WEBVTT

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Just before Christmas in 2018,

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I received a certified letter
in the mail.

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"Dear Jeanie, my name is Lee.

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"I was born on August 20, 1953,
in Los Angeles, California,

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"and was adopted at birth,

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arranged through
a private physician."

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She had been looking
for her biological parents,

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and she believes

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that she is the daughter
of our parents.

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The experience with my brothers

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definitely made me
have my guard up.

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And my family being
a high profile family,

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I'm used to people
wanting something.

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There was actually
two attempts to stake a claim

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by people who had no
connection to the family.

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It was one of those moments
where you feel like

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it's an earthquake happening.

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Could this be what it seems
to be on its surface,

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or is there gonna
be more to it?

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I was head of this family now,

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and it was up to me
to figure out how to manage it.

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Okay, just whenever
you guys are ready.

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There he is.
His first shot as an owner.

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You think he likes it?

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At this moment,
I can't believe it.

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What's the future?

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Want to replace your father
at the top?

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Yeah.

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Between my daughters
and my sons,

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there are certainly enough
sports teams to go around.

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Are you
and the rest of the family,

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are you guys all
on the same page?

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The Lakers caught
in the middle

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of a family power struggle.

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I think I've really
left them with something.

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How many games in a row
would the Lakers have to lose

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for you to un-retire,

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for you to come back
to the team?

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I mean, if we got to, like-

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if we got to 20,

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you would think about it,
right?

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No.

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'Cause, see, LeBron...

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In the 30-plus years
my dad ran the team,

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the Lakers only missed
the playoffs twice.

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And here we were missing
year after year after year.

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It was-
it was deflating.

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So we needed to get back
to winning a championship.

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Luke Walton
is back at Staples Center,

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this time as head coach
of the team he played for.

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Luke's looking good.

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He's young,
and he's a growing coach.

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Also he won with the Lakers.

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And he was coached
by Phil Jackson.

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And he did play with Kobe.

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And I had believed
that Luke would

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bring back that Laker feeling.

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I grew up in the NBA

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with this organization.

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I have a chance to try

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to get them back
to where we were.

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There's always a rebuild
after the dynasty ends

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or a superstar retires.

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Once I became the GM and said,

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"Hey, I know this
is a challenge,

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"but I'm gonna say
I think we need

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"to get a championship
for Jeanie

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within three or four years."

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That was his challenge to me.

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The first step in the process
was to get

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a superstar in Staples Center.

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You had to have
a real superstar

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in order to have
a credible franchise,

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especially in a city
like Los Angeles.

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- Our fans are used to that.

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It's part of winning
as a Laker.

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And LeBron James
was our dream.

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LeBron, full court. Got it!

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What a block from James!

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Nice pitch to James.

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LeBron James is one
of the very few players

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in the league,
if you add 'em to your team,

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you're a contender.

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LeBron was in Cleveland,
Miami,

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championships sort of followed.

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The greatest player
in the game.

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It's like manna
from the heavens.

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Here in Sacramento-

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He played

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an unselfish kind
of basketball

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like Magic Johnson.

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Off to Magic Johnson.

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Cross court. Kareem!

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But LeBron's not gonna
come here if management

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isn't figured out.

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The day of free agency,

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Magic was scheduled
to meet with LeBron.

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- Rich Paul is his agent.

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So they talked and said
LeBron would love

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to have a meeting
with the Lakers.

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But he wants to have it
with Magic.

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I made sure I was there
an hour before the meeting,

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sitting outside his house,
nervous.

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So at 9:00,
I inched to the gate.

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Okay.

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But I don't ring
the buzzer till 9:01.

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That night,
he was more pitching,

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'cause he didn't know
what LeBron was gonna do.

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Basically saying,
if you come here, I got you.

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I told him
I had to be honest with him

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that, you know,
we may not make the playoff.

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But I said,
"If you let me work my magic,

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"I will put us in a position
where we'll be,

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you know,
contending for championships."

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Magic was feeling good
about the conversation.

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I was trying to do right
by my father's legacy

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and get the Lakers
back to the top.

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Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka,

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they're new at this game.

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But they did
what they promised

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when they took over
over a year ago.

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They were going
big game hunting.

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And they've landed
the biggest of all.

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NBA superstar LeBron James,

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make that "LA" Bron,

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is taking his talents
out west.

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The four-time MVP agreed

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to a four-year,
$154 million contract

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with the Lakers.

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It was very easy
to land here

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where I am now with the Lakers.

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The pressure is
what I love more than anything,

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hearing people say,
"Well, you know,

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the Lakers organization
is not even competitive."

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I really, really get a kick
out of proving people wrong.

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At the home of the Lakers,

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die-hard fans are welcoming
the newest Laker.

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LeBron, come on, I will
welcome you with open arms.

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Lakers are back. Whoo!

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- We're back, baby.

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Even though we know
that this is Kobe's house,

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we know that LeBron James
welcome, baby.

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The day I signed,
Kobe said, "You family now.

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You know, whatever you need
from me, I'm a call away."

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I've known LeBron
for a long time, man.

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He's really
a good friend of mine.

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Kobe was definitely someone

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I always looked up to
when I was a kid

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and competed against my
first five years in the NBA,

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to being a part of USA
basketball with him in 2008.

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Kobe definitely, you know,
gave me that love,

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like, you know,
"Listen, you're family.

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"And we all Lakers, man.

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And let's-
let's make it happen."

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Over the last
couple of years,

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the Lakers have slipped
into an average team.

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Now they'll be immediate
playoff contenders.

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- Y'all thought we was gone?

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We not going nowhere. We back.

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It only take one star
to get this shit popping.

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This was a great moment
for the Laker franchise.

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Also, I was happy for Jeanie.

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You know,
he could go to any team

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that he would want to go to,
and he chose our team.

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And that validated all
the things that we had done,

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all the changes
that we had made.

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- The one promise I gave her

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is that we will get
this organization

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and this franchise
back where it belongs.

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We were finally on the road
back to being the Lakers.

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Here we go.

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It's a new era
of Lakers basketball.

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It starts tonight in Portland.

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Behind Brandon Ingram
is LeBron James,

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who is now a Laker.

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Sit back and enjoy.

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It should be a fun ride
all season long.

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That was the ultimate
validation for Jeanie Buss.

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The Lakers had been horrible.

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But LeBron joining the Lakers

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was LeBron joining
a bunch of kids.

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So it was a huge leap of faith
for him.

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A lot of guys on the team

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were first year guys,
second year guys.

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They wanted to learn.

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And they wanted to see
what it took to be great.

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When you have the greatest
player in the world

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come join your organization,

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it raises everybody's
level of play.

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I was excited
and really looking forward

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to building that connection
between LeBron

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and these young guys
to maximize what we could do.

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2018, I just wanted
to be in a situation

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where I would be able to
have some type of influence.

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I knew at the time I was
coming in as a mentor, as well.

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- I knew it would be tough.

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But that's
what really motivates me.

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The team had started playing

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really well together.

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The team's won
three in a row,

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seven of the last ten.

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That has to make you
feel good.

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'Cause it's not just
about bringing LeBron,

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it's about winning games.

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They're really
coming together.

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And I couldn't be more proud.

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Fans in LA deserve-

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they deserve the best.

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When you're in this game
long enough,

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you feel when teams
are starting to gel.

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You know, I was-
I was getting that feeling.

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I thought-I thought
we really were doing it.

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And, of course,
that Christmas Day

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changed everything.

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Merry Christmas, everyone.

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It's the Golden State Warriors
and the Los Angeles Lakers.

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James falling away.

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Got it.

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Nice fake by Curry.

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Sidestep layup.

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Beautiful from Steph Curry.

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James lost it, gets it back.

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James holding his left leg.

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Felt a pop.

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He is now out.

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It was the most serious injury
he had ever suffered.

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It's tough when
you're missing one playmaker.

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But they're missing two.

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LeBron and Rondo both got
hurt in that Christmas game.

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The two stabilizing
factors of this team

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were out with injuries.

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It took a big blow to us.

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When your team is still
playing and you're away,

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you kind of want
to get back with the guys

00:10:53.227 --> 00:10:54.079
as soon as possible.

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We had kind of built

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this mixture of, all right,
LeBron is definitely our guy.

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But we got some young guys
we want to keep feeding

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and growing to, okay,
LeBron is out now.

00:11:03.872 --> 00:11:07.384
And now we have everything
is back on you guys.

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And that's kind of where it
turned to just complete chaos

00:11:12.246 --> 00:11:13.548
for the rest of that season.

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It was December of 2018.

00:11:21.222 --> 00:11:24.709
Everything's happening
with the team.

00:11:24.909 --> 00:11:28.196
And I'm dealing
with this letter.

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She was able to get
her birth certificate.

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And she sent copies of that.

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So I immediately recognized
my father's signature

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and my mother's signature.

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She sent copies
of pictures of her.

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She looked just like my mom.

00:11:46.122 --> 00:11:49.087
I remembered
that my mom told me

00:11:49.287 --> 00:11:52.839
a story about how
she and my father

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had had a child
before Johnny was born.

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And they gave her up
for adoption.

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But this was the beginning
of my mom's memory issues.

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And people had told me,
"Well, you know,

00:12:08.561 --> 00:12:12.398
your mom might have seen
a movie and got confused."

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But then she said,

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"In my mind,
I named her Marie."

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And that stuck with me

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because my middle name
is Marie.

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And my sister's middle name
is Marie.

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I-you know,
I knew that this was real.

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This was Marie.

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Originally born
in Los Angeles,

00:12:38.967 --> 00:12:44.555
lived in LA and Phoenix back
and forth, back and forth.

00:12:44.755 --> 00:12:47.016
And it was a sunny day
in Phoenix.

00:12:47.216 --> 00:12:48.818
I was in third grade.

00:12:49.018 --> 00:12:52.480
I could remember it
like it was yesterday.

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The door was open.

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There was a teacher.

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She said, "Well, you know,
she's adopted."

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And that cut me like a knife.

00:13:04.534 --> 00:13:08.746
I never really thought
about it until that moment.

00:13:08.946 --> 00:13:12.717
It's like wow,
what's wrong with me?

00:13:12.917 --> 00:13:16.587
So that's really when
the wound first started.

00:13:18.047 --> 00:13:19.516
I didn't know who they were.

00:13:19.716 --> 00:13:22.055
And I didn't know
how to find them.

00:13:22.255 --> 00:13:24.595
Every morning,
I'd look in the mirror

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and go, who do I look like?

00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:28.725
What does my mom look like?

00:13:28.925 --> 00:13:30.235
Is she pretty?

00:13:30.435 --> 00:13:33.317
You know, what's she doing now?

00:13:33.517 --> 00:13:37.360
Does she think about me,
you know?

00:13:37.560 --> 00:13:41.204
And then in 2017
on television,

00:13:41.404 --> 00:13:43.990
there's an ad,
"Give the gift of ancestry."

00:13:44.190 --> 00:13:46.826
And I went,
"Oh, should I do that?

00:13:47.026 --> 00:13:47.836
Maybe."

00:13:48.036 --> 00:13:52.290
So I got the kit,
spit, mailed it off.

00:13:52.490 --> 00:13:53.925
Said a prayer.

00:13:54.125 --> 00:13:56.402
I just wanted to meet
my mother.

00:13:56.602 --> 00:13:58.880
That's all I really wanted
to do.

00:14:01.090 --> 00:14:03.885
"Please understand
that I do not want anything

00:14:04.085 --> 00:14:05.645
"from you or any others.

00:14:05.845 --> 00:14:09.566
"At 65, it's nice to know
my family history,

00:14:09.766 --> 00:14:13.436
"and I thought you might
want to know about me too.

00:14:13.636 --> 00:14:15.989
"And I hope my timing
isn't awful.

00:14:16.189 --> 00:14:20.485
"But how do you write
a letter like this?

00:14:20.685 --> 00:14:23.196
"I look forward to your reply.

00:14:23.396 --> 00:14:24.989
Sincerely, Lee."

00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:30.578
You know,
she's my older sister.

00:14:35.583 --> 00:14:36.593
She wrote back,

00:14:36.793 --> 00:14:38.845
and she was very sweet
and just said,

00:14:39.045 --> 00:14:43.174
"I've sent your letter and your
pictures to all the siblings,

00:14:43.374 --> 00:14:46.761
and you have to give them time
to process this."

00:14:49.430 --> 00:14:51.900
I was in shock at first.

00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:57.814
There was a secret
that my parents kept forever.

00:14:58.014 --> 00:15:00.700
Because of my dad's
kind of lifestyle,

00:15:00.900 --> 00:15:06.280
I always wondered if I had
any other siblings out there.

00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.417
And she's a full sibling.

00:15:09.617 --> 00:15:12.620
Either they were
extremely embarrassed

00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:14.672
about a lie that-

00:15:14.872 --> 00:15:17.508
that got too big
to tell the truth

00:15:17.708 --> 00:15:23.881
or, you know, they just felt
like it was better unsaid.

00:15:24.081 --> 00:15:26.884
It blew my mind
that he never mentioned-

00:15:27.084 --> 00:15:29.887
I can't even tell you
the intimate things

00:15:30.087 --> 00:15:31.230
that he told me.

00:15:31.430 --> 00:15:33.733
If anything like that existed,

00:15:33.933 --> 00:15:36.986
I would for sure believe
that I knew that.

00:15:37.186 --> 00:15:41.524
On everybody's mind
is, like, okay, now what?

00:15:43.693 --> 00:15:45.720
All I can think of is that

00:15:45.920 --> 00:15:47.747
I want my mom to meet Lee.

00:15:47.947 --> 00:15:50.287
You know, the timing,
you know,

00:15:50.487 --> 00:15:52.827
it was just-
it was just awful.

00:15:53.027 --> 00:15:55.421
The team was suffering.

00:15:55.621 --> 00:15:57.582
So no distracting
from the fact that the Lakers

00:15:57.782 --> 00:15:59.175
have struggled
in the last 14 games.

00:15:59.375 --> 00:16:02.170
They're being outscored
by 9 points per game.

00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:03.513
They've lost 10 of 14.

00:16:03.713 --> 00:16:06.053
What do you take away
from Lebron's...

00:16:06.253 --> 00:16:08.219
We were fourth
in the conference.

00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:10.804
But without LeBron
in the lineup,

00:16:11.004 --> 00:16:13.389
we started to fall
in the standings.

00:16:13.589 --> 00:16:14.649
If this year,

00:16:14.849 --> 00:16:17.168
for the first time
in nearly a decade,

00:16:17.368 --> 00:16:19.487
you are not playing
in May and June,

00:16:19.687 --> 00:16:21.234
what do you think
that's gonna feel like?

00:16:21.434 --> 00:16:22.942
Um, I don't know.
It's gonna be different.

00:16:23.142 --> 00:16:24.650
You know, unfortunately
we didn't handle

00:16:24.850 --> 00:16:25.827
our business on the road.

00:16:26.027 --> 00:16:28.863
So now we're, you know,
back in a hole again.

00:16:29.063 --> 00:16:30.990
Team president Magic Johnson

00:16:31.190 --> 00:16:32.658
"admonished" Coach Luke Walton.

00:16:32.858 --> 00:16:34.127
Well, I thought he was

00:16:34.327 --> 00:16:35.545
on the chopping block
all year.

00:16:35.745 --> 00:16:37.788
I mean, it was in the media,
talking about him,

00:16:37.988 --> 00:16:39.874
you know, not winning
with the young guys.

00:16:40.074 --> 00:16:40.842
The message around

00:16:41.042 --> 00:16:42.301
that Laker organization
this week

00:16:42.501 --> 00:16:45.880
and around that coaching staff
has been this coaching staff

00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:48.141
better win sooner than later.

00:16:48.341 --> 00:16:49.642
Evidence is mounting

00:16:49.842 --> 00:16:53.021
that Luke's job security
depends on it.

00:16:53.221 --> 00:16:55.973
It just got to this point
where LeBron was hurt.

00:16:56.173 --> 00:16:56.858
The team's losing.

00:16:57.058 --> 00:16:59.018
They didn't make
the damn playoffs.

00:16:59.218 --> 00:17:00.770
It was just unacceptable.

00:17:07.944 --> 00:17:09.996
It was our last game
of the season.

00:17:10.196 --> 00:17:12.531
You know, they weren't going
to the playoffs.

00:17:12.731 --> 00:17:14.533
There were a lot
of frustrating moments

00:17:14.733 --> 00:17:15.543
during that season,

00:17:15.743 --> 00:17:18.291
and I think that
that pissed off Magic.

00:17:18.491 --> 00:17:20.840
Luke, is there any anxiety

00:17:21.040 --> 00:17:23.125
over the coming days
in your near future?

00:17:23.325 --> 00:17:26.888
No. No, no, no anxiety.
Um...

00:17:27.088 --> 00:17:29.215
I just happened to be
at the tail end

00:17:29.415 --> 00:17:30.641
of Luke's presser.

00:17:30.841 --> 00:17:34.599
And as Luke finished,
Earvin told the reporters,

00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.558
"Hang on a second.
I got something I want to say."

00:17:38.758 --> 00:17:40.735
First of all,
thanks, everybody.

00:17:40.935 --> 00:17:43.254
I've been thinking
about the great meetings

00:17:43.454 --> 00:17:45.773
I had with Jeanie
the last couple of days.

00:17:45.973 --> 00:17:49.610
And you know I love her
as a sister.

00:17:49.810 --> 00:17:51.871
And, um, so today,

00:17:52.071 --> 00:17:54.949
I'm gonna step down
as the president.

00:17:56.158 --> 00:17:58.002
Then I went
into the coaches' locker room,

00:17:58.202 --> 00:18:01.756
and so Luke was sitting
in there with Tim Harris.

00:18:01.956 --> 00:18:04.959
So I said, "Did you guys know
that Magic was stepping down?"

00:18:05.159 --> 00:18:06.511
And you didn't even say
anything to anybody?"

00:18:06.711 --> 00:18:09.213
And so Tim Harris was like,
"What are you talking about?"

00:18:09.413 --> 00:18:11.132
And so we turned on the TV,
and sure enough,

00:18:11.332 --> 00:18:12.016
it was everywhere.

00:18:12.216 --> 00:18:14.685
We had no-I had no idea.

00:18:14.885 --> 00:18:17.597
It did catch us all,
and probably even Earvin,

00:18:17.797 --> 00:18:19.148
to some sense, by surprise.

00:18:19.348 --> 00:18:21.809
And somebody
gonna have to tell my boss,

00:18:22.009 --> 00:18:23.653
'cause I know
she's gonna be sick.

00:18:23.853 --> 00:18:26.897
But I knew I couldn't face her
face to face and tell her.

00:18:27.097 --> 00:18:28.441
Have you
really not told Jeanie?

00:18:28.641 --> 00:18:29.617
- No, I haven't.

00:18:29.817 --> 00:18:32.862
I'm driving to Staples Center
and I'm running late.

00:18:33.062 --> 00:18:35.906
I get a phone call
from Tim Harris,

00:18:36.106 --> 00:18:38.126
our chief operating officer.

00:18:38.326 --> 00:18:42.038
And I just answered the phone
and I said, "I got a flat tire.

00:18:42.238 --> 00:18:44.215
I'm on my way.
I'll be there soon."

00:18:44.415 --> 00:18:47.668
And he goes, "Turn around.
Magic just quit."

00:18:47.868 --> 00:18:50.046
I go,
"What are you talking about?"

00:18:50.246 --> 00:18:52.235
And I turn on the radio.

00:18:52.435 --> 00:18:54.225
You can hear it live.

00:18:54.425 --> 00:19:00.348
It's hard when you love
a person like I love Jeanie,

00:19:00.548 --> 00:19:03.100
and I don't want
to disappoint her.

00:19:03.300 --> 00:19:04.652
- First I felt blindsided.

00:19:04.852 --> 00:19:08.652
But then it started
to feel familiar.

00:19:08.852 --> 00:19:12.549
Back in 1981,
the same thing happened

00:19:12.749 --> 00:19:16.247
when Magic went to the media
and said,

00:19:16.447 --> 00:19:19.867
"I want to be traded"
instead of going to my dad.

00:19:20.067 --> 00:19:21.294
Did you call him?
No.

00:19:21.494 --> 00:19:24.955
It was more about putting out
the fires that he started.

00:19:25.155 --> 00:19:26.874
Laker nation still reeling
this morning

00:19:27.074 --> 00:19:28.980
after Magic Johnson announced

00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:30.887
he's stepping down
as president.

00:19:31.087 --> 00:19:34.507
The front office needs
to get their ish together.

00:19:34.707 --> 00:19:35.725
I don't have anything
against Jeanie,

00:19:35.925 --> 00:19:37.385
but she needs to put the right
people in management.

00:19:37.585 --> 00:19:38.636
She has the power
to make decisions.

00:19:38.836 --> 00:19:39.729
She has the power to fix it.

00:19:39.929 --> 00:19:42.223
So I have to-
I have to lay accountability

00:19:42.423 --> 00:19:43.274
with Jeanie Buss right now.

00:19:43.474 --> 00:19:46.143
It made the Lakers look bad.

00:19:46.343 --> 00:19:47.570
It made me look bad.

00:19:47.770 --> 00:19:50.481
And I had to make sure
that LeBron

00:19:50.681 --> 00:19:52.366
had two feet on the ground.

00:19:52.566 --> 00:19:54.819
Like, it was literally
70 minutes on the clock

00:19:55.019 --> 00:19:56.862
before, you know,
I'm not playing,

00:19:57.062 --> 00:19:58.080
but my team is still playing.

00:19:58.280 --> 00:20:00.124
I'm kind of still
caught off guard.

00:20:00.324 --> 00:20:02.580
It was like a punch
in the gut, for sure.

00:20:02.780 --> 00:20:05.037
You know, during that time,
I was like holy-

00:20:05.237 --> 00:20:06.297
holy shit, Magic's gone.

00:20:06.497 --> 00:20:09.675
This is-this is like turmoil.

00:20:09.875 --> 00:20:11.252
I was just thinking
about the conversations

00:20:11.452 --> 00:20:12.553
that me and Magic had,
you know,

00:20:12.753 --> 00:20:14.630
how we was gonna put
a trophy back here,

00:20:14.830 --> 00:20:16.757
and didn't quite understand.

00:20:16.957 --> 00:20:18.342
Still don't understand.

00:20:18.542 --> 00:20:19.727
- What the hell happened?

00:20:19.927 --> 00:20:23.222
Why did you resign
from the Los Angeles Lakers?

00:20:23.422 --> 00:20:26.234
I told them,
when it's not fun for me,

00:20:26.434 --> 00:20:31.856
when I think that I don't have
the decision making power

00:20:32.056 --> 00:20:35.651
that I thought I had,
then I gotta step aside.

00:20:35.851 --> 00:20:38.174
The straw that broke
the camel's back

00:20:38.374 --> 00:20:40.498
was I wanted to fire
Luke Walton.

00:20:40.698 --> 00:20:44.785
LeBron and his team
of people didn't feel like

00:20:44.985 --> 00:20:46.671
Luke was the right coach
for him.

00:20:46.871 --> 00:20:50.399
I said, "Jeanie,
your man don't have it."

00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:53.139
He don't make adjustments
within the game.

00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:55.844
And she was like...
"Earvin."

00:20:56.044 --> 00:20:58.549
I said,
"I hate to tell you that,

00:20:58.749 --> 00:20:59.967
'cause I know you love him."

00:21:00.167 --> 00:21:00.851
But can he get better?

00:21:01.051 --> 00:21:03.053
I said,
"I'm hoping that he can,

00:21:03.253 --> 00:21:05.523
but I don't think he can."

00:21:05.723 --> 00:21:10.728
Then the next day, no,
we should try to work it out.

00:21:10.928 --> 00:21:13.030
One of the things
that Jeanie was strong on

00:21:13.230 --> 00:21:16.484
is like, you can't just keep
changing coaches all the time.

00:21:16.684 --> 00:21:18.536
Jim and Mitch used to
fire coaches like that.

00:21:18.736 --> 00:21:21.781
And I think she wanted
to take their time with it.

00:21:21.981 --> 00:21:23.583
Other people
in the Lakers,

00:21:23.783 --> 00:21:26.160
non-basketball people
are trying to tell me

00:21:26.360 --> 00:21:30.664
that I can't make those calls.

00:21:30.864 --> 00:21:33.092
And so, uh, okay.

00:21:33.292 --> 00:21:35.219
There were a lot of voices

00:21:35.419 --> 00:21:39.924
that were speculating about
who was pulling the strings.

00:21:40.124 --> 00:21:43.811
And that, I could see,
would bother him.

00:21:44.011 --> 00:21:48.974
We are family, and sometimes
we step on each other's toes.

00:21:49.174 --> 00:21:54.814
To preserve the love
and my friendship with Jeanie,

00:21:55.014 --> 00:21:57.796
I felt it was best
to step down.

00:21:57.996 --> 00:22:00.578
I wasn't surprised at all.

00:22:00.778 --> 00:22:02.288
Mitch and I were talking
about it.

00:22:02.488 --> 00:22:04.248
I said, "I don't think
he's gonna last."

00:22:04.448 --> 00:22:07.535
You know, he doesn't know
what this is all about.

00:22:07.735 --> 00:22:08.878
He's never run a team.

00:22:09.078 --> 00:22:12.623
And he's never-nobody's-
nobody understands that,

00:22:12.823 --> 00:22:14.625
you know,
it looks like a glamour job.

00:22:14.825 --> 00:22:16.627
Nobody understands
the ups and downs,

00:22:16.827 --> 00:22:19.430
the pressures behind it all.

00:22:19.630 --> 00:22:21.966
You're disappointed
when stuff like that happens

00:22:22.166 --> 00:22:23.684
because you hold the franchise

00:22:23.884 --> 00:22:27.930
in such high regards
as far as just, you know,

00:22:28.130 --> 00:22:29.190
basketball royalty.

00:22:29.390 --> 00:22:31.851
Like, that type of stuff
can't be happening.

00:22:32.051 --> 00:22:33.069
- It's a mess.

00:22:33.269 --> 00:22:35.938
And it's a mess that has
to be cleaned up by Jeanie Buss

00:22:36.138 --> 00:22:37.490
quick, fast, and in a hurry.

00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:39.942
And I really wanted Luke
to be our coach.

00:22:40.142 --> 00:22:42.870
But things had to be
different.

00:22:43.070 --> 00:22:45.322
Between the change
in the front office

00:22:45.522 --> 00:22:47.291
and all the trade rumors,

00:22:47.491 --> 00:22:48.876
it was just like,
you know what?

00:22:49.076 --> 00:22:52.538
I think-we kind of both
decided what's best for-

00:22:52.738 --> 00:22:54.998
for both parties
is just to kind of-

00:22:55.198 --> 00:22:57.459
to kind of go
our separate ways.

00:22:59.795 --> 00:23:01.196
Magic had left.

00:23:01.396 --> 00:23:02.598
Luke was gone.

00:23:02.798 --> 00:23:05.259
The team was going through
so much upheaval.

00:23:07.177 --> 00:23:10.389
I'm in a position
where I'm trying to do

00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:11.816
what my dad asked me to do,

00:23:12.016 --> 00:23:15.603
and I'm beginning to doubt
that I'm able to do it.

00:23:18.731 --> 00:23:23.944
I spent many nights
really soul searching.

00:23:24.144 --> 00:23:27.510
What could make things
make sense?

00:23:27.710 --> 00:23:31.076
The North Star
had always been my dad

00:23:31.276 --> 00:23:33.212
and how my dad operated.

00:23:33.412 --> 00:23:38.417
And then my mom took a fall
and wasn't doing well.

00:23:40.169 --> 00:23:42.638
Every day that's going by,
all I can think of

00:23:42.838 --> 00:23:45.966
is, like, I don't want
anything to happen to my mom

00:23:46.166 --> 00:23:48.811
without meeting Lee.

00:23:49.011 --> 00:23:51.188
Linda, she goes,
"Let's just go."

00:23:51.388 --> 00:23:55.334
Let's just take three days,
you know, and disappear.

00:23:55.534 --> 00:23:59.480
When I knew I was gonna
get a chance to meet

00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:03.609
my birth mother,
it was surreal.

00:24:03.809 --> 00:24:05.202
Got on the plane next day.

00:24:05.402 --> 00:24:08.864
We each fly in
to the airport in Las Vegas,

00:24:09.064 --> 00:24:11.208
and I'm waiting at the gate.

00:24:11.408 --> 00:24:13.994
People come off,
and I'm like, is that her?

00:24:14.194 --> 00:24:16.464
Is that her?

00:24:16.664 --> 00:24:21.752
And then the second I see her,
I know that's my sister.

00:24:21.952 --> 00:24:23.971
- Hi, everybody.

00:24:24.171 --> 00:24:28.092
Obviously,
recognized Jeanie right away.

00:24:28.292 --> 00:24:30.644
She took my hands and said,

00:24:30.844 --> 00:24:33.305
"Gosh, even your hands look
like Mom's."

00:24:35.224 --> 00:24:37.109
We went straight
to see my mom.

00:24:37.309 --> 00:24:41.105
She wasn't articulate,
but she was very alert.

00:24:44.024 --> 00:24:45.985
And I think
I was a little nervous.

00:24:46.185 --> 00:24:47.787
I didn't want to scare her.

00:24:47.987 --> 00:24:51.327
But I moved down
toward the end of the bed,

00:24:51.527 --> 00:24:54.849
and Jeannie was standing there
with me.

00:24:55.049 --> 00:24:58.372
And we were looking at her,
and-and, uh...

00:25:14.304 --> 00:25:17.566
And...

00:25:17.766 --> 00:25:21.278
so JoAnn sat straight up.

00:25:21.478 --> 00:25:28.360
And she had been basically, um,
just muttering before,

00:25:28.560 --> 00:25:31.092
no clear words.

00:25:31.292 --> 00:25:33.824
And she sat up...

00:25:35.701 --> 00:25:38.963
And she pointed at Jeanie,

00:25:39.163 --> 00:25:44.752
and she said "mother,"
clear as a bell.

00:25:44.952 --> 00:25:47.921
And then she pointed at me,

00:25:48.121 --> 00:25:51.779
and she went, "Mother."

00:25:51.979 --> 00:25:55.437
And Jeanie said, "Yes, Mom.

00:25:55.637 --> 00:25:58.816
This is Marie,
and we are sisters."

00:25:59.016 --> 00:26:02.603
And then Jeanie looked at me,
and she said,

00:26:02.803 --> 00:26:04.688
"She knows who you are."

00:26:11.737 --> 00:26:18.452
I think that my mom longed
for Marie her whole life.

00:26:18.652 --> 00:26:22.497
In the adoption papers,
my mom had stated

00:26:22.697 --> 00:26:26.543
that she was abiding
by her husband's wishes.

00:26:26.743 --> 00:26:29.775
She wanted to be a mother.

00:26:29.975 --> 00:26:32.808
But my birth father wrote

00:26:33.008 --> 00:26:36.053
he had neither the time
nor the finances

00:26:36.253 --> 00:26:38.159
to think of raising a child.

00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:40.065
I looked at that, and I went,

00:26:40.265 --> 00:26:42.935
"You were educated.
You were married.

00:26:43.135 --> 00:26:45.654
Why did you give me away?"

00:26:45.854 --> 00:26:49.274
In 1953,
they were extremely broke.

00:26:50.609 --> 00:26:53.637
And I just don't think
they had the wherewithal

00:26:53.837 --> 00:26:56.865
or the means
to raise a child at that time.

00:26:57.065 --> 00:26:58.783
It was important to my dad

00:26:58.983 --> 00:27:00.502
that he did not bring a child

00:27:00.702 --> 00:27:03.831
into a circumstance
that he grew up with.

00:27:06.583 --> 00:27:08.719
When my father
was in the hospital,

00:27:08.919 --> 00:27:12.131
he kept saying
he had something to tell me.

00:27:12.331 --> 00:27:15.476
But it was never
the right time.

00:27:15.676 --> 00:27:19.012
I think it was a weight
that he bore on his heart.

00:27:19.212 --> 00:27:21.994
And so to articulate it was-

00:27:22.194 --> 00:27:24.777
was really tough for him.

00:27:24.977 --> 00:27:27.421
One decision
in a person's life

00:27:27.621 --> 00:27:30.065
affects so many people's lives.

00:27:31.275 --> 00:27:32.576
And I realized

00:27:32.776 --> 00:27:35.487
you need to forgive
your parents.

00:27:35.687 --> 00:27:36.789
The way they felt

00:27:36.989 --> 00:27:39.875
at that moment
they gave you away

00:27:40.075 --> 00:27:43.587
might not have been
the way they felt later on.

00:27:43.787 --> 00:27:49.209
Once I understood it, it was
a decision made in a moment,

00:27:49.409 --> 00:27:50.761
I could let go.

00:27:50.961 --> 00:27:56.266
Being able to take Lee
to meet our mother,

00:27:56.466 --> 00:28:00.888
I felt like I accomplished
something, you know?

00:28:01.088 --> 00:28:03.565
I can't fix everything.

00:28:03.765 --> 00:28:07.352
But I did that,
and that was important.

00:28:10.981 --> 00:28:14.610
To me, Lee brought
great relief to me.

00:28:14.810 --> 00:28:16.278
But at the end of the day,

00:28:16.478 --> 00:28:17.746
I had to get back to work

00:28:17.946 --> 00:28:20.282
and get done
what needed to get done.

00:28:20.482 --> 00:28:21.208
- All right, * it,

00:28:21.408 --> 00:28:22.543
let's make something happen,
you know?

00:28:22.743 --> 00:28:24.670
There's-there's still work
needs to be done.

00:28:24.870 --> 00:28:26.580
How important
is it to you that whether it's

00:28:26.780 --> 00:28:28.006
this season or this summer,

00:28:28.206 --> 00:28:30.542
this team gets
another elite player?

00:28:30.742 --> 00:28:31.677
- That would be ideal.

00:28:31.877 --> 00:28:34.012
Anthony Davis was a name

00:28:34.212 --> 00:28:38.759
that my father talked about
from the day he was drafted.

00:28:38.959 --> 00:28:40.185
When he came into the league,

00:28:40.385 --> 00:28:42.078
he was the number
one draft pick.

00:28:42.278 --> 00:28:43.972
He's an incredibly skilled
big man.

00:28:44.172 --> 00:28:46.016
He can play with anyone.

00:28:46.216 --> 00:28:47.568
He's that talented.

00:28:47.768 --> 00:28:49.519
Being able to have
a relationship with AD

00:28:49.719 --> 00:28:53.065
beforehand
on the 2012 Olympic team,

00:28:53.265 --> 00:28:54.533
you know, I was like,

00:28:54.733 --> 00:28:56.827
"Oh, this kid is the next one."

00:28:57.027 --> 00:28:58.287
Kobe and LeBron, you know,

00:28:58.487 --> 00:28:59.788
really took me
under their wing.

00:28:59.988 --> 00:29:01.577
And it was great
to be around those guys

00:29:01.777 --> 00:29:03.367
and just for them
to show me the ropes.

00:29:03.567 --> 00:29:05.452
And I'd known LeBron,
you know,

00:29:05.652 --> 00:29:06.962
since I was in high school.

00:29:07.162 --> 00:29:12.000
Me and Bron go way back
to '15, '16.

00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:13.427
I was going to LeBron's camps.

00:29:13.627 --> 00:29:16.922
And Kobe, you know, we just-
when I first talked to him,

00:29:17.122 --> 00:29:18.840
we just connected immediately.

00:29:19.040 --> 00:29:20.184
So-

00:29:20.384 --> 00:29:23.011
As soon as we get to London,
Kobe tells my dad, like,

00:29:23.211 --> 00:29:25.389
I got your son, like he's-

00:29:25.589 --> 00:29:26.690
he's in good hands.

00:29:26.890 --> 00:29:29.351
You know, wherever we see
Kobe, AD was with him.

00:29:29.551 --> 00:29:30.790
- Your man AD in the building.

00:29:30.990 --> 00:29:32.029
Chilling with my man Kobe.

00:29:32.229 --> 00:29:33.647
You don't want to hide
the unibrow, though.

00:29:33.847 --> 00:29:34.648
- All right.

00:29:36.858 --> 00:29:39.077
I was like,
if we can get this guy,

00:29:39.277 --> 00:29:42.864
we can get there faster than
what people actually think.

00:29:43.064 --> 00:29:44.887
- It was a moment of truth.

00:29:45.087 --> 00:29:46.910
In order to get a great talent

00:29:47.110 --> 00:29:48.378
like Anthony Davis,

00:29:48.578 --> 00:29:50.497
you have to give up
great talent.

00:29:50.697 --> 00:29:52.132
And ultimately,

00:29:52.332 --> 00:29:55.460
it was my decision
to push the button.

00:29:56.837 --> 00:29:57.925
It's become the biggest story,

00:29:58.125 --> 00:29:59.424
obviously,
in the sports world.

00:29:59.624 --> 00:30:01.550
The Pelicans have agreed
to finally

00:30:01.750 --> 00:30:03.677
trade Anthony Davis
to the Lakers.

00:30:03.877 --> 00:30:07.189
- AD 3 and LJ 23.

00:30:09.366 --> 00:30:10.943
We've been waiting
for you to get here

00:30:11.143 --> 00:30:13.228
for what seems like months
and months and months.

00:30:13.428 --> 00:30:14.563
Yeah, forever.
But I'm happy to be here.

00:30:14.763 --> 00:30:15.948
I'm excited for the season,

00:30:16.148 --> 00:30:18.075
excited for the opportunity
to win a championship.

00:30:19.939 --> 00:30:21.203
And when we got Anthony Davis,

00:30:21.403 --> 00:30:24.581
that's when I knew,
okay, here we go.

00:30:24.781 --> 00:30:26.959
The Lakers get off
to this great start.

00:30:27.159 --> 00:30:29.703
Anthony Davis seems
like he was born to play

00:30:29.903 --> 00:30:31.371
alongside LeBron James.

00:30:31.571 --> 00:30:32.840
LeBron seems reinvigorated

00:30:33.040 --> 00:30:35.667
by playing alongside
another superstar.

00:30:37.252 --> 00:30:39.696
That kind of gave him,
I think, new life.

00:30:39.896 --> 00:30:42.340
We had
what you would call a big two,

00:30:42.540 --> 00:30:44.342
a Kobe and Shaq,

00:30:44.542 --> 00:30:46.427
a Kareem and Magic.

00:30:46.627 --> 00:30:48.313
And we had a new coach.

00:30:48.513 --> 00:30:50.766
There's gonna be a lot of
talk of getting our team back

00:30:50.966 --> 00:30:51.817
into the playoffs.

00:30:52.017 --> 00:30:53.902
We are gonna be focused
on the work.

00:30:54.102 --> 00:30:55.941
We came out
of the gates really strong.

00:30:56.141 --> 00:30:57.781
You know, I felt like
we had a chance

00:30:57.981 --> 00:31:00.442
to do something special
to win the championship.

00:31:00.642 --> 00:31:02.110
It's like last year
never happened.

00:31:02.310 --> 00:31:04.413
- We all just like, clicked.

00:31:04.613 --> 00:31:07.949
And every guy on the team
had a chip on their shoulder

00:31:08.149 --> 00:31:10.294
and wanted to win.

00:31:10.494 --> 00:31:13.313
But, you know,
just because you're doing well

00:31:13.513 --> 00:31:16.333
doesn't mean you take
your foot off the gas.

00:31:16.533 --> 00:31:17.384
You gotta keep pushing.

00:31:22.297 --> 00:31:24.324
We were in Philly
to play the 76ers.

00:31:24.524 --> 00:31:26.351
All he needs is 18 points

00:31:26.551 --> 00:31:28.812
and LeBron James
will pass Kobe Bryant

00:31:29.012 --> 00:31:32.974
as the third all-time
leading scorer in NBA history.

00:31:33.174 --> 00:31:34.830
James and the Lakers
finishing up

00:31:35.030 --> 00:31:36.486
this five-game winning streak.

00:31:36.686 --> 00:31:39.773
I actually have
the assist to Bron.

00:31:39.973 --> 00:31:42.284
You know, he get the layup.

00:31:42.484 --> 00:31:43.911
James goes across the lane,

00:31:44.111 --> 00:31:46.580
lays it up and lays it in,
and there it is.

00:31:46.780 --> 00:31:50.784
He just became the third
leading scorer in NBA history,

00:31:50.984 --> 00:31:53.462
passing Kobe Bryant,
another milestone.

00:31:53.662 --> 00:31:56.331
So it was cool, like,
to see Bron move up.

00:31:58.834 --> 00:32:00.177
It felt incredible, man,

00:32:00.377 --> 00:32:02.963
just knowing how
I looked up to the guy so much

00:32:03.163 --> 00:32:04.139
from when I was in high school.

00:32:04.339 --> 00:32:05.532
I don't want
to be like Kobe Bryant.

00:32:05.732 --> 00:32:06.925
I just want to accomplish
the things

00:32:07.125 --> 00:32:08.101
that he accomplished,

00:32:08.301 --> 00:32:11.638
like winning the championship,
you know, all-star.

00:32:11.838 --> 00:32:14.349
To the moment where,
you know, in 2002

00:32:14.549 --> 00:32:16.026
at the All-Star game
in Philly...

00:32:16.226 --> 00:32:18.728
He gave me a pair of his shoes,
which I ended up wearing

00:32:18.928 --> 00:32:20.572
that following night.

00:32:20.772 --> 00:32:22.945
It was the red, white, and blue
Kobe's.

00:32:23.145 --> 00:32:25.318
To, you know,
coming into the league

00:32:25.518 --> 00:32:26.757
and just watching him.

00:32:26.957 --> 00:32:27.996
We take it down to 2008

00:32:28.196 --> 00:32:30.248
where we become
the redeem team.

00:32:30.448 --> 00:32:32.742
And it was a dream come true
for me to be able

00:32:32.942 --> 00:32:34.670
to line up alongside of him.

00:32:34.870 --> 00:32:37.831
Like I said, today
is Kobe Bryant's 30th birthday.

00:32:38.031 --> 00:32:40.458
And we're gonna sing
Happy Birthday on three.

00:32:43.670 --> 00:32:46.598
Now I'm here in the Lakers
uniform in Philadelphia

00:32:46.798 --> 00:32:50.886
where he's from where I-one
of first times I ever met him.

00:32:51.086 --> 00:32:53.847
It-it was just, like,
mind-blowing.

00:32:54.047 --> 00:32:56.704
And I get to my locker
after the game,

00:32:56.904 --> 00:32:59.091
and there's a tweet
from Kobe to me

00:32:59.291 --> 00:33:01.411
about, you know,
keep moving forward,

00:33:01.611 --> 00:33:03.384
keep pushing forward,
congratulations.

00:33:03.584 --> 00:33:05.143
And one thing
a lot of people don't know-

00:33:05.343 --> 00:33:06.902
this is the first time
I ever told anybody-

00:33:07.102 --> 00:33:09.496
he sent me a bottle of wine,

00:33:09.696 --> 00:33:15.368
a 1984 La Tأ¢che
with a handwritten note.

00:33:15.568 --> 00:33:17.254
And it's in my wine cellar
hung up.

00:33:17.454 --> 00:33:22.209
It's the only bottle that
won't be drank in my cellar.

00:33:26.922 --> 00:33:28.715
You know, it's a long flight
from Philly to LA.

00:33:28.915 --> 00:33:30.800
We tired.
Everybody's, like, asleep.

00:33:34.846 --> 00:33:36.289
And I started getting calls.

00:33:36.489 --> 00:33:38.007
And I'm like, pressing "end,"

00:33:38.207 --> 00:33:39.526
'cause I'm trying to sleep.

00:33:39.726 --> 00:33:41.403
And people kept calling
my phone.

00:33:41.603 --> 00:33:44.940
So I open up the phone,
look at the messages.

00:33:45.140 --> 00:33:47.367
- He like...

00:33:47.567 --> 00:33:49.661
"Kobe just died."

00:33:49.861 --> 00:33:52.906
And so I go on Instagram,
and I see all this stuff,

00:33:53.106 --> 00:33:55.429
like he was with Robert Horry,
he was-

00:33:55.629 --> 00:33:57.953
and there's like,
so many reports,

00:33:58.153 --> 00:33:59.600
so many reports.

00:33:59.800 --> 00:34:02.175
Bron's knocked out.

00:34:02.375 --> 00:34:04.751
And I'm, "Bron! Bron!"

00:34:04.951 --> 00:34:06.595
Bron wakes up.

00:34:06.795 --> 00:34:10.932
I said-I said,
"Bro, Kobe died."

00:34:11.132 --> 00:34:15.495
And he said, same as I said,
"Kobe who?"

00:34:15.695 --> 00:34:20.058
I'm like, "Kobe Bryant."
Him, Gigi."

00:34:21.434 --> 00:34:24.613
And...

00:34:24.813 --> 00:34:26.506
he was like,
"Man, stop playing."

00:34:26.706 --> 00:34:29.058
I'm like,
"Bro, I'm not playing."

00:34:29.258 --> 00:34:31.611
I'm like,
"They saying it's true."

00:34:31.811 --> 00:34:35.248
- Anthony looked like, um,

00:34:35.448 --> 00:34:40.120
somebody pulled, like, his soul
from him.

00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:41.797
Nobody had their color.

00:34:41.997 --> 00:34:46.209
And we all-all of us
just kind of just broke down.

00:34:46.409 --> 00:34:48.086
We just all broke down
in tears.

00:34:49.671 --> 00:34:51.047
That was one
of the longest flights

00:34:51.247 --> 00:34:52.224
I ever been on,

00:34:52.424 --> 00:34:54.884
one of the longest flights
I've ever been on.

00:34:56.136 --> 00:35:01.016
That shit hit us,
like, hard.

00:35:01.216 --> 00:35:03.235
Hard.

00:35:03.435 --> 00:35:04.815
The LA Lakers legend

00:35:05.015 --> 00:35:06.196
and 13-year-old Gianna

00:35:06.396 --> 00:35:09.441
were among nine people
on board a private helicopter

00:35:09.641 --> 00:35:12.902
when it crashed
into a Los Angeles hill.

00:35:13.102 --> 00:35:15.071
- I was at home.

00:35:15.271 --> 00:35:16.540
At home.

00:35:16.740 --> 00:35:18.558
Wife and I were getting ready
for church.

00:35:18.758 --> 00:35:20.577
And she's in the bathroom
getting ready

00:35:20.777 --> 00:35:22.537
and she screams, "Oh, my God."

00:35:24.205 --> 00:35:26.508
I turned the phone off.

00:35:26.708 --> 00:35:29.340
I didn't talk to anybody
that day.

00:35:29.540 --> 00:35:32.172
I didn't talk to anybody
the next day.

00:35:32.372 --> 00:35:34.132
I was just heartbroken.

00:35:34.799 --> 00:35:35.925
I was just heartbroken.

00:35:38.178 --> 00:35:40.513
I was supposed
to be traveling that day.

00:35:40.713 --> 00:35:43.391
I was on-
I was on the way to LAX.

00:35:43.591 --> 00:35:45.527
My kids called,

00:35:45.727 --> 00:35:49.985
and they were just
freaking out.

00:35:50.185 --> 00:35:54.341
And yeah, just got back home,
and...

00:35:54.541 --> 00:35:57.917
I couldn't take my eyes
off the TV.

00:35:58.117 --> 00:36:00.747
Because it still-
it just wasn't

00:36:00.947 --> 00:36:03.578
registering that it was real.

00:36:05.330 --> 00:36:09.501
It was-no, I mean,
it was the toughest

00:36:09.701 --> 00:36:12.128
hit that I've ever taken.

00:36:12.328 --> 00:36:14.964
My heart sank.

00:36:15.164 --> 00:36:19.135
I sank.

00:36:38.279 --> 00:36:39.847
Only thing I can say
is I wish

00:36:40.047 --> 00:36:41.416
I would've told him
I loved him.

00:36:41.616 --> 00:36:45.353
So that's just something
guys always regret.

00:36:45.553 --> 00:36:49.290
And we didn't ever really think
that, um...

00:36:49.490 --> 00:36:52.314
he was gonna pass, you know?

00:36:52.514 --> 00:36:55.338
It was just something that-

00:36:55.538 --> 00:36:56.548
that happened.

00:36:59.300 --> 00:37:01.603
We're not gonna be able...

00:37:01.803 --> 00:37:04.973
to joke at his
Hall of Fame ceremony.

00:37:05.173 --> 00:37:07.642
We're not gonna be able
to say,

00:37:07.842 --> 00:37:10.111
"Ha, I got five. You got four."

00:37:10.311 --> 00:37:11.566
The fact that
we're not gonna be able

00:37:11.766 --> 00:37:13.022
to say if we would
have stayed together,

00:37:13.222 --> 00:37:15.617
we could have got 10.

00:37:15.817 --> 00:37:18.653
Those are the things
that you can't get back.

00:37:20.655 --> 00:37:23.700
You know,
I didn't even have his number.

00:37:23.900 --> 00:37:26.286
I don't-I don't call nobody.

00:37:27.996 --> 00:37:30.440
It's not the right attitude
to have.

00:37:30.640 --> 00:37:32.884
But it's the attitude
I always have.

00:37:33.084 --> 00:37:35.778
But if you have to say that
after the fact,

00:37:35.978 --> 00:37:38.289
it's something
that you always live with.

00:37:38.489 --> 00:37:40.525
But the fact that
I couldn't say what's up

00:37:40.725 --> 00:37:42.761
or I'll never be able
to do that again,

00:37:42.961 --> 00:37:44.554
that'll haunt me.

00:37:45.764 --> 00:37:49.601
I mean, to lose him,
but even more so,

00:37:49.801 --> 00:37:51.194
his daughter that we had seen.

00:37:51.394 --> 00:37:55.899
She used to come to the hotel
and sell Girl Scout cookies.

00:37:59.402 --> 00:38:02.826
We all thought Kobe
was invincible.

00:38:03.026 --> 00:38:06.451
And in the blink of an eye,
he's gone.

00:38:11.414 --> 00:38:15.047
Shortly after my mom
passed away,

00:38:15.247 --> 00:38:18.880
he called me
and left me a message,

00:38:19.080 --> 00:38:20.557
which was so like Kobe.

00:38:20.757 --> 00:38:25.970
Like, and then after he passed
away, hearing all the people

00:38:26.170 --> 00:38:28.723
that Kobe reached out to.

00:38:28.923 --> 00:38:30.442
He was a Laker,

00:38:30.642 --> 00:38:34.103
and he cared
about the Laker family.

00:38:34.303 --> 00:38:36.981
- Myself and everybody else

00:38:37.181 --> 00:38:40.952
that was Kobe fans,

00:38:41.152 --> 00:38:44.576
we were fortunate
and blessed to have,

00:38:44.776 --> 00:38:49.183
you know,
experienced championships

00:38:49.383 --> 00:38:53.790
and the joy that came
from all of that.

00:39:07.512 --> 00:39:10.498
Remember
those walls I built?

00:39:10.698 --> 00:39:13.759
Well, baby,
they're tumbling down

00:39:13.959 --> 00:39:17.037
They didn't even
put up a fight

00:39:17.237 --> 00:39:20.136
They didn't even make
a sound

00:39:20.336 --> 00:39:23.500
I found a way to let you in

00:39:23.700 --> 00:39:26.266
But I never really had
a doubt

00:39:26.466 --> 00:39:29.033
Standing in the light
of your halo

00:39:29.233 --> 00:39:31.294
I've had this poster
on my wall

00:39:31.494 --> 00:39:33.663
everywhere I've lived
since I was a kid.

00:39:33.863 --> 00:39:35.965
I'm 30 years old now.

00:39:36.165 --> 00:39:39.878
Had this poster in my room
everywhere I moved to.

00:39:40.078 --> 00:39:41.638
He was my hero.

00:39:41.838 --> 00:39:43.590
He wasn't just a Laker.

00:39:43.790 --> 00:39:45.517
He was LA.

00:39:45.717 --> 00:39:48.474
It's like
I've been awakened

00:39:48.674 --> 00:39:51.037
Every rule
I had you breaking

00:39:51.237 --> 00:39:53.600
It's the risk
that I'm takin'

00:39:58.396 --> 00:40:00.657
Everywhere I'm lookin' now

00:40:00.857 --> 00:40:04.068
I'm surrounded
by your embrace

00:40:04.268 --> 00:40:06.904
Baby, I can see your halo

00:40:07.104 --> 00:40:09.719
Pray it won't fade away

00:40:09.919 --> 00:40:17.215
Halo, don't fade away

00:40:17.415 --> 00:40:20.589
To go back
in the arena and play,

00:40:20.789 --> 00:40:23.763
it was just, like, impossible.

00:40:23.963 --> 00:40:25.886
Halo, don't fade away

00:40:26.086 --> 00:40:27.809
And we see the crowd.

00:40:28.009 --> 00:40:29.477
Everybody's wearing
Kobe shirts.

00:40:29.677 --> 00:40:32.639
And the tears come back,
the emotions come back.

00:40:32.839 --> 00:40:35.725
And as I look
around this arena,

00:40:35.925 --> 00:40:37.268
we're all grieving.

00:40:37.468 --> 00:40:38.611
We're all hurt.

00:40:38.811 --> 00:40:40.655
We're all heartbroken.

00:40:40.855 --> 00:40:42.736
And when we're going
through things like this,

00:40:42.936 --> 00:40:44.817
the best thing you can do
is lean on the shoulders

00:40:45.017 --> 00:40:46.828
of your family.

00:40:47.028 --> 00:40:49.372
I want to continue
along with my teammates

00:40:49.572 --> 00:40:52.867
to continue his legacy,
not only for this year.

00:40:53.067 --> 00:40:54.085
For as long as we can play

00:40:54.285 --> 00:40:55.462
the game of basketball
that we love.

00:40:55.662 --> 00:40:57.997
Because that's
what Kobe Bryant would want.

00:40:58.197 --> 00:41:02.093
Kobe! Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!

00:41:02.293 --> 00:41:05.889
There was a lot of heaviness.

00:41:06.089 --> 00:41:09.300
But the best thing you can do
when you feel alone

00:41:09.500 --> 00:41:12.470
is to be around your community.

00:41:12.670 --> 00:41:15.440
And that's
what Laker games were.

00:41:15.640 --> 00:41:18.101
Everybody felt like
the only thing they could do

00:41:18.301 --> 00:41:19.402
to make anything
feel meaningful

00:41:19.602 --> 00:41:23.782
was to come together
and play together for Kobe.

00:41:23.982 --> 00:41:27.068
We begin, you know, to play
some of our best basketball.

00:41:27.268 --> 00:41:28.569
We understood right away

00:41:28.769 --> 00:41:29.871
what we wanted to do.

00:41:30.071 --> 00:41:32.407
We'll do our best, you know,
to kind of fulfill

00:41:32.607 --> 00:41:33.416
the ultimate goal here

00:41:33.616 --> 00:41:35.126
and win one for you and Gigi.

00:41:35.326 --> 00:41:37.962
It was like
we have a bigger meaning.

00:41:38.162 --> 00:41:40.731
I thought it brought us,
you know, closer.

00:41:40.931 --> 00:41:43.096
The Lakers are officially

00:41:43.296 --> 00:41:45.261
back at the playoffs.

00:41:45.461 --> 00:41:47.338
I knew we had a chance
of winning the championship.

00:41:47.538 --> 00:41:48.807
But I knew after that moment,

00:41:49.007 --> 00:41:50.800
we were gonna win
the championship.

00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:51.684
I knew we were.

00:41:51.884 --> 00:41:53.928
And then all of a sudden,
boom.

00:41:54.128 --> 00:41:55.555
Everything stops.

00:42:08.109 --> 00:42:10.720
Two players
on the Los Angeles Lakers

00:42:10.920 --> 00:42:13.331
have tested positive
for coronavirus.

00:42:13.531 --> 00:42:16.142
All major
professional sports leagues

00:42:16.342 --> 00:42:18.753
have suspended games,
the NBA now saying

00:42:18.953 --> 00:42:21.956
it will reassess
whether to finish the season

00:42:22.156 --> 00:42:23.875
after 30 days.

00:42:27.837 --> 00:42:29.639
I went home,
and I just had some time

00:42:29.839 --> 00:42:34.343
to really grieve, you know,
for Kobe and that situation.

00:42:37.263 --> 00:42:39.891
All right, Kobe,
let me really mourn you,

00:42:40.091 --> 00:42:42.277
'cause I-I couldn't.

00:42:42.477 --> 00:42:46.105
We just had to play with that
anger building inside of us.

00:42:46.305 --> 00:42:48.608
You know, we just
all had to be at bay...

00:42:50.902 --> 00:42:52.445
You know, part of me
was thinking, like,

00:42:52.645 --> 00:42:54.780
the health and safety
of everybody.

00:42:54.980 --> 00:42:57.116
But human nature
also was thinking,

00:42:57.316 --> 00:43:00.536
like, *, our momentum.

00:43:02.789 --> 00:43:04.924
Those months
where we didn't know,

00:43:05.124 --> 00:43:10.008
having to isolate,
be away from each other...

00:43:10.208 --> 00:43:15.093
this was a very painful
time period for me.

00:43:15.293 --> 00:43:17.854
I lost my mother
in mid-December.

00:43:18.054 --> 00:43:22.725
And then we lost Kobe Bryant
shortly afterwards.

00:43:22.925 --> 00:43:24.777
Some days you just felt like
I can't-

00:43:24.977 --> 00:43:29.115
like, you know,
how am I gonna get out of bed?

00:43:29.315 --> 00:43:35.446
I've never felt so isolated
as I did during the shutdown.

00:43:35.646 --> 00:43:36.706
Like, is this the end?

00:43:36.906 --> 00:43:39.375
Is this, you know-

00:43:39.575 --> 00:43:43.504
are we ever gonna feel good
again?

00:43:43.704 --> 00:43:48.292
I thought about the team
and how-how they felt.

00:43:48.492 --> 00:43:50.253
And I thought about my family.

00:43:51.754 --> 00:43:53.097
When you're born
into this family,

00:43:53.297 --> 00:43:56.175
you're kind of put
in this spotlight, right?

00:43:56.375 --> 00:43:58.803
How different
would my life have been

00:43:59.003 --> 00:44:02.223
to be just in a regular family

00:44:02.423 --> 00:44:05.643
that doesn't own
a sports empire?

00:44:07.270 --> 00:44:09.897
You look at a lot
of family-owned businesses,

00:44:10.097 --> 00:44:11.983
there's always a lot of drama.

00:44:13.860 --> 00:44:18.114
That makes for a tough road
with your siblings.

00:44:18.314 --> 00:44:19.999
I would read things and say,

00:44:20.199 --> 00:44:22.702
"Man, I'm really glad
that I didn't have to do that

00:44:22.902 --> 00:44:25.663
or I didn't have to be
in that part of it."

00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:30.593
But life is short.

00:44:30.793 --> 00:44:35.339
And the most important thing
is family.

00:44:37.967 --> 00:44:41.971
Lee coming to the family
gives us an opportunity

00:44:42.171 --> 00:44:44.911
to connect in a different way.

00:44:45.111 --> 00:44:47.652
She looks at Johnny and Jimmy

00:44:47.852 --> 00:44:51.026
without all the weight
of the things

00:44:51.226 --> 00:44:53.860
that have happened
in this family.

00:44:54.060 --> 00:44:56.694
So it made me see them
with fresh eyes

00:44:56.894 --> 00:44:59.205
and a blank slate.

00:44:59.405 --> 00:45:01.866
With Lee,
knowing her strength

00:45:02.066 --> 00:45:04.452
of forgiving her parents

00:45:04.652 --> 00:45:06.838
should be a calling to us

00:45:07.038 --> 00:45:10.008
that forgiveness
is a good thing.

00:45:10.208 --> 00:45:11.834
Now I'm gonna
read you something...

00:45:12.034 --> 00:45:13.011
- Oh, boy.

00:45:13.211 --> 00:45:14.587
That Johnny said
in our last interview.

00:45:14.787 --> 00:45:16.514
- Oh, boy. Okay.

00:45:16.714 --> 00:45:19.179
Jeanie has done
an incredible job.

00:45:19.379 --> 00:45:21.644
And where she has excelled most

00:45:21.844 --> 00:45:25.039
is when she follows
my father's plan.

00:45:25.239 --> 00:45:28.234
And Jeanie is doing that
right now,

00:45:28.434 --> 00:45:31.938
and I'm very proud of her
for doing that.

00:45:34.482 --> 00:45:35.616
Wow, that's great.

00:45:35.816 --> 00:45:39.195
That-that means a lot to me.

00:45:41.656 --> 00:45:44.367
I don't think I was
as sensitive to Jeanie's hurt

00:45:44.567 --> 00:45:45.918
as I should have been.

00:45:46.118 --> 00:45:50.331
That period of time in 2017
is just-

00:45:50.531 --> 00:45:51.883
you know, is over.

00:45:52.083 --> 00:45:55.636
And, uh, it's not worth it.

00:45:55.836 --> 00:45:57.638
It's just not worth it
to fight.

00:45:57.838 --> 00:45:59.590
I'm gonna read
something Jimmy said.

00:45:59.790 --> 00:46:00.975
Oh, no.

00:46:01.175 --> 00:46:03.269
So that's
what she's good at, you know.

00:46:03.469 --> 00:46:05.972
Jeanie's very good
at putting the pieces together.

00:46:06.172 --> 00:46:07.440
I mean,
she's worked with my dad

00:46:07.640 --> 00:46:11.394
for, you know, 25, 30 years
or whatever it is.

00:46:11.594 --> 00:46:14.605
She knows what she's doing.

00:46:17.441 --> 00:46:20.361
That's really nice.

00:46:22.488 --> 00:46:25.620
Well, I think about my family
all the time.

00:46:25.820 --> 00:46:28.953
What I do about it
is a different story.

00:46:30.204 --> 00:46:32.544
Uh, the regret
is that I just don't-

00:46:32.744 --> 00:46:35.084
you know, I can't walk in
and say hi.

00:46:35.284 --> 00:46:36.135
I mean, I feel bad.

00:46:36.335 --> 00:46:38.963
It would be nice
to be able to do that.

00:46:40.840 --> 00:46:45.177
I feel that I'm going
to reach out to her fairly soon

00:46:45.377 --> 00:46:47.659
to, hey, let's just sit down

00:46:47.859 --> 00:46:49.941
and, you know, talk this out,

00:46:50.141 --> 00:46:52.360
put it behind us
in a positive way,

00:46:52.560 --> 00:46:56.647
'cause that's how I view her,
is in a positive way.

00:46:56.847 --> 00:46:59.295
I was put in
a difficult situation.

00:46:59.495 --> 00:47:01.744
But I had to follow
the directions

00:47:01.944 --> 00:47:05.656
that my dad gave me
and what he asked me to do.

00:47:07.408 --> 00:47:10.040
Knowing
that they understand now

00:47:10.240 --> 00:47:12.672
why I had to do
what I had to do,

00:47:12.872 --> 00:47:18.461
that-that now opens the door
for the kind of relationship

00:47:18.661 --> 00:47:23.015
that I'd like to have
with my brothers.

00:47:23.215 --> 00:47:28.387
But I have this family that my
dad created with the Lakers.

00:47:28.587 --> 00:47:33.351
So at that time, I was really
focused on our players.

00:47:33.551 --> 00:47:35.862
So I was excited and hopeful

00:47:36.062 --> 00:47:38.698
that we could finish
the season.

00:47:38.898 --> 00:47:40.324
There's been so many times

00:47:40.524 --> 00:47:43.110
over the last 41/2 months
you say to yourself,

00:47:43.310 --> 00:47:44.704
is the NBA gonna restart ever?

00:47:44.904 --> 00:47:46.330
The NBA
will resume the season

00:47:46.530 --> 00:47:48.661
at Disney World
in Orlando, Florida.

00:47:48.861 --> 00:47:50.993
For players of the 22
invited teams,

00:47:51.193 --> 00:47:52.962
life as they know it is about-

00:47:53.162 --> 00:47:55.331
well, let's just say it's
gonna be a little different.

00:47:55.531 --> 00:47:58.376
When the league
shut down, it was like,

00:47:58.576 --> 00:47:59.427
is this ever gonna come back?

00:47:59.627 --> 00:48:02.300
Are they gonna get to finish
what happened?

00:48:02.500 --> 00:48:05.697
The end of April,
we started this idea

00:48:05.897 --> 00:48:08.895
of a bubble,
a safe haven where the NBA

00:48:09.095 --> 00:48:13.724
could quarantine the players
and do daily testing.

00:48:15.017 --> 00:48:17.695
Certainly, it wasn't ideal.

00:48:17.895 --> 00:48:22.900
But I was very excited that
we could finish the season.

00:48:23.100 --> 00:48:24.327
After working through a trio

00:48:24.527 --> 00:48:27.530
of warm-up games, the Lakers
are primed for a playoff run

00:48:27.730 --> 00:48:29.040
for the first time
in seven years.

00:48:29.240 --> 00:48:31.534
But nobody looks more ready
for that challenge

00:48:31.734 --> 00:48:33.369
than LeBron James
and Anthony Davis.

00:48:33.569 --> 00:48:34.962
The all-star pair has shown

00:48:35.162 --> 00:48:37.957
what a truly dominant duo
can do in this league.

00:48:39.625 --> 00:48:41.168
I want to see
this team fight.

00:48:41.368 --> 00:48:42.511
I want to be part of it.

00:48:42.711 --> 00:48:45.072
I want to be part of
the playoffs, the excitement.

00:48:45.272 --> 00:48:47.624
I wanted to see the character
that we had built.

00:48:47.824 --> 00:48:50.177
They legitimately have
one of the best shots

00:48:50.377 --> 00:48:51.854
to win yet another title.

00:48:52.054 --> 00:48:53.810
But when
the league was restarting,

00:48:54.010 --> 00:48:55.664
all the players
were really affected

00:48:55.864 --> 00:48:57.404
by what was going on
in the world

00:48:57.604 --> 00:48:58.945
after George Floyd
was murdered.

00:48:59.145 --> 00:49:01.155
Say his name!
George Floyd!

00:49:01.355 --> 00:49:03.149
Say his name!
George Floyd!

00:49:04.621 --> 00:49:05.756
Cities
across the United States

00:49:05.956 --> 00:49:08.333
remain in a state
of high tension tonight

00:49:08.533 --> 00:49:10.084
as the country braces itself

00:49:10.284 --> 00:49:12.190
for another wave of protests

00:49:12.390 --> 00:49:14.097
over the death
of George Floyd.

00:49:14.297 --> 00:49:16.224
The unarmed Mr. Floyd,
who was Black,

00:49:16.424 --> 00:49:19.261
died in Minneapolis after
being pinned to the ground

00:49:19.461 --> 00:49:20.687
by a white police officer.

00:49:20.887 --> 00:49:23.974
He was the latest in a string
of African-American men

00:49:24.174 --> 00:49:25.776
to die through police action.

00:49:25.976 --> 00:49:27.982
Take your knee
off our necks!

00:49:28.182 --> 00:49:30.044
- Take your knee off our necks!

00:49:30.244 --> 00:49:31.907
The murder of George Floyd

00:49:32.107 --> 00:49:35.948
really underlined something
to all Americans

00:49:36.148 --> 00:49:39.990
that they maybe had tried
not to be aware of.

00:49:40.190 --> 00:49:42.584
And now all of a sudden
they saw it

00:49:42.784 --> 00:49:45.829
in a way that they can't deny
that it exists.

00:49:49.291 --> 00:49:51.384
America was really
just starting to see

00:49:51.584 --> 00:49:54.320
who America really was,
at the end of the day.

00:49:54.520 --> 00:49:57.257
Black side's been struggling
for a long time.

00:49:57.457 --> 00:49:58.675
: No justice!
No peace!

00:49:58.875 --> 00:50:01.937
No justice! No peace!

00:50:02.137 --> 00:50:03.622
Like I said,
been angry for a long time.

00:50:03.822 --> 00:50:05.569
We've been taking crap
for a long time,

00:50:05.769 --> 00:50:07.517
been getting disrespected
for a long time.

00:50:08.393 --> 00:50:10.812
The things that
caused those problems

00:50:11.012 --> 00:50:13.240
have remained unchanged.

00:50:13.440 --> 00:50:16.318
You know, let's keep
telling 'em why we're upset.

00:50:16.518 --> 00:50:17.786
'Cause if you stop,

00:50:17.986 --> 00:50:20.572
everybody's gonna be like,
"Ooh, okay, they're done,"

00:50:20.772 --> 00:50:22.657
until something else happens.

00:50:26.536 --> 00:50:29.164
We've seen this
over and over and over...

00:50:35.628 --> 00:50:38.515
Or as a Black woman.

00:50:38.715 --> 00:50:43.136
We watched someone die
on television.

00:50:44.679 --> 00:50:47.811
We just wanted to support
our players

00:50:48.011 --> 00:50:51.144
and what they were
standing up for.

00:50:57.692 --> 00:51:00.704
We were extremely happy

00:51:00.904 --> 00:51:04.449
and proud to be able
to highlight a moment

00:51:04.649 --> 00:51:06.368
that we felt
that was gonna last

00:51:06.568 --> 00:51:08.244
longer than just that time.

00:51:12.374 --> 00:51:14.676
People look up to all of us.

00:51:14.876 --> 00:51:19.806
What can we do together
to make a big impact?

00:51:20.006 --> 00:51:22.133
In the context of what
was happening in the world

00:51:22.333 --> 00:51:23.968
that summer,
you couldn't just pretend

00:51:24.168 --> 00:51:25.687
this was all about basketball.

00:51:25.887 --> 00:51:28.181
This was a pretty big move
for the NBA.

00:51:30.433 --> 00:51:32.277
- They have a bigger presence

00:51:32.477 --> 00:51:35.438
that-than young people
have ever had.

00:51:38.775 --> 00:51:40.276
As a team,
we did everything

00:51:40.476 --> 00:51:41.620
together in that bubble.

00:51:41.820 --> 00:51:46.157
So every information
and news that was going on,

00:51:46.357 --> 00:51:47.125
we saw together.

00:51:47.325 --> 00:51:48.789
And the same thing happened

00:51:48.989 --> 00:51:50.253
with the Jacob Blake thing.

00:51:50.453 --> 00:51:54.082
Blake, who is Black, was shot
multiple times in the back

00:51:54.282 --> 00:51:56.084
by police on Sunday
in Kenosha, Wisconsin,

00:51:56.284 --> 00:51:57.052
as he tried to enter

00:51:57.252 --> 00:51:59.471
the driver's side door
of his vehicle.

00:51:59.671 --> 00:52:02.094
In that moment, I mean,
the WNBA stepped up.

00:52:02.294 --> 00:52:04.517
Up until about 10 minutes ago,

00:52:04.717 --> 00:52:07.286
we thought we were
going to have a game.

00:52:07.486 --> 00:52:09.630
And subsequently,
the NBA stepped up.

00:52:09.830 --> 00:52:11.775
30 minutes went by
and they saying

00:52:11.975 --> 00:52:15.228
that the Bucks are refusing
to come out of the locker room.

00:52:15.428 --> 00:52:16.613
They're refusing to play.

00:52:16.813 --> 00:52:19.399
Breaking news from the NBA,
at least one team is protesting

00:52:19.599 --> 00:52:22.485
the shooting of Jacob Blake
in Kenosha, Wisconsin,

00:52:22.685 --> 00:52:24.621
by boycotting
their playoff game today.

00:52:24.821 --> 00:52:26.973
We are calling for justice
for Jacob Blake

00:52:27.173 --> 00:52:29.125
and demand the officers
be held accountable.

00:52:29.325 --> 00:52:31.286
Nobody played a game that day
until we figured out

00:52:31.486 --> 00:52:32.671
what we was gonna do next.

00:52:32.871 --> 00:52:34.381
There was so much intensity.

00:52:34.581 --> 00:52:36.708
Because guys is like,
"Man, this could have been

00:52:36.908 --> 00:52:38.835
anyone's brother or sister."

00:52:39.035 --> 00:52:40.962
It could have been one of them.

00:52:41.162 --> 00:52:42.013
This keeps happening.

00:52:42.213 --> 00:52:43.640
And it's like,
what are we gonna do?

00:52:43.840 --> 00:52:44.908
We went down here and we have

00:52:45.108 --> 00:52:46.176
Black Lives Matter T-shirts.

00:52:46.376 --> 00:52:47.352
And how many more?

00:52:47.552 --> 00:52:48.595
That's the question
they keep asking.

00:52:48.795 --> 00:52:49.771
How many more?

00:52:49.909 --> 00:52:53.883
real life outside of this
fairytale of basketball.

00:52:55.483 --> 00:52:59.069
Like what the-
what the * are we doing?

00:52:59.269 --> 00:53:00.863
Like, what are we doing?

00:53:03.541 --> 00:53:05.802
Everything in
the bubble is so fragile

00:53:06.002 --> 00:53:10.214
to begin with that this may
actually burst the bubble.

00:53:18.889 --> 00:53:19.690
This morning, the NBA

00:53:19.890 --> 00:53:21.234
post-season in doubt,
following

00:53:21.434 --> 00:53:23.398
the police involved shooting
of Jacob Blake.

00:53:23.598 --> 00:53:25.363
An all-players meeting
was held to discuss

00:53:25.563 --> 00:53:29.442
whether the NBA bubble season
should move forward at all.

00:53:29.642 --> 00:53:30.993
We had this big meeting.

00:53:31.193 --> 00:53:35.031
And each team had to decide
whether they were gonna leave

00:53:35.231 --> 00:53:37.416
or they were gonna stay.

00:53:37.616 --> 00:53:41.912
Us being the Lakers, well,
what the Lakers gonna do?

00:53:44.665 --> 00:53:47.510
As the players
were behind closed doors,

00:53:47.710 --> 00:53:51.297
we were all waiting to find out
what would happen next.

00:53:53.132 --> 00:53:56.093
People paid attention
because now you have

00:53:56.293 --> 00:54:00.181
an entire league
put on hold based on

00:54:00.381 --> 00:54:02.150
the action of its players.

00:54:02.350 --> 00:54:04.852
You just realize, you know,
the power that you-you know,

00:54:05.052 --> 00:54:06.562
you actually do have.

00:54:08.272 --> 00:54:12.451
To be honest,
we're ready to leave.

00:54:12.651 --> 00:54:15.446
Man, we should
just leave the bubble

00:54:15.646 --> 00:54:18.166
and go get on the front line.

00:54:18.366 --> 00:54:19.750
I was a guy that was split.

00:54:19.950 --> 00:54:22.036
I mean, I understood
where a lot of people

00:54:22.236 --> 00:54:23.337
were coming from.

00:54:23.537 --> 00:54:25.247
There was also
a part of me was like,

00:54:25.447 --> 00:54:29.043
we're not as strong separate

00:54:29.243 --> 00:54:30.928
than we are together.

00:54:31.128 --> 00:54:34.765
- You know, what do we do?

00:54:34.965 --> 00:54:36.801
They basically took
a political action

00:54:37.001 --> 00:54:38.823
without knowing
what to ask for.

00:54:39.023 --> 00:54:40.646
And so the next few days
were spent

00:54:40.846 --> 00:54:42.556
calling politicians
all around the country,

00:54:42.756 --> 00:54:44.942
saying,
"What should we ask for?"

00:54:45.142 --> 00:54:47.194
Former President Barack Obama
stepping in

00:54:47.394 --> 00:54:50.114
to advise a group of players
on their protest.

00:54:50.314 --> 00:54:55.427
There's myself, CP, Russ,
Carmelo, and Jason Kidd

00:54:55.627 --> 00:55:00.741
and just listening
to the 44th give his insight.

00:55:00.941 --> 00:55:04.182
More than anything,
he basically told us

00:55:04.382 --> 00:55:07.623
we can't come out of this
with nothing.

00:55:07.823 --> 00:55:09.124
You know, ultimately
we decided

00:55:09.324 --> 00:55:10.426
if we go away from this stage,

00:55:10.626 --> 00:55:13.612
we don't necessarily have
that same platform.

00:55:13.812 --> 00:55:16.227
When games resume
this afternoon,

00:55:16.427 --> 00:55:18.390
it will be with
a more specific plan

00:55:18.590 --> 00:55:20.553
for using the game
as a platform

00:55:20.753 --> 00:55:22.939
to fight racial inequality.

00:55:23.139 --> 00:55:24.857
In response,
the NBA's team owners,

00:55:25.057 --> 00:55:27.059
some of the richest and most
powerful men and women

00:55:27.259 --> 00:55:29.862
in the country,
have now agreed to do more,

00:55:30.062 --> 00:55:32.731
especially in the fight
against voter suppression.

00:55:35.734 --> 00:55:38.704
They were-they were caring
for their community,

00:55:38.904 --> 00:55:42.850
even though they weren't there
with them physically.

00:55:43.050 --> 00:55:46.996
And when she came out
and, you know, stood behind

00:55:47.196 --> 00:55:48.673
Black Lives Matter
and so many other things

00:55:48.873 --> 00:55:52.126
that she stood behind,
I was like, that's Dr. Buss.

00:55:52.326 --> 00:55:54.553
There's 30 owners in this NBA,

00:55:54.753 --> 00:55:56.255
and not all of them
are like that,

00:55:56.455 --> 00:55:57.631
not even close.

00:55:59.800 --> 00:56:02.661
Once we all decided
that we was gonna stay,

00:56:02.861 --> 00:56:05.523
it kind of lit a fire
up under us like, man.

00:56:05.723 --> 00:56:10.019
With all this going on, let's
use this energy that we have.

00:56:10.219 --> 00:56:12.530
Let's really just lock in
on this basketball

00:56:12.730 --> 00:56:15.779
and let our voices be heard
by winning this championship.

00:56:24.491 --> 00:56:26.205
I knew it was our time.

00:56:26.405 --> 00:56:27.920
We knew it was our time.

00:56:28.120 --> 00:56:30.915
Guys is just so, like,
locked in.

00:56:39.548 --> 00:56:41.054
2.1 seconds remaining.

00:56:41.254 --> 00:56:42.699
Denver a foul to give.

00:56:42.899 --> 00:56:44.145
I wanted the ball.

00:56:44.345 --> 00:56:45.563
I saw Do taking the ball out.

00:56:45.763 --> 00:56:47.973
And I was like,
"Do, give me the ball.

00:56:48.173 --> 00:56:49.266
Give me the ball."

00:56:49.466 --> 00:56:50.359
- I looked at Bron.

00:56:50.559 --> 00:56:51.977
And I looked at other guys
on the floor.

00:56:52.177 --> 00:56:53.270
And when I locked eyes
with AD,

00:56:53.470 --> 00:56:54.238
I felt like, you know,

00:56:54.438 --> 00:56:55.865
he was gonna find a way
to get open.

00:56:56.065 --> 00:56:59.860
Do, being the elite passer
he is, make a hell of a pass.

00:57:00.060 --> 00:57:01.704
Catch it, just let it fly.

00:57:01.904 --> 00:57:04.156
And here's Davis
for a three and the win.

00:57:04.356 --> 00:57:05.207
Oh, it's good!

00:57:05.407 --> 00:57:09.378
Anthony Davis has won it
for the Lakers!

00:57:09.578 --> 00:57:12.873
And the first person I see
is Taylen Horton-Tucker.

00:57:13.073 --> 00:57:14.416
I just kind of, like,
trampled him.

00:57:14.616 --> 00:57:15.301
He fell to the floor.

00:57:15.501 --> 00:57:17.845
Now he's under,
like, 14 of us.

00:57:18.045 --> 00:57:19.088
I really didn't even care
about that.

00:57:19.288 --> 00:57:20.306
It was just-

00:57:20.506 --> 00:57:21.924
it was just crazy
just being a part of it.

00:57:22.124 --> 00:57:23.184
And I was happy, ecstatic.

00:57:23.384 --> 00:57:24.643
But I never thought about,

00:57:24.843 --> 00:57:26.470
like, if I hit a game winner
and do something crazy,

00:57:26.670 --> 00:57:29.807
Kobe like-
it literally just happened.

00:57:30.007 --> 00:57:31.358
Kobe just came out.

00:57:31.558 --> 00:57:34.812
And we were wearing
the Black Mamba uniforms,

00:57:35.012 --> 00:57:36.113
like, which is crazy.

00:57:36.313 --> 00:57:39.942
So you knew Kobe
was right here, like watching,

00:57:40.142 --> 00:57:41.193
looking over us.

00:57:43.487 --> 00:57:45.243
This Laker team
has dedicated

00:57:45.443 --> 00:57:46.999
the post season
to Kobe Bryant.

00:57:47.199 --> 00:57:48.367
We go out there every night

00:57:48.567 --> 00:57:50.127
and play in his honor.

00:57:50.327 --> 00:57:52.505
We just want to make him proud.

00:57:52.705 --> 00:57:55.216
Every time you put on
purple and gold,

00:57:55.416 --> 00:57:57.051
you think about his legacy,
you think about him

00:57:57.251 --> 00:58:00.504
and what he meant to this
franchise for 20 plus years.

00:58:00.704 --> 00:58:02.932
I'm extremely proud
to be a part

00:58:03.132 --> 00:58:06.368
of this franchise getting back
to where it belongs.

00:58:06.568 --> 00:58:09.805
I felt like this
is where we bring it home.

00:58:10.005 --> 00:58:12.245
We right here
on the 10 yard line.

00:58:12.445 --> 00:58:14.883
And we can't drop the ball
right now.

00:58:15.083 --> 00:58:17.521
Welcome to game one
of the NBA Finals.

00:58:17.721 --> 00:58:18.697
For the Lakers and the Heat,

00:58:18.897 --> 00:58:21.174
this is their 85th day
in this bubble.

00:58:21.374 --> 00:58:23.652
The Lakers were going
head-to-head

00:58:23.852 --> 00:58:25.279
against Pat Riley.

00:58:26.488 --> 00:58:28.791
It made it
a little bittersweet.

00:58:28.991 --> 00:58:32.244
I felt gratitude
of what Pat taught me

00:58:32.444 --> 00:58:34.463
and the experience that I had

00:58:34.663 --> 00:58:37.842
while he was the coach
of the Lakers.

00:58:38.042 --> 00:58:41.053
I already knew
how hard it was gonna be.

00:58:41.253 --> 00:58:43.922
If it was gonna be two teams
that was gonna be locked in

00:58:44.122 --> 00:58:46.592
in the bubble,
it was gonna be my team

00:58:46.792 --> 00:58:48.427
and it was gonna be Riles'.

00:58:50.387 --> 00:58:52.348
Once we got to Miami
and the finals, we had to win.

00:58:52.548 --> 00:58:54.150
It was all or nothing.

00:58:54.350 --> 00:58:55.772
The Lakers just turned it on.

00:58:55.972 --> 00:58:57.438
Lakers by 24.

00:58:57.638 --> 00:58:59.104
Lakers by 26.

00:59:01.190 --> 00:59:02.941
An avalanche
here from the Lakers

00:59:03.141 --> 00:59:06.328
in game one, dominating.

00:59:06.528 --> 00:59:08.534
We were able to win
the first two games

00:59:08.734 --> 00:59:10.741
of the finals,
built ourselves a 2-0 lead.

00:59:10.941 --> 00:59:12.209
We'd been waiting this long.

00:59:12.409 --> 00:59:15.254
And it looks like
this is the year.

00:59:15.454 --> 00:59:18.290
But Miami came out
with incredible urgency

00:59:18.490 --> 00:59:20.467
and was able to take
game three.

00:59:20.667 --> 00:59:25.381
So we were faced with, you
know, possibly an even series.

00:59:25.581 --> 00:59:27.474
Davis for 3. Nice!

00:59:27.674 --> 00:59:29.894
Anthony Davis from downtown.

00:59:30.094 --> 00:59:32.221
We were able
to secure a game four.

00:59:32.421 --> 00:59:33.606
So now we're up 3-1.

00:59:33.806 --> 00:59:35.232
And I remember we wanted to go

00:59:35.432 --> 00:59:37.355
with the Kobe uniforms
in game five.

00:59:37.555 --> 00:59:39.459
Let's do it
in the Mamba jerseys.

00:59:39.659 --> 00:59:41.387
Let's close out
in Mamba jerseys.

00:59:41.587 --> 00:59:43.315
We're one game away.
Let's do it.

00:59:43.515 --> 00:59:44.867
I had these Kobe's.

00:59:45.067 --> 00:59:47.778
I get 'em spray painted
like championship gold.

00:59:47.978 --> 00:59:49.038
Right now, for the Lakers,

00:59:49.238 --> 00:59:51.415
they have not found a way
to stop Jimmy Butler.

00:59:51.615 --> 00:59:54.743
I think Jimmy goes
for like 40 in that game.

00:59:54.943 --> 00:59:56.253
3-2.

00:59:56.453 --> 00:59:59.248
I'm like, damn,
I just wasted these shoes.

01:00:01.291 --> 01:00:04.128
I was on the edge of my seat.

01:00:04.328 --> 01:00:06.088
LeBron was on a mission.

01:00:06.288 --> 01:00:07.431
You could see it.

01:00:07.631 --> 01:00:08.886
For LeBron, this is why

01:00:09.086 --> 01:00:10.142
he came to Los Angeles.

01:00:10.342 --> 01:00:14.138
And he's one game
from accomplishing that goal.

01:00:14.338 --> 01:00:15.356
And we're like,
we have to win this game

01:00:15.556 --> 01:00:17.770
'cause if it go game seven,
it was up in the air.

01:00:17.970 --> 01:00:19.985
The Lakers have been dominant.

01:00:20.185 --> 01:00:21.779
And as LeBron
James ready to celebrate,

01:00:21.979 --> 01:00:24.857
and they'll vanquish Miami
here in six games

01:00:25.057 --> 01:00:27.901
as we approach
three minutes remaining.

01:00:28.101 --> 01:00:30.946
We end up finishing it off
in game six.

01:00:33.949 --> 01:00:35.501
And that's it. It's over.

01:00:35.701 --> 01:00:38.145
This historic 2020
NBA Championship

01:00:38.345 --> 01:00:40.589
belongs
to the Los Angeles Lakers.

01:00:40.789 --> 01:00:45.127
And banner number 17
will soon hang in the rafters.

01:00:47.671 --> 01:00:49.306
I was crying.

01:00:49.506 --> 01:00:51.679
There's so many emotions
going through my head.

01:00:51.879 --> 01:00:53.852
And I just started
getting emotional-

01:00:54.052 --> 01:00:55.721
everything we've been through
this season.

01:00:55.921 --> 01:00:58.849
And it's like we overcame it.

01:00:59.049 --> 01:01:01.777
Bron comes up to me,
he hugs me,

01:01:01.977 --> 01:01:05.088
said, "Told you
it'd be all worth it.

01:01:05.288 --> 01:01:08.400
Now come tell me
how this trophy feels."

01:01:11.195 --> 01:01:14.573
We're thinking of Kobe
and, you know, how much

01:01:14.773 --> 01:01:18.961
he treasured
winning a championship.

01:01:19.161 --> 01:01:21.213
We was there
celebrating his life

01:01:21.413 --> 01:01:24.666
and doing what we know
that Kobe would want.

01:01:24.866 --> 01:01:26.218
- We got another one for you.

01:01:26.418 --> 01:01:29.922
You know, ever since
the tragedy, you know,

01:01:30.122 --> 01:01:31.924
all we wanted to do
is do it for him.

01:01:32.124 --> 01:01:33.467
And we didn't let him down.

01:01:33.667 --> 01:01:34.810
LeBron came up to me

01:01:35.010 --> 01:01:36.845
and, you know, gave him a hug.

01:01:37.045 --> 01:01:38.188
He's very tall.

01:01:38.388 --> 01:01:41.558
And he said, "We accomplished
what we set out to do.

01:01:41.758 --> 01:01:43.277
Enjoy this moment."

01:01:43.477 --> 01:01:46.522
You guys, come take the trophy!

01:01:48.607 --> 01:01:50.159
You know, in that moment,

01:01:50.359 --> 01:01:56.114
I want to represent my dad
and all he stood for.

01:01:56.314 --> 01:01:59.251
Accepting it
on behalf of the fans.

01:01:59.451 --> 01:02:02.687
And to Laker nation,
we have been through

01:02:02.887 --> 01:02:06.449
a heartbreaking tragedy
with the loss

01:02:06.649 --> 01:02:10.040
of our beloved Kobe Bryant
and Gianna.

01:02:10.240 --> 01:02:13.432
Let this trophy serve
as a reminder

01:02:13.632 --> 01:02:18.136
of when we come together,
incredible things can happen.

01:02:18.336 --> 01:02:21.848
I look forward
to celebrating with you.

01:02:22.048 --> 01:02:25.561
Until then,
I will bring back the trophy

01:02:25.761 --> 01:02:28.313
to Los Angeles,
where it belongs.

01:02:46.486 --> 01:02:48.079
Our life has been like

01:02:48.279 --> 01:02:51.662
a surfer riding that big wave.

01:02:51.862 --> 01:02:55.045
It was the wave my dad created.

01:02:55.245 --> 01:02:57.539
And we all got to surf it
with him.

01:03:00.158 --> 01:03:03.494
He was one of the last
of the mavericks.

01:03:06.581 --> 01:03:09.209
I don't think my dad
ever intended

01:03:09.409 --> 01:03:11.106
to build a kingdom,

01:03:11.306 --> 01:03:13.004
but that's what he did.

01:03:16.424 --> 01:03:21.429
It's bigger than any
one person, any one owner,

01:03:21.629 --> 01:03:25.183
any one coach, any one player.

01:03:26.142 --> 01:03:28.102
He wanted the Lakers
to be great

01:03:28.302 --> 01:03:29.904
for the city of Los Angeles

01:03:30.104 --> 01:03:33.942
that took him in
and gave him the family

01:03:34.142 --> 01:03:36.819
that he had wanted so much.

01:03:39.864 --> 01:03:42.951
This is the greatest
franchise in NBA history,

01:03:43.151 --> 01:03:44.210
point blank.

01:03:44.410 --> 01:03:46.171
You gotta start
with great leadership.

01:03:46.371 --> 01:03:50.625
Dr. Buss and Jeanie Buss
and superstars on that court.

01:03:51.668 --> 01:03:55.472
If you look at those
retired jerseys up there,

01:03:55.672 --> 01:03:58.183
I don't think another
franchise in all of basketball

01:03:58.383 --> 01:04:03.513
has had numbers up there like
those numbers, not any team,

01:04:03.713 --> 01:04:05.899
not the Celtics, no one.

01:04:06.099 --> 01:04:09.544
You start off with
the Elgin Baylors,

01:04:09.744 --> 01:04:13.189
the Jerry Wests, the Kareems,
the Magics,

01:04:13.389 --> 01:04:15.212
keep going to Kobes,
the Shaqs.

01:04:15.412 --> 01:04:17.078
You have great players
like that

01:04:17.278 --> 01:04:18.945
and you put dynasties
together,

01:04:19.145 --> 01:04:20.038
because the organization

01:04:20.238 --> 01:04:21.790
doesn't settle
for nothing less.

01:04:21.990 --> 01:04:25.702
The legacy here
is winning 17 championships.

01:04:25.902 --> 01:04:27.087
LA comes to Boston

01:04:27.287 --> 01:04:29.247
and wins the world title.

01:04:29.447 --> 01:04:31.707
Bryant to Shaq!

01:04:31.907 --> 01:04:34.168
That's a 3. Bang!

01:04:37.297 --> 01:04:41.184
It's important to me
to finish what he started,

01:04:41.384 --> 01:04:45.972
which was to have the most
championships in the NBA.

01:04:46.172 --> 01:04:49.984
We are now tied
with the Celtics.

01:04:50.184 --> 01:04:55.398
I gotta-I gotta get number 18
before they do.