Im big on trading space. I know if i get a certain amount of space, then i have a chance to put the ball in the hole, and thats the scoring mentality. I can remember just five years ago going to china and just recently being there a few weeks ago, how the game has just broadened in just five years. Its huge. I think the simplest way to say it is to learn your lessons. If you make a mistake or something worked for you, thats got to go in your memory bank so next time youre more equipped to deal with the situation. From playing in the nba, i can speak from experience there are no nights off. Youre playing against some of the most finelytuned athletes night in and night out and if you dont bring your a game, you will be embarrassed. Charlie the best in basketball when we continue. And by bloomberg. A provider of multimedia news and Information Services worldwide. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. cheering charlie this is from bill bradley forward to this book of all the players who ever played the game of basketball, bill russell is the first player i would pick to start a team. Well, modestly speaking charlie we dont care about modesty around here. That seems to be the consensus. Charlie what is it bill russell, modestly speaking, brought to the court . That is the consensus, you start with russ. After i heard it, my first reaction was to start laughing. laughter charlie believing it but laughing. And saying, now, if this is the case, why . What could i do that would be the foundation of a good team . And i think that i had the best overall game. So that i could do for example, you may have seen the special on h. B. O. Charlie about you. Right. One of the things i said before the last game was were going to beat the lakers tonight, and the way were going to beat them is were going to run. Charlie right. And that was just the indication of the teams ive played on could play any style, and we were proficient at any style. We could run with the best of them or we could play Half Court Offense and defense with the best of them or we could blend it and we could target the other teams game. In other words, like if were playing a certain team and we see their strengths and weaknesses, we have a system to target their weaknesses so that we could beat teams because we knew how to play them. Charlie you could say you could execute but you were smarter than most of the people playing . Maybe not you individually but maybe i do mean you individually. You understood that . It is far more important to understand than to be understood. Charlie you said that well. So we go out there and we say, what do you do . This is a team game, we play basketball, and we want to play to win. You, see, professional athletes are paid to win, theyre not paid to play. And a lot of guys think that theyre paid to play, but they are paid to win, and if you win, then everything comes to you. Charlie how does bill want to remember bill . Well, very early in my career, i found that winning as a team concept is the only important thing because if i go out one night and i get 30 points and 35 rebounds and we lose, thats charlie its a downer. Yeah. And people have asked me, whats your best game of basketball . I really gave it serious thought and i concluded that when i was in 11th grade and i was third string center and we won charlie 11th grade, you were the third string center . I got cut from junior varsity. Charlie why was that . Because you hadnt i couldnt play. Those guys were better. Charlie okay, well. But my coach was one of the great things that happened to me. Charlie michael didnt make the team when he was a sophomore, i dont think, in high school. Like, i grew from 510 in sixth grade to 610 in the 12th grade. So every day was an adventure. We were champions. I did not play a single minute in the tournament, never left the bench in the whole tournament, but when they gave us the blue basketballs, and said, youre the champions, i can never surpass that thrill. Charlie why . It was just so i couldnt sleep for three days. I would just look at it. Charlie do you think thats because you were part of a champion . I was part of a championship team. Charlie invisible man. What does thatco mean . Well, in order to be effective, if youre the star, there are times you have to be invisible. And, for example, in basketball, for the celtics, we would have this fast break going, okay, and were really running. Im getting the rebound and i let it pass. As soon as i pass the ball off, im out of the picture. Charlie yeah. So my three guys or four guys go down and in five seconds theyve got a basket. Well, in that situation, im completely invisible, and although i say i want to be the star, yo i have to be a star ine way that my teammates can play and do what they do. See, i cant be a star that always has to have the ball, always has to be the one everybodys focusing on. cheering charlie you once defined your most important talent as your competitiveness, your will to win, beyond all the other thingsish that will to win. Can you be satisfied, having accomplished all that you have if you dont have the championship . Bird has it, magic has it, michael has it. People try to say if you dont win a championship, your career is not complete. I dont believe that. Number one, im a sensitive person because i made it from alabama to the top of the nba charlie and there were not many people in leads, alabama, when you were growing up that you would be the most valuable player. Nobody in the world including myself that thought this would happen. Charlie and your grandmother. My grandmother thought it was the raisein. I dont think i would have reached the level. But i look at dan morino, ted williams, ernie banks, robin, those are the greatest guys. If youre not on a team good enough to win, you wont win. Thats the bottom line. Paul with the blue jays is one of the greatest guys ever. He just wasnt on a team to win it. Charlie tell me about it, though. We all know its true. But winnin winning the champions the most important goal you have in your career . The reason is because i would feel like its not for the fans, its not for anyone. Its like a little deal i have with god because hes given me an unbelievable gift, and for me, it would kind of be like i could say everything you gave me, i took it to the fullest extent that i could. Charlie i did my best with it, god. I did my best. Because i hate to see guys who god gave them a special gift who waste it. If i met god, i would say, i did not waste my talent, i took it as far as it could take me and i accomplished everything i possibly could. Thats the only reason i want to win the world championship. Charlie you talk about being a role model and you said, i shouldnt be a role model to these kids. They shouldnt look up to me. They ought to look up to their parents. Why did you say that . Number one, thats probably the best thing ive done since i have been an athlete. I probably get 4,000 to 5,000 letters a week. You cant please everybody. Thats the thing ive learned. Half the people are going to like it and half the people wont. I dont care about the other 50 . I try to make a positive influence on the other 50 . What i mean is i think parents are the role models, but there are secondary role models for two reasons. Number one, your parents are with you every day and they shape your values and moral beliefs and everything and they have to do better job. Our parents have done a poor job of teaching kids right from wrong and being there for them all the time. Two, all these kids think they will be professional athletes. And thats wrong. There might be one, but the rest have to get a job and an education and the parents have to stress that. I think the worst thing about it is we teach black kids the only way they can be successful is through athletics and thats the biggest crime. Charlie or entertainment. Entertainment. And we, as black athletes and im not a racist person but we as black athletes have to make the system give Something Back to the instir and some just back to lowerclass people. Were taking, taking, taking and were not giving back. I think they should start by making these teams give money back to the community, give scholarships every year. I think every nba team should give a Million Dollars away a year in scholarships minimum. I think they should give tickets to lowerclass people, all the orphans and homeless. Charlie and someone would say youre making millions a year, how much are you giving back . I have a Scholarship Program at my high school and college. My job is not to raise all of society, but i know im giving my part. Charlie youre touching some lives. Im touching some lives and, hopefully, if i can help ten, twenty kids with scholarships to my high school and all, but hopefully i will get a Million Dollars in my high school and a Million Dollars at auburn in the next ten years, put it in a fund and let the kids go to college off the interest. That is my goal. Charlie would you walk down so that i can for my grandchildren say i once walked on the court with Charles Barclay . Sure. Charlie lets do that. Whats your best . Dunk, blocking a shot, hovering over Patrick Ewing . Making a big shot in the game. Charlie will a 3point win the game for you . No. When everybody in the stands, everybody over here and everybody on the other bench knows youre going to get the ball and you still score. Thats a great feeling. I mean, when your team needs a basket and everybody in the building knows the ball is coming to you and you still score. Charlie and you know when the ball comes to you. And you say, ive got to score, yes. Thats my job. Thats how i got to the level i am because i have to make plays like that and i have to do that. Charlie no doubt in your sniend. Nevesniend mind. A doubt. If you cant think it, you cant make it happen. Charlie would you shoot a 3pointer or dunk it over somebody . Id rather dunk it. Charlie because . Its an easy shot. Charlie safer shot . A safer shot. I love shooting 3s but i love to go to the basket. Charlie when you are posting up against somebody like that, what should i be thinking if im going against you . You have to hope i miss. You will never stop me. Charlie could you stop me . No question. Charlie you could . Youre too light for me. How much are you, a buckseventyfive . Charlie yeah. If im behind you then youre in trouble. Charlie where are you going now . In that Little Orange thing. Charlie theres nothing i could do. No. Charlie the west could see this now. I would get double every play. Charlie theres no possibility. Youre going to win . Oh, im going to score. I may miss a shot here and there but i will have a great game. Charlie if you are here and thinking about going to the basket, are you thinking about whos there you can pass off to . That depends on what the defense does. I react to what they do. Theyve got to give me something. They cant stop everything. I mean, first of all, 99 of the time, im going to get doubleteamed. But if they dont doubleteam me, im just going to score on you. Charlie if olajuwon is here doesnt matter. I dont look at him as olajuwon. Charlie who do you look at him as, another player . Yes. You dont think about who youre playing with. You compete against yourself in life and everything you do. Because sometimes, lets see we play a bad team, you cant say, were not playing a good team, im taking it easy. But if you compete against yourself and have high expectations, thats how you keep yourself going. Charlie is there one shot you remember more than any other shot youve ever taken . Not really. The only thing that bugs me is the bulls were doubleteaming me in the playoffs and i got the ball three times and they made me pass it. Charlie you didnt have a shot. I did have a shot. Charlie tell me about the skills of michael. Michael is just a tremendous, one of the five best players ive ever played against. Charlie the other four . Kim michael is the best. Charlie could gotten over him . Couldnt stop him. Best front line. Rt, mckill and paris. Warriors. Charlie why . Because a lot of players, one of the problems in our society today, most people dont want to excel. They just want to get it done a little bit. I love being great at what i do. It feels good. When i look in the mirror, i mean, i dont play for the fans adulation, i dont play for the phoenix suns, i dont play for my family. When i look in the mirror, i want to say, hey, i did the best i could and i did it well. You cant do it for yourself, for other people, because you want a big house, because you want to drive fancy cars, you just have to have pride and want to be good. Charlie want to be the best. You just have to want to be the best. Charlie why do so few people have that . Well, because charlie its defining. It is defining. And it bothers me, because in our society, you know, people are all confused and upset by our kids today. We screwed our kids up. We have taught them that the only way you can be successful is youve got to make a lot of money, and now were complaining charlie therefore, drug dealers are equal role models because they have a fancy car, the right clothes and can buy whatever. We tell our kids the only way you can be successful is make a lot of money, have a big house and big car. First of all, thats ignorant. But now our kids are out of control, but its too late. Its too late. You cant these kids are already out there, selling drugs, killing each other for money, for jewelry, for drugs, but we have taught them the only way you can be successful is through money. Now were trying to stop it in midstream. Charlie part of the reason they love athletes and entertainers is that they have that, number one but theyve earned it. Charlie of course, they have. Because they have a special talent and they have earned that. But that doesnt mean thats not the only way you can be successful. Charlie but somebody needs to point to the surgeon, the businessman, the teachers and the social workers. Theres only about three important jobs in this world pleasemen, firemen and teachers. Those are the three really serious jobs. Hey, listen, sports arent that important in the overall scheme of life. We have put sports up on a pedestal. Hey, my job is, the way i look at it, people to come to this building for two hours a night, if somebody died in their family the last month, one of their kids giving them trouble or theyre just having a bad day, for me its just to make them have fun. Charlie come here two hours and forget everything and watch somebody do what he does as good as anybody. And for two hours, thats it. Charlie take them away from the hum drum of their daily life. Yes, and thats it. And if we win, thats great. If we lose, i lost a basketball game. Charlie is it that easy for you . Its that easy for me. Charlie if you lose tonight. Im going to be mad but im going to say, hey, as long as i can look in the mirror and say i did the best i can. cheering charlie youre in control. Youre in control. Youve got that ball in your hand and you know you can make something happen. Charlie is that part of what you liked about the position you played . You were the guy who was controlling the game. Yes. Charlie you were bringing it downcourt and you were effectively had lots to say about who took the shot. Thats the ultimate thing about me playing point guard, i love to dictate whos going to take the shot, the flow of the game, and also what were going to do when its winning time at the last two or three minutes laughter charlie but some people said first of all, you were big for your position. Mmhmm. Charlie but, secondly, people said he could have scored a lot more points. You got all the honors you could have possibly had. But the main thing for you was, a, winning, first. Right. Charlie and secondly, you were in control of the game. Yeah, it was winning, first, and then having it all right in the palm of your hand and you deciding whos going to take the shot, when theyre going to take it, how theyre going to take it, what play theyre going to call to get them in that position to take that shot. So its just being in control. Charlie what was natural about you and what was the result of a lot of practice . Well, i think that charlie you werent born magic johnson, you became magic johnson. Exactly. And i put in that time when most kids were off you know, while they were still asleep, i used to get up 6 00, 7 00 in the morning. My parents used to say, you know where he is, at the Basketball Court already practicing,. Charlie with a purpose. Exactly, and i would pretend to be, you know, guys. I would go one way as Wilt Chamberlain and the other as dave who played for the pistons. But i would put in more time and hours and that was my love, the basketball, and i would sleep with that basketball. Charlie why would you do that . Oh, i just had to have it around me. Charlie it became Second Nature to have it. Exactly. Charlie you could feel it even if your sleep. Yes. So and to me, when you talk about leading, i remember when i was playing in the sixth grade, and, so, were playing and, you know, at that time, you score maybe 20 points. So every game, i would get 18 of the 20. So the parents would be mad at me and the kids would be mad at me because i was scoring most of the points. So i said, okay, the next game, instead of grabbing it, offensive rebound and shooting it, im going to pass it back out. And i kept doing that. And, so, now, those kids got a chance to score, and that taught me a valuable lesson of leading, even at that time, to make everybody else happy. Thats when i started my passing. Charlie and the more they participate, the better off the team is. Exactly. Charlie because they raise to another level, they wouldnt get there if you were doing all the work. Yes. In basketball i was the first one to practice, the last to lead. Thlead. The dream teams we all played on, it was the greatest moment of all our lives. Charlie the greatest moment of your lives. Without a doubt. I always wanted to play with michael and larry and i finally got my chance. Oh thats a perfect game and moment for a point guard, look to your right, theres michael, to your left theres larry you dont know who to pass it to laughter i mean, the greatest collection of talent assembled. Patrick, karl, john, drexler, barclay, david robinson, and you just sit back and we all had one common goal and that was to win and we were going to play hard every single night and show the world why we have the best basketball in the world. Charlie in the world. Thats right. Thats right. Charlie in the last olympics, didnt have enough time to get it together. And they didnt understand why everybody wants to be there so bad. See, you have to understand, those guys are going to play 200 , not 100 . Theyre going to play 200 . Theyre going to play to hard because the biggest dream for them is to be in the nba and be in america, see, so theyre here to show everybody their talent and they want to be the best play in the nba and you know that. Charlie when you stood up there and they played the National Anthem. Goosebumps. I started crying. Charlie did you . I started crying. They knew they had to give me a towel right away. To be, first of all, in the u. S. A. Jersey, to be with the collection of guys, to hear the National Anthem knowing im representing our country, i just had to start crying. I broke down Opening Night and i broke down the last night because i didnt want it to end. It was just so such a tremendous experience that i didnt want it to be over. Charlie and you tell these young kids now, go play in the olympics if you have a chance, dont turn it down . Dont turn it down. I dont care if you have to practice for all summer or two years, go experience that because there will never be an experience quite like it ever in your life. When they placed that gold medal around your neck, its the greatest moment. When you run out with all the guys in the tunnel and everybody cheers for you see, what happened, when you first come out, the world wants to cheer for the United States team because thats who they know charlie thats right, they knew michael and you from television. Exactly. So, now, they want you to play the game the way its supposed to be played and, if you do that, the arena will go crazy for you. Now, if you pout, moan, get upset at the referees and all that, theyre, like, youre the United States youre not supposed to be doing that cheering charlie talk to me about being a shooter. Tell me whats inside your head. As a shooter charlie is it just your moment . Your mindset is a lot different than everybody elses. You see things that, as a shooter, as a scorer, that the next person might not see or the person in the stands might not see. Charlie like what . So im big on space. Charlie right. Im big on creating space and i know if i get a certain amount of space, then i have a chance to put the ball in the hole, and thats the scoring mentality. Charlie yeah. And, also, if you miss two shots, you dont think youre going to miss a third shot. Charlie and if there is ten seconds left, give me the ball . If its ten seconds left, i want the ball, i want that pressure, i want that moment. Because you have the confidence. Because i have the confidence, but also i believe if i get a shot at the rim, its going to go in. Charlie doesnt always work . Doesnt always work. Charlie and you can come back the next night, but you want it again and again and again. Absolutely. But everybody doesnt have that. Either you have it or you dont. Charlie what is the clearance you talked about . A step, a moment . What is it . Because youre a bully, too. I love physical play. Charlie i know. I love it. Charlie you can create your own clearance. Im good at creating space and creating my own clearance, but i love i grew up on that, you know. I grew up playing with the older guys and playing touch football in the snow and tackle football. I love charlie the physicality of it all. I love that. Charlie who do you fear guarding you the most . Who do i fear . Charlie yeah. Teams. Charlie not one person . I wouldnt say one person. Charlie its how they its how they do it. Its the strategies set forth. Charlie but, i mean, its not you know, who, for example kobe you know, believe it or not, in this league, no one can guard anyone oneonone. Charlie especially you or kobe or lebron. Anybody. Charlie the guy with the ball can get past one person. Absolutely, without a doubt. Charlie you grew up in red hook for the first eight, nine years of your life. Right. Charlie what was red hook like . It was tough. It was red hook, brooklyn, new york, back in the 80s and the early 90s. Just for me to be able to grow up there and have that experience, you know, as a little kid you know, i was seeing things i wasnt supposed to see as a youngster and it helped me out to this day. Charlie knowing you didnt want to go there . Knowing the route i didnt want to take. Even as a kid, six, seven, eight years old. But you didnt really have no issues because everybody else had the same problems that you was having, so we didnt know no better, so we was just living that life. Charlie but did you see basketball or sports as an exit from the neighborhood . No, not at all. I mean, i played because i liked it. My oldest brother played. Everybody in my neighborhood played it. We had a court outside the projects building. It was fun. Charlie as you know, today i mean, there are pro scouts looking at people who are ten years old. Yeah. Charlie and theyre seeing the future stars. Not in my case. Charlie notni in your case. When did they see it in you . They started looking at me i will say, really from a professional standpoint, probably my senior year in high school. Charlie really . Yep. Charlie thats when you began to come into your own and show you could yeah, thats when i found the love of the game. Before that, it was just to play it to be playing it. Playing the basketball tournament, this tournament, that tournament, just something to do to get out of the neighborhood but i didnt really love the game. Charlie you then moved to baltimore. I thought the grass was greener laughter charlie how was it, the change from red hook to baltimore, a very different kind of city . It was different. Red hook where i was a boy, where i grew up, i had my friends there, already, so to take me out of that situation and to put me into a totally new but similar situation, you know, it was like a brandnew it was brand new for me. No friends, go to school, got to make friends, you know, in a tough neighborhood. Charlie but sports helps you make friends . Sports help you make friends. We had a rec center which kind of kept me out of things. All of the kids in the neighborhood go to the rec center, play in the afterschool programs, and thats where you meet your friends at and get your name at. Charlie when did you get the shot, the idea that you were a shooter . Oh, i could always put the ball in the hole. Charlie thats what they say about you today. What do you think about carmelo . He can put the ball in the hole. Even when i was 8, 9, 10, 11 years old, i could always put the ball in the hole. It was a knack i had. Charlie any other sports . My first was baseball. Charlie would you rather have been in the major leagues than the nba . Right now . Charlie no, then. If somebody could have said, okay, choose baseball, you can be an allstar, or choose basketball and you can be an allstar back then, i probably would have chose baseball. Charlie really . Yeah, because that was my first sport i loved. Basketball was just something that i played. Charlie could you have been as good in baseball, you think . If i would have kept with it, yeah, pretty sure. Charlie how about football . I play football. I play sports seasonal. Whatever season it was, thats what i played. Charlie football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the summer. Yeah, whatever was going on, thats what i played. cheering charlie what do you think the potential of basketball is internationally . Huge. Charlie its just beginning. Its just beginning. Charlie you have the dream team and its the second most popular sport in the world, right . Behind soccer, yeah. I can remember just five years ago going to china and just recently being there a few weeks ago, how the game has just broadened in just five years. Its huge. Charlie you are the second most popular basketball player in china. Behind yao laughter charlie dont they tie all the Houston Rockets games back to him . Iyip c c allstar game i team in the nba. Current would be chris paul. Charlie hes your point guard. My point guard. Charlie why chris . Hris paul is unique. He reminds me of my point guard in high school drew joyce, you know, the hes too small factor. Okay, im going to use that as motivation and now chris is the best point guard we have in our league. See, i have a split my two guards between kobe bryant and dwayne wade. Charlie yeah, thats hard. Cant we make kobe a forward maybe . Yeah, why not laughter Charlie Kobes small. And well put me as the Power Forward and then shaq. Charlie put the big guy in the middle. You could win some games. And youre coach. Charlie there we go. We got it who would you choose as a coach . Youre going to be a general manager. Charlie exactly. The coach, were going to pick charlie i want to be the dannyco ferry. We growth went to duke. This could work. The coach i mean, with that team, we could have anyone. Charlie maybe we dont need a coach. Yes, we do. Tell me why we need a coach. Because i feel like the coach sets the players up to go out and execute the game plan. You have to have a captain of the ship. Charlie right. You have to have soldiers, but you have to have the cap tin to make sure those guys are going the right direction. Charlie alltime Historical Team. We clearly want magic. My alltime Historical Team is see, im going to change spots again because i feel like these players can play any position. Magic johnson one, Michael Jordan two, larry bird three charlie thats good. Hes unbelievable. I would take see, those are roster spots. Charlie right. Id take Kareem Abduljabbar four. Charlie wheres my man bill russell . Hes at the five. laughter charlie there you go. Thats the team. And james naismith, my coach. Charlie invented the game of basketball. And suppose that team is playing the team that we predicted first, who wins . You know, no one will win. You know why . Charlie because . Because we would never if we beat that team, they would not let us get off the court, and if they beat us we would not let them get off the court. We would play all day and night laughter charlie is your game complete . I dont think so. I dont think so. I feel, at 24 years old theres no way that my game can be complete. Theres too much more to learn, too much more to see, too much more to experience and i feel like ive gotten better every year. Charlie take from the year before to the last year, better in shooting, better in rebounding, better in team understanding the game, better i think better in leadership. Charlie leadership. Leadership, vocally, making sure that my guys are always prepared to go out and play the game of basketball every night. Charlie you have to create your own presence there for them. Absolutely. Charlie who are your heros . My number one is my moth snor mymother. Charlie sure. Shes famous in her own right. Shes taking more calls than me today. Shes my number one hero. Charlie because without her, theres no firm rock for you. Nowhere, no way. The strength she showed as a kid, you dont understand it until you get older and have your own family and me having a family of my own, i have no idea how she raised me or any kid by herself and not being able to be financially stable. In a tough environment. Very tough. Charlie how do you pay back to her other than love . I dont mean by material possessions. I always give back to her by just showing that i appreciate her. I dont take for granted her being my mother. Charlie you look at all this and say, without her two of her heads for my head. cheering charlie heres the most amazing thing i know about you is that coming out of high school there wasnt the kind of attention that you would think a future m. V. P. In the nba would generate. It makes for a great story now but at the time it wasnt that much fun. I had big dreams and practiced my butt off every day and to have nobody knock on my door was disappointing. My High School Coach was proactive sending out letters and trying to get people interested. Charlie what was it they didnt see or why . Well, i think, first of all, the landscape of recruiting wasnt so international, so 15 years ago when i was a high school senior, it wasnt very common for u. S. College recruiters go to canada, europe, australia. Charlie as they do now. As they do now. You know. Charlie and italy. Exactly, especially at the time for a 61 white point guard. Charlie right. So it was a challenge and i had one chance, santa clara gave me an opportunity to play College Basketball and then i made the most of it. Charlie and then the nba. The nba. Charlie which was not brilliant in the beginning. No, but i wanted to play nba i decided in high school. When i went to college, i decided i wanted to make the nba. Having the goal manifests itself. Youre able to visualize it and go after it. I felt like the goals were out there for me to keep reaching once i attained one and i always go for the next one and keep moving. Charlie a famous quote, a point gods delivered from god. Depends who youre asking, depends on the religious beliefs. Charlie how are point guards made . I think its very difficult to make a point guard. Charlie do you. I think there are certain attributes and traits that are just nacho a player, you know, his personality and the way he plays and sees the game. I think you see it all the time with these guys who are terrific scorers was not quite tall enough to play the two guard in the nba and its almost impossible to convert them to point guard. They have all the talent and ability and skills but they dont quite have the feeling to be a point guard. So theres not truth to that. Charlie who do you admire . Who has skills that stun you . Jason kidd as a point guard. He has a great feel for the game. Charlie can see the court. Great vision. You know, then as far as guys in general in the nba, i think tim duncan the unbelievable. So solid and special as a team player. Tim garnett. Charlie what about this guy . Hes all right. Charlie how close are the two of you . Hes one of my best friends. We dont get to talk as much as i would like to now that i have kids and we play in different cities, but hes a close friend and in a heart beat if i need anything hes got it. You know, hes a great friend, someone we went through a lot together. Charlie tell me what it is that we dont know about the role that the point guard played and the role that you played in terms of bringing down the the ball down the court and setting up the offense. Youre a pretty fast offense. We play a pretty fast offense. The coach puts a lot of responsibility and if a lot of ways gives me the freedom to be creative. I think thats great. The thing people probably dont understand is a point guard has to be the mother, you know, has to be the psychologist, you know, and, so, its not charlie has to make it happen. Its not just strategic, its psychological, too. You have to understand not only the strategies of your teammates, but also the esteem to grow as the game goes. So theres a lot to consider, notice, interpret, and i think to be a good point guard and a good teammate in generics you need to be sensitive to those things as well. Charlie if youre coming down and its 15 seconds left, youve got the ball, is your first instinct to look for an open man, to look for a person you know most likely need ago score at the ebbed of the game, i want to take the responsibility on myself first, so im going to look for an opportunity to create a shot myself. Charlie because you believe in yourself and that you can do it. I believe in myself and i want to take responsibility and i want to, you know, give our team a chance to win the game and not defer. Now, if i cant create an opportunity or i create an opportunity but it opens up something for someone es, i want to make the right play. Charlie in the end, you want to win the game. And i want to make the right play. Sometimes to a fault. Maybe i should shoot it even if its a tough shot. But i feel like im going to create a shot for myself and if something opens up, its the right play to make no matter what. Charlie when you get smarter in basketball and you get smarter at being a point guard, it means what . Well, i think the simplest way to say it is to learn your lessons. If you make a mistake or something works for you, that has to go in your memory bank so the next time youre more equipped to deal with that situation. I could sit here and name a million ways of how that is directly stated but i think that is the easiest way in Broad Strokes to say, when youre playing, take note of everything that happens and take note of why you failed in this particular game or season, take note of why you succeeded in this play of the game or season and use that. Thats information for you to use the next time. When the test comes around again and youre in that situation, you have a better chance to succeed. For me its about continually taking notes and using it to your advantage. cheering charlie how many people said you would never make it . Oh, man, if i had a dollar, i would be rich. But its so funny because those same people are some of my best friends today, you know, and i use that as motivation. Growing up, my older brother was always you cant come, youre too small. His friends told me that i was too small. I was a carolina friend growing up. I know you were a dukey. Charlie no, i was a carolina fan. I always said i wanted to go to carolina. And one of his friends, mike russell, always told me, youre too small, you will never go, so to one day have a scholarship offer from carolina, it was so fulfilling and i remember i told mike, i said, listen, im going to wake forest, but i could have gone to carolina. Charlie why didnt you go to carolina . Wake was just a better fit for me basketballwise. It was closer to home and a great academic school. Charlie tell me how you did it, though. Most of us look at great odds and have great dreams and some of us achieve those dreams surprisingly. Right. Charlie my answer is always just hard work. You work harder than everybody else and that seems to be the answer for most people. Right. Charlie what was it for you . For me it was a combination of the hard work but, at the same time, i was disciplined, very disciplined, and my parents were very instrumental in that, and im very fortunate to have a mother and a father who have always been there for me in everything that i do. It was, you know, i think it was a 2. 0 grade average to be eligible for athletic sports. For me it was 3. 0. Charlie it wasnt about the goal. It was about what my parents said, so we always set the bar higher than average. Ive always just been determined. Like i said, thats charlie did you believe after your College Career that you would be, you know, a Leading Point guard in the nba . I hoped, i dreamed, you know. When i was in high school, any freshmen and sophomore year in high school, i played j. V. Basketball. Everyone always plays varsity. I was j. V. Going to wake, didnt know what to expect. Didnt know id start. The starting point guard had an appendectomy before our first game. Had that not happened, i may not have started my first game in college. Everything happens for a reason and, you know, i thank god that i have been blessed with this wonderful opportunity to play a game that i love. Charlie i think Michael Jordan didnt make the varsity the freshman year in high school. Right, he got cut. Charlie he got cut. He got cut, so he had to play j. V. Charlie what does that say . He physically hadnt come of age or what . Its funny, because my brother is two years older than me, so he was on the varsity team. I remember my sophomore year, i was, like, man, i want to play varsity, and the varsity coach said he could put me on varsity but i wouldnt get in the game. So i was like, no, id rather play j. V. And get to practice and we went undefeated. Charlie whats the difference in your game today than when you entered the nba . When i see pictures of me, my rookie year, i look like a little lost boy. So ive definitely matured physically but more so mentally. Charlie help us understand what it takes to be in the nba and how different the nba is than college ball. Its very different in that when youre in college you go to classes, the coaches are telling you what to do and Different Things like that. When you get to the nba, its a bunch of grown men. So, you know, you come to practice and Different Things like that, but theyre not going to hold your hand. You have to do it yourself, and i think thats what separates the greats from the guys who are in the nba. The guys who are the leaders, the elite, they work hard day in and day out and they never take the break. Charlie how about shooting . Shooting is key. Me being small all the time, i was usually the shooting guard on my teams, and then i just worked on my ball handling and tried to combine it all. But if you can shoot the basketball, its always a spot on you, a spot on the team for you, i guarantee you that. If you can put it in the hole, theres a spot on the team for you. Charlie tell me about what it is we dont know about basketball at the pro level. The competition is amazing. People are always asking me what is it like to play in the nba . You know, everyone always talks about how they love College Basketball because they feel guys in the nba take nights off and things like that. From playing in the nba, i can speak from experience, there are no nights off. Youre playing against the most finest Team Athletes night after night and if you dont bring your a game you will be embarrassed, especially in our league. I notice so many Different Things. When i first came in, its about how fast i can do it. Now its about how efficient. Charlie how efficient. Yes, and its hard. Charlie speed, handeye coordination, physicality. Yes, but the majority is heart. Charlie how much is smart on court, which kobe and lebron has and you do and michael had. M. J. Definitely had it. Charlie m. J. The greatest player to have played the game . I think so, im a huge m. J. Fan. Charlie whos better kobe or lebron. Oh, man. Charlie come on. Who do you think . I ask the questions. Im fortunate enough to have been on that u. S. A. Team to where i didnt have to choose. I had kobe on one wing and lebron on the other. Charlie guess who the coach was. Coach kay. Charlie will ther there you. Yeah. Charlie and hes coming back. Coming back. Charlie thats as good as it gets. Definitely. I always said me scoring 61 points in high school for my late grandfather is the greatest achievement. Charlie for your grandfather. Yes, my grandfather was murdered by five teenagers and the day after he died, i scored 61 points. He was 61 years old when he died. Charlie were you determined to do that when you walked on the court . Yes. The highest id scored before that was 30 points in the game. Before the game my aunt sort of mentioned it to me. I said, man, is this really possible . There were two and a half minutes left in the game and i had 59 points, scored a shot and got fouled, and that was it. Charlie how close were you to him . Oh, very close. Charlie his name was nathaniel. Yes, hes in the book. He was my best friend. A lot of times kids have a teammate thats their best friend. Charlie how did you deal with the sorrow, the pain, the grief . It was tough. You definitely wanted to give up, didnt think i would play ball anymore, but my granddad wast fan. If he was now and knew i was on the charlie rose show, he wouldnt believe it. He wouldnt believe it, seriously. Charlie hed probably believe it. Look at the fierceness of the eyes there. Talk about eyes, playing basketball. Its another world for me. Just about every picture i have for me playing basketball, my face is charlie how about that one . My face is always crazy. My girlfriend always says, look at your face, look at your face the thing is, when im playing ball, im in another world. Im two different people on and off the court. Charlie getting back to the lebronkobe question. My goodness. Charlie just because you were on the court with them. Right. Charlie size up, how were they different . I can answer that, because you cant go wrong picking either one of them. Charlie exactly. And both of them have strengths about them. Charlie and theres no real answer to the question. Right. Lebron is a free athlete. He knows it, too. Charlie in that he has what . He has everything that you know, he has the court vision that me and all us point guards have. Charlie plus, bigger than you are. Plus he has the physique of a linebacker, you know. Charlie or a tight end. Right, a tight end, but hes standing 68. And then kobe, he just has the Killer Instinct. Charlie so kobe has a bigger Killer Instinct than lebron and lebron has more athletic ability than kobe . Lebron has probably more athletic ability than anybody, anybody. But there are a lot of different guys that have the Killer Instinct. I like to think i do, too. Its just kobe is an assassin. You know, the way he shoots the ball and Different Things, hell make a shot and youre like, man, thats a tough shot, but you know he practiced it, you know . Charlie exactly. Thats exactly right. Exactly. Charlie for more about this program and earlier episodes, visit us online at pbs. Org and charlierose. Com. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org and by bloomberg. A provider of multimedia news and Information Services worldwide. Explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this made available for everyone through contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Announcer stop starving yourself. Diets just dont work. Instead of dieting, i want you to learn about and eat more of the anticancer foods because the same foods that inhibit cancer growth also block the storage of fat on your body and will keep you slim and healthy your whole life. Announcer dr. Joel fuhrman is a boardcertified medical doctor specializing in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods. The information you learn in this show will not only allow you to end dieting forever, but it will enable you to fix your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol, and give you a