i felt like you know i just let me i'm gonna do me and then when i'm getting i'll get about 10 years in i'll be ready to have my family your kids like ask you like dad when you play are they not there yet my well my 10 year old he he gets it he's seen it you know he's he's been to like my games when i when i was like towards the end of my career you know but he was still like three years old so he's barely remembers that but my five-year-old and my three-year-old they don't get it they didn't know they don't know daddy played football they don't know daddy they don't know daddy played football so if you are with them and somebody comes to you like what's up megatron did they be probably your five-year-old five-year-old like what is he talking about picture with you just to see their faces the confusion is like what is this like they don't get it you're just lame dad no matter how cool you are you always be lame to your kids i'm just the one that's telling them no you can't do this no no but you know the cool thing is when they uh when they friends be like oh can i take a picture i'm like yo what you taking a picture with my dad for a dog like this my dad no i watched the highlights he was like what highlights you know what i mean and so then like they go back and then they become like you know little version of you they change their little handles and all that now they want to be your son and be promoted you know what i'm saying of course but you talked about also we was talking before we started that your kids also are the ones that helped you go back around the lions a bit right like it was the hall of fame and your kids have been right yeah man um having you know being away from the league and the way my relationship ended with the team not on the greatest foot you know i was i was almost almost felt like i was banned from the team i wasn't really banned from the team but just the way our relationship ended i was banned from the team i wasn't really banned from the team but just the way our relationship ended it's just a feeling so did you ever have a final conversation with them yes after the fact after you know all of us were able to put things aside i was able to go in and have some conversations with you know the people that make decisions over there we were able to have a heart-to-heart about you know how i felt why i did the things that i did you know why i was angry maybe with you but i was able to get all those things out so that we can move forward you know that's like that for to get past all the the i'm gonna say hate but the disdain you know that was necessary i think for all of us as fans we're going to have to get past all the the not gonna say hate but the disdain you know that was necessary i think for all of us as fans we wanted to see that happen it was like it was like watching a drama and you're like damn it's it should be happy at the end because we loved you and i was happy to see y'all get back together almost like watching the tv show you know what i mean it's good like you say for the family i want my kids to be able to see the things that i did to be able to go and walk the halls where i was able to put in all the work that i put in for them not to be able to be a part of that and not to be able to be a part of the conversation of what's happening in the nfl like i kind of felt like my legacy was kind of getting pushed to the side because of my relationship that i had with the lions until the hall of fame came around that kind of forced things and i was surprised to know you stayed in detroit and started a business now um which i'm looking forward to using some of your products by the way i mean at detroit man i'll tell you a a sports town that deserves a championship you know you gotta love the fans they're just the grit it's just the people you know just real got into the cannabis industry and that really is what kept me in in michigan i actually bought a house in atlanta after i retired and with all intentions of being by my family all my family's down there and messed around and got into the industry and was like hey man i know what it's like to be a part of something be a part of a company and not really being there to be able to put your best foot forward and how things can go by the wayside when you're not doing that so i was like all right i want to be able to be there to be able to put together a good team and me and my own co-founders that's what we did your business called primitive right yep i was just going to ask like you know mavo always challenges us at our company of like asking like the why right like doing something just because you can or doing something just for money only never really ends up well let's talk a little bit about like the why get into the cabinet view yeah the why behind my um wanting to get into the cannabis industry was simple for me was because i came from an industry where you know we got to perform if you ain't performing you're out of there you know and sometimes the way to perform you got to take these meds so you get out there and play through the pain that you're going through and that's the reason why i came to the cannabis industry because i wanted to be a part of the community and i wanted to be part of the community and i wanted to be a part of the community and i wanted to be a part of the community and i wanted to be a part of the community and i wanted to be a part of the community and i wanted to be a part of the community and i wanted to be a part of the just off and I was just like man you know I feel like God put everything we need on this earth for us to survive so I mean I know there's some natural things on this earth that we can use not that those substances don't start from a natural form but being able to have some natural alternatives so that's why I went to cannabis and really my experience with cannabis started when I went to college grew up in the south on the bible belt like a lot of people yeah right mama Johnson mama Johnson boy she would kill me if I came home smelling like cannabis so it wasn't even a thought in my mind to even try cannabis even though there's guys coming to school smelling like it but when I got to college I had my experience and I was like oh not so bad kept trying I had no money you know so I didn't do it every now and then you know but it wasn't until I got to the league when I was like man there's got to be a better way I go on you go into the training room and see the suitcase with all the pill things in it and you can really just go get what you want you know whatever you need and I was like damn that can't be the way you know that don't lead to nothing good that leads to dependency and just really just at the end of the day my why is trying to find a better way for us as humans but even really taking to the next level as athletes to be able to have something to help them perform get back on the field and I mean just trying to be innovative in the industry at the end of the day and is cannabis legal in the NFL now I know NBA passed it I don't know we gotta look that up it's not yeah right NBA they don't test for it no more they don't test for it they don't test for it you can have more of it in your system now but it's not it's not not tested for it's not not tested for it but you can have some in your system I know cannabis has something to do with your entrepreneurial oh yeah yeah my parents ate my edible your dumpling business right yeah yeah that's right so I got involved with do you guys know what soup dumplings are of course you've been at Din Tai Fung I just had Din Tai Fung yesterday dude I gotta send you mine first of all I think they're better you know no bias please do yeah ASAP let's have I'll have some on the show sure let's do it let's do it let's serve it yeah so I'd gotten in touch with this soup dumpling company that started up in COVID it was based out of Bellevue and they you know it was like a pandemic business Jen and Caleb the founders started just like delivering soup dumplings because they you know people weren't going out their family's restaurant business was failing and it blew up and they you know were able to scale it got involved you know through just I sent out a tweet that was so fucking stupid I was like my kink is introducing people to soup dumplings which is if you if you know like my online persona is like some dumb shit that I would say but the company got in touch they sent a bunch of product and I happen to be out of town but my parents were house sitting and for whatever reason on one night they were really hungry and my mom ate my edibles and my shrooms did she know what she was eating? no she no no no she just thought they were snacks? yeah and then she that's dangerous first she thought she was dying and then she got super hungry and then she was like and then she made she made the whole thing and so I get back and I'm like did you did you get my dumplings? and they're like oh no we finished them all and they were so so I was like I'm in I was like all right this is authentic cannabis and dumplings definitely go together definitely definitely yeah I'm not a weed smoker but I know you get hungry dumplings is the best thing just 12 years ago you were an accountant right? I was I was yeah I um and your family when you started acting what were they were they like what the hell? definitely yeah yeah for most immigrants from my kind of background I mean my parents you know their key to a better life was academics you know where'd your parents grow up at? China China and so they're electrical engineers like to them you know it was like when you immigrate to a new country right it's like you don't know what the pop culture is you're not like really in like you don't really know what how the society functions what you do know is if you excelled in math or engineering it's like all right that's finite that worked that's tangible that shit works and so that I know how to succeed in that I'm gonna teach my kids how to succeed in that too and that's where the whole tiger parent like stereotype comes from right that's why Asian kids like me we're our parents growing up are like you can be either a doctor a lawyer whatever engineer accountant ah what's up my junior my junior I'm about to say yeah we got cousins there you go there you go I see it you're a little swagger than me there's some resemblance for sure whoa um so yeah I I wind up like kind of doing the right thing kind of not but really just around um I got a job at Deloitte out of graduation I went to business school and I just I just hate it every second but were your parents happy oh yeah yeah they were like finally you can imagine the parents like he made it yeah yeah because it was tough I mean I didn't make it easy for him you know we fought we fought a lot and all the time because I wanted to I wanted to be you guys I wanted to be like athletes I wanted to play football and and I you know I they sent me to this like academic school like you had to test into it and our man our school is so famously bad at it at athletics one time our junior high basketball team got shut out shut shut out that's way too long to be getting shut out that's way too long to be getting shut out that's terrible but I mean imagine me playing against I just you know we have actually shared the court together we both played in the in the all-star celeb game together let's just stop right there let's just stop right there we should stop right there yeah what was your stat line coming out of that by the way I don't know I only played the halftime oh yeah you shut it down a half and I rolled my ankle oh shit no because that game is fucking intense it was man we would have won if I didn't get hurt really I think celebrity games are fucking fucked up just a bad idea because you have a mix of people yes who are super intense of actors yeah and people who are like acting don't know how to play like I don't even want to play and I just showed up for the look yeah and then you got the you know guys out there really like balling you got actors and Megatron no Richard Jefferson Richard Jefferson posterized me they brought like acting you know like two years out of retirement they were like and you're like I fucking yammed it on me and I'm like you're like I thought this was we were acting I know I'm an artist what happened to like Justin Bieber you know when you look back on the previous years it's like Justin Bieber and like you know like there were women on the court like you know it was just it just made it like more of a fun atmosphere but that shit was like crazy I was winded by like two minutes in man we on TV so you had to suck it up I took I took that shit seriously I took that shit seriously like right when I got invited I got a trainer I was like fuck like I want to you want to show off well yeah you're also a superhero on TV no I appreciate you being a superhero doesn't mean much you gotta be a sex actor yeah you gotta be you're a superhero bro you know when you're the only and and I you know I know you know you were in the next Jeremy Lin like when you're the only Asian guy and you know you're gonna be the only Asian you're like I better fucking represent I'm not gonna embarrass myself you know you're carrying all the Asian people in the world already representing by the way by the way Hasan Minhaj is not gonna be represented for us and he scored zero points I scored nine I was keeping track B.T. you was there for Linsanity yeah I was there did you when did you realize it was Linsanity uh so funny enough I was about to come back and my back got hurt again because I had fucked my back up and so I had to work out another two weeks so that's that was the second ten day that Jeremy Lin got signed and so Jeremy Lin locker was right here and so uh we played in Houston and that's the game he got in he had like six points four assists two steals but it was like all garbage time and I go to D'Antoni I'm like yo bro like he's the only point guard that goes north and south nobody else on the team you know uh on our team went north and south so we get back to uh New York and we play New Jersey Nets so you know I'm working out at at halftime I usually go in a locker room and work out and like the shit just started like oh yeah he's scoring oh okay cool like they put Jeremy Lin like damn all right come on good job dog you know what I mean we win the game we like oh shit we gotta win you know Mello was out too because he was hurt so then the next game it was like you know the you know win a game like people like damn the monkey off our back but nobody was thinking like all right dog we about to win the you know we about to win the next game man we win the next game then we go to like Toronto and shit and then he got the ball in his hand the last second I was an accountant it was the sickest shit I've never seen in my life it was the sickest shit I've seen in my life because I'd never seen somebody go from damn they're not about to make the team to the most famous person in the world bro there was what was it six how long did it really last it was like six games it was Toronto like Toronto it was like we was down six and then he hit like we hit all these game winner and then he hit the game winner then came back and I remember uh I saw Kobe the night before I was like Cove do not let this happen bro hey do not let this happen because I'm telling you this kid is nice like don't play around he gonna fuck y'all up you know what I mean he and Cove was like ah man you know whatever did you see the interview that he did that rest in peace I he's my absolute hero but that interview where he's like they're like are you gonna are you gonna guard Jeremy Lin and he's like no he's like I don't even know who he is because he you know you gotta think like the league nobody was like really up on it it was just like oh shit the Knicks won you know what I mean Jeremy Lin had a good game like oh shit Jeremy Lin hit a good you know a game winning shot so it's like shit like that has happened before with people on 10 days now he played a and whop them across the head. Yeah, yeah. Then Dallas come back defending championship. champs. Whop them across the head. So it was like, it went from like 10 people in the locker, and I'm sitting next to him, bro. It's like me, empty locker, Jeremy Lin. So everybody on the team had to go get dressed in like the shower and the bathroom and shit. Because the locker room was active media, bro. That don't happen if it's not in New York, by the way. But to be these people. It was the most ridiculous shit I'd ever seen. It was like my homegirls from Hollywood was calling, was like, yo, what's up with Jeremy Lin? I'm like, what do you mean? Like, he's Christian. What the fuck? Like, is he single? You know what I mean? Like, I saw him on CNN. Like, what? But to BD's point, though, he went from almost being out the league to being on the cover of Time Magazine. Much more than like SportsCenter game winner. It was the right time. It was New York. It was the craziest shit at every scene. Like, you gotta think, like, no matter All-Star, I made the All-Star, you see Mike, you see LeBron, you know what I mean? And you see Shaq, Kobe with the cameras how the cameras follow them. This was at a regular game and it was more than, it was like the whole international media press. I was like, what the fuck? He was representing for all ages. Can you imagine being Asian your whole life? He was going up. And you got one and a half players in the NBA for six games. The one representation, or like Yao Ming, who, you know, is like, obviously, like, he's Asian, but I don't relate to him. He's, dude, seven, six, like, was the broad, like a government, you know, two basketball players, the government forced to get together and have a kid. It was controversial. But this six-three point guard, I mean, mind you, he did go to Harvard. He went to Harvard, slept on his brother's couch. It was super, I mean, it was just almost like the basketball Jesus, you know what I mean? It was like the basketball Jesus story. Were Asian people all over the place calling each other? Oh my God, yeah. And the game that we were at in Toronto, I mean, and I'm sorry, I'm a diehard Raptors fan now, but, I mean, it was the, I'm just going to say, it was the Bargnani, Calderon, like, it wasn't a, look, it wasn't a great team. It was angels in the outfield. I remember D'Antoni came in the locker. It was a home game. I was like, I'm telling you, coach, like, it worked because he go, like, it worked because he go north-south, you know what I mean? And Tony Douglas and Monshumpa was a rookie. They go east-west. So in D'Antoni's system, any point guard that goes north-south, you're going to get a gang of assists. Game three, D'Antoni was like, man, you got to be out your mind. I said, bro, roll with it. This is angels in the outfield. I'm living in a real-life movie, dog. Like, whatever this dude is doing, he's anointed. I started believing this shit, too. I'm like, yo, don't fuck up the mojo, y'all. You know what I'm saying? It was, it was, and then at some point, it was like, wait, hold on. Like, is he this good? Is he actually this good? I remember where it kind of ended is when he came to Miami. No, when he went to Miami, that's when it ended. I had never seen Braun, Tom, or, nobody spoke to us before the game or not. I was like, ah, shit, I better get ready. I was like, my debut back and shit. I was like, ain't this a bitch? Like, they want to pick up full like the day before All-Star weekend. Yeah, they was on some, like, full-court D. He not giving a shit. No, there was like enough. We're going to fuck you up. There was enough. Hey, bro, it was enough. They flattened his cap so cold. They flattened the cap so cold because they was picking him up full. They was picking him up full. Blitzing him off the pick and roll. And all they can, and remember, Jeremy Lynn is more famous than the Heatles. Yeah. So all them dudes is pissed. They're like, hold on, who taking up our media? Yeah. Hey, bro, that's the homie Jeremy Lynn over here. Yes. Miami Heat get no. They were pissed. They get no media play, but he's next. It's all Jeremy Lynn, bro. For two weeks, he became the biggest star in sports. That was a tough, yeah. That game was a tough one for me and my people. That was a tough one. But BD, you're talking about, like, you knew when it was a thing and you kind of started to know when it wasn't a thing or when it wasn't what everyone thought it was. You played collegiate football, right, Toby? Oh, 100%, yeah, yeah, yeah. When did you know, eh, I'm not going to the league? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's a great question. Because I was really good on a terrible trash team. I was about to say, he was a real player. Now, I got defensive MVP, but it didn't matter because we went 1-11, Cal. Cool. Yeah, 1-11. And the one game we won, I had to catch an interception to take it 99 yards. Yeah, and that just made us 1-9. And they was all on me in the end zone. The whole dog pile on me. I'm at the bottom of the pile like, nigga, if y'all don't get off of me, nigga, we still suck. We got two more games. My senior year, halfway through the season, I had a Lish Frank tear in my left foot. Shout out to Under Armour's cleats. Yeah, yeah, yeah. About five people had the same injury. Really? Oh, 100%. That same year. So, once that happened, I kind of felt like, nah, I could come back from this. I played one game of arena ball. I played one game. Had about 15, 20 tackles. Got into the locker room and said, yep, nigga, this ain't the dream. No, this is what happened. I got into the locker room after the game. I was like, dang, that's crazy. I seen a nigga putting on a uniform. To go to work. To go to work. I said, bro, where you going? He said, ah, nigga, I got to go to work. Nigga, I said, yeah, I can't be out here playing ball with niggas who got three jobs. Yeah, bro. Yeah, take me. I didn't even, look, this is how bad it was. He said, where you going? To go to work, bro. I didn't even tell the coaches. I got in my car. I was like, oh, I was on what your son was on. Stank, no shower. In the car, drove nine hours back to the crib, bro. I'm done. To this day, that team ain't heard from me. Yeah, so if y'all looking, if y'all watching this, yeah, yeah, that's what happened. It was over, bro. Yeah, that's when the dream died. That's when it died. Did you have hardcore Nigerian parents, though, like you said? The hardcore-est. Yeah, yeah, when I said I wanted to do music, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to share my, only you can imagine, bro. My mom was like, ha. So y'all telling me that you went to school for fun half-year? To be a rapper. And Nigerians, they like the. That was a lot of sarcasm, right? Bro, this is the thing, bro. Nigerians are probably the best in the universe at overdramatic negative affirmation. They feel like if I can just say the most outlandish thing, that should encourage you. That should encourage you to do what you're supposed to do. Yeah, so she'd be like, so she was like, so y'all telling me you didn't went to school for fun half-years to be a rapper? She said, hold on, hold on. I didn't call my dad down. Come on, look, come on, see this song you've made. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so then my dad would come down and say, oh, yeah, tell your father. My mom, I'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, daddy, I feel like, you know what I'm saying, I want to try to pursue music. He said, you said what? I said, yeah, I want to pursue music. She said, what, what? My mom, why has God forsaken me? What have I done to deserve such this type of cuss? I'm like, wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That lasted for, like, years. Of you really doing the music thing? Oh, 100%. What was the moment when they was like, okay. Oh, nigga, when they saw me on Steve Harvey. Oh. Oh, Nigerians. Hey, dog, daytime television. Hey, dog, they see you on daytime. Bruh, Nigerians love family feud. They love family feud. Let me tell you something. Watch this. My mom loved two people, bruh. Steve Harvey, LeBron James. Really? 100%. That's my son. And you know, I love Steve Harvey. Oh, bruh. When I was on Steve Harvey, I told. Does dad know you? Did you tell him? Hell no. Hell no. And I told Steve when he interviewed me, if you could just do a, like, just say hi to my mom real quick, I promise you, I'll be good with her until the day I die. She said, he said her name one time. I sent her the video to everyone, her friends. You know my son was on Steve Harvey. How did you know you had made it, like, as an actor when you quit and, like, I'm going to do this? I finally got on a sitcom, and I think that was when. That was the first time that my parents were like, okay, we respect it. But how'd you go from, it was Kim's Convenience? Kim's Convenience, yeah. To ending up in Barbie, ending up in Marvel. I mean, that's. Well, the Marvel call is the call that changed my life. I mean, that was like, yeah, so it'd been about three years of me going to L.A., nothing really happening, but, you know, obviously, you know, you're making. Everyone's an overnight success, but what they don't understand is the work that goes in, right? So I had been chipping away, and, you know, I'd come close on a couple auditions. What I didn't know was that, you know, people were starting to take notice on the casting side, and then, you know, it was, like, very fortuitous, but, like, off the success of these two movies, Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther, all of a sudden studios were like, hey, maybe these times the movies work. Like, maybe different people could be super. What does this type of movies mean to non-white people? No, non-white people. There's other people in the world. We should give some of these guys a chance. And so, you know, the one, the, like, hero, maybe it was, like, gonna be Shang-Chi. And, of course, he did kung fu, and I was like, yeah, that's fine. Fuck it, I'll do it. Fuck it, yeah, yeah. But it was, yeah, so it was in 2019 that basically me and every other Asian dude that was an actor and acted in anything knew that, like, this was the role, you know? And so that process. started and in the beginning, I mean, I had no, I had no, I really didn't think that I stood a chance. Did you, you had to read for that or they call you and say, we want you? No, no. I had to read three rounds, three rounds, a lot of people reading. And I remember I would just look myself in the mirror, man. And I would be like, all right, I'm not, I'm like not the tallest, not the best looking, not the best at Kung Fu. Like what the fuck? It's not going to be me. There's no fucking way. It's me. What I was surprised by actually is that Destin, our director, it was like, he didn't prioritize the Kung Fu. He wasn't like, no, actually we just want a Kung Fu master and we'll teach him how to act or whatever. I think he really, he really wanted a character. He wanted relatability. He wanted every man. He wanted this, you know, this guy to be a voice of all Asian Americans in a way. And, um, and I was like, as soon as I kind of wrapped my head around that, I was like, I think I could do that. Cause I don't think I could do Jack. No one could do Jackie Chan as well as Jackie Chan. I'll never be Jackie Chan. I'll never be 20 years old. I'll never be Tony Jock, Donnie Yen, any of those guys, but I can be my favorite. Yeah. Bruce. I get it. You were like, I'm going to be, that's the thing I can win at. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I could be the, you know, I could be me basically. And then BD, your story is like, your story is completely different. Cause you're doing some acting now and it's like, you're coming in as Baron Davis. Does that help? Hilarious, man. I saw you in, uh, in enjoyment. No, it's amazing. Does that help or hurt the process in your opinion? Uh, hurt sometimes. Really? Right. Cause as a creator, you know, people look at you and say, oh, you play basketball. So like, let's make basketball movies or let's make basketball content. And so for me, it was always like, oh, he has great ideas. Like, oh, you're super creative, but it's not like the other side of it is like, do you trust that I can execute it? And so a lot of it is the same. Like I started rapping, making beats, but I couldn't rap and make beats as Baron Davis. I had to go create a character, Bart Oatmeal, and then like, go have that freedom. And then figure out a way for people to discover it. Right. Cause I didn't have, I don't have the, like, I watched you, you know what I mean? And I've watched, I've watched you grow. And I, Baron Davis does not have that. Like I gotta go create another character so I can like live in that space. So I can accept my, myself as a creator first, then getting into rooms. It's like, oh, Baron Davis, this is great. Like you gotta be on point. It's gotta be on point. It's gotta be something they want. And a lot of times they just want to have conversations around sports. And I I'm coming in the door, like, yo, I make movies. I write, you know, cartoons. I make music and they can't, you know, it's almost like sometimes people can't believe you do something outside of what they've seen you do before. Yeah. Genius. They were real quick. Have you ever tried to do it as BD? No. Now people are telling me to like promote Bart Oatmeal as Baron Davis. So it's, I mean, it's an oxymoron. Why do you, why do you ask that Toby? Yeah. I'm just saying, because I'm saying what, what makes you so sure that it can't be successful as BD if you ain't never really tried it? I don't know. Come on. But I feel like part of it is, like Baron Davis lives in a world with this brand as this person. Yeah. And so I allow people to get comfortable knowing me for what they want to know me for. When you were a basketball player, BD, did you feel like you had to keep the creative version of yourself kind of suppressed? Always. I look at basketball like, like I don't have goat conversations, right? Because I always say, if you were like, how do you, how do you compare who's the greatest of all time? They're all artists and they're painters. So like you, you don't compare paintings. You don't really, you know, you just appreciate it for his art form. So for me, I always looked at basketball as art. Every time I step on the court, oh, I get to paint. Like what this game, like I get to paint. That's why it was like, well, my game, it was always about, I need to like run the team, but I also need to like try some shit. Cause I get bored, bro. I get hella bored. And I got to like talk to the fans or talk to the refs and teams or coaches. They didn't want me to make movies at the time. I remember I made a Crips and Bloods gang documentary when I was playing for Golden State. And every time I tried to do something creatively in the off season or during the season, it was just like the sports community was like, you're not supposed to. Why do you think it was that way? I don't think people had evolved, right? Yeah. Because now it's totally different. Well, yeah. Now, now you guys have busted down the door. Right. But I would say before that, you know, you going in and you're kicking on doors and you're having conversations and you're telling people like, yo, athletes are the best storytellers. They're looking at you like, man, what the fuck are you talking about? Yeah. And it's like, no, athletes are the best storytellers. We do this all day. We do it in the locker room. We tell stories. We tell the stories on the bus. Like people are funny. Like you don't know there's more to storytelling than just like us picking up a basketball. And one day players are going to take, you know, the onus within themselves. And so at the time, you know, marijuana wasn't cool. Yeah. Hip hop music was like just starting to like really figure itself out. And then from AI did the album and they shut that shit all the way down. And then from a movie perspective, it was like you had to have like they weren't even making sports movies. They wouldn't even make sports documentaries. So like you had to have to be making something like Bull Durham or like a member of the movie Crossover. Some independent to get your shit on. You know how fans are. BD misses one shot. He was up editing all night. Yeah. Focus, fam. Calvin, it's interesting to me like hearing their stories, like not being sure if you were going to get the audition or get the role or be accepted or if it's going to pop off for you. How early were you sure you had a real shot? I kind of, I wasn't, I mean, all right. High school, I had a coach speak confidence into me. That was a start. I remember. He's like at 13. That's what I do. 13, fam. I'm 6'4", 13. Just came off my 10th touchdown in a game. I'm like, wow, 10 in one game. That's crazy. Y'all crazy. Y'all crazy. I think I can do this. So like my junior year in high school, I was doing some, my head coach was an in-school suspension teacher or whatever. You want to call him. And I had him first period and I'll go around and collect all the work for all the kids that got in-school suspension. But I was like, I was already ahead on my classes. And I was in there one day, you know, he was just talking to me about the schools. I was getting a lot of people, you know, talking to me about, you know, this school and that school. And I'm just out here. I'm having fun. You know, I view sport as art, you know, so I'm just out here trying to create this art piece, you know, each and every day. And I'm just, I'm having fun. And coach is like, you know, you could be one of the greatest that ever did this. I'm a junior in high school. It's a powerful statement to tell somebody that I'm just like, I'm still green. Like I'm still getting used to my body. I'm lanky. I'm skinny. Like I just hit this growth spurt. You know, I'm just, I'm still trying to figure it out. You know, you got all these schools want to talk to you. Like you could be the greatest. I'm like, I thought, you know, you're just blowing smoke. I get to high, I get to college and the coach throws me in the fire. Probably the best thing that could happen to me, you know, had a bunch of failures, but all those things are just stepping stones that led to success in the end of the day. And my sophomore year, um, my another conversation with my head coach, Chan Gailey at the time and said similar, very similar thing to my, to my high school coach. She's like, man, you can be one of the best that ever done this. I'm just like, where is this coming from? Like, I don't get it. I'm just out here doing me. I'm just out. My dad always taught me everything you do to the best of your ability. So that was how it was brought up. And you know, just, that's just how I pushed every day. And so just fortunately I had that kind of upbringing with my mom and dad in the house, seeing them go to work every day. - Of course, of course. - We were talking movies. You were in a little movie called Transformers. Not sure if anyone's- - Yeah, yeah. - Did you have to read for it, or did they call you, or won't you? - Oh, let me tell you something, bro. The read was, they sent me, 'cause this was like during COVID. If I could show you what I sent them, you'd be like, "It's only by the grace of God you was able to get on." Bro, 'cause you gotta understand, this is, all right, let me tell you, bro. - He got a brand. - Bro, bro. I don't got no foreknowledge of how to audition, how to do reads, how to do nothing. So they, when I see the email, I'm like, "Nigga, who the hell is playing in my email "telling me we want you to audition for Transformers?" I show my wife, I'm like, "Nigga, you think this. " I'm like, "Bro, I haven't been in nothing, "I ain't did no, last thing I was in was in a. " - Just gonna say, I cried. - But I'm like, "Nigga, go play at the church." So I'm like, "Yeah, somebody play on me." So when I get it, I call my boy Mo. I'm like, "Hey, how should I do this?" He kind of tell me how to do it. I'm halfway listening 'cause I'm like, "Nigga, that ain't really finna work out anyway." So I take out my iPhone for the audition, for the read. I just, I set up one, I use my wife phone. I'm like, "All right, cool, just hold this right here." And I just read the stuff. He tell me like the stuff, "Oh, bro, bro, listen." All my life, I got the. - Damn. - I got it, I know, I know, right? I should have never been in the franchise. It's crazy. No, listen, listen, listen. All right, look. So I read, I'm like, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Sing. My name is Tobe Chukwu Dubem Wigwe. That was my sing. Thank you for this opportunity. And that's how I turned it in. I wouldn't even look acting. Oh, you wouldn't even look, and you was reading it. I'm like, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You were reading the whole time on camera. And I had to have a New York accent, so I was like, yo, son, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Sing. And I sent it in. But the director. You said sing? Hey, bro, did you say sing? Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Listen, listen. I got to see it, man. You got to send it to me. I'm going to be there. Hey, bro, you're in March. I called that the second time. Hey, nah, but the read, then the look up. Hey, sing, sing. Done. I'm going to send it to you. I'll send you the stuff. You'll be amazed, bro, how terrible it is. So then, but the director had been watching my videos during the pandemic, and his best friend was a huge fan of, like, the whole movement. And he had just passed, like, right before they were about to start shooting the movie. So he had told the people at Paramount, like, I'd already seen so many of his videos. I don't even care what the stuff look like. I need to bring them in. And, like, just see if he, see how he do. Paramount's like, trust me, you have to see what he's sent in. Oh, my goodness. Bruh. And because I've never done anything ever in acting on Hollywood or nothing like that, I'm thinking when I get there, it's going to be like the play that I was just in. So I'm like, I get down, I look at the script. I try to memorize every single thing on the script, front to back. I'm trying to lock in with the lines. I get there. And once I realize, like, how they shoot movies, oh, you got to shoot this certain part. They block it, yeah. Oh, but I had no clue, bruh. I was in there thinking I'm going to be, like. Shoot the whole movie, too. I was about to shoot your whole movie. The whole movie. Oh, man, I got this monologue. I'm doing scripts. He didn't memorize 90 pages of dialogue. Hey, he was there for two months. Oh, man. Your brain was twisted. Page 23. I know. Tell me, we shooting that in a month or not? I put my whole heart into trying to memorize it like raps. I'm memorizing these, like, verses, bruh. I'm like, oh, bruh, I got to. Yeah, yeah, that audition tape was crazy. That's such a, I feel like it's such a misconception about acting. So many people think that acting is about the audition and the setting the camera just right. And the reading and the, you know, the memorizing of lines. And it's about essence. Yes. And, you know, I think you had such a clear artistic essence. Like, that was what was speaking. That was what was coming through. I mean, that. That's the, my favorite piece of advice I've ever gotten from an acting teacher is that people think that you're hired for this. Yeah. And you're hired for this. It's your ability to create a line between you and the other character. And that's, this invisible line, this is what chemistry is. This is where, this is where life gets made. It's in the relationships and how you deal, how you tug and pull on that line. Yeah. This invisible thing. Hold on, when I send you my video. Please. I need you to keep that. I need you to keep that same image. Hey, bro, I think you would have had my acting coach. When I first got out of the league, my acting coach was terrible, bro. He was telling me all the wrong shit. Yeah. So I went to go audition for the A-team, bro. To play Mr. T, right? Oh, shit. So my acting coach was like, yeah, come in. Right. So he got me, you know, we working and shit. You bought in. You're an athlete. So you're there. Bro, I bought in. I'm cool. I'm committed. I'm fucking, I'm going to do it. I'm in there like, ugh, he got me doing like Mr. T type shit. Like real Mr. T. And then, so before my audition, I had one of my partners, I was like, one of my people was like, yo, I want you to see my audition. They was like, yo, what the fuck you doing? Like, you ain't supposed to be acting like Mr. T. Hey, bro, I was in there, ugh, like trying to like be Mr. T and shit. I pity the fool. Did you say I pity the fool? I said everything. No, I was literally trying to like live the next three days as if I was Mr. T. Not B.A. Baracus. The character, the actor. So everything I was doing was Mr. T. They was like, okay, thank you. All right, that was good. All right, get out of here. All right, we good. He's like, no, no, no, yeah, we got it. Yeah, yeah, we got it. No, no, no. Let me know. Let me know. They be like, all right, thanks. Oh, that was fucking good. Normally when we rap, we normally say, and that's what we do. That's a wrap. But I think in honor of Mr. Tobi, we'll say, and that's a seed. That's a seed. Thank you. That's a seed. Crown Coins Casino. 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