What does it take to shine both on the basketball court and in the digital world? Dakota Rivers from Florida Gulf Coast University is here to share his journey from local courts in Fort Myers to being a standout in the March Madness College Slam Dunk competition. Dakota reveals the rigorous training behind his jaw-dropping athleticism, the community spirit at FGCU, and the personal stories that fuel his passion, including a surprising inspiration behind his jersey number. We also explore the dual life he leads as an athlete and a content creator, and how he uses his platform to inspire and impact the sports community.

Ready for some laughs and insights into the future of sports? Dakota humorously recounts his brief and painful encounter with football, influenced by his dad, and underscores the natural fit he found in basketball. We then pivot to a serious discussion on the evolving landscape of women's sports, addressing controversies, rising talents, and the growing investment in female athletes. Dakota expresses optimism about the future while lamenting missed opportunities like Caitlin Clark's Olympic exclusion. Don't miss this candid conversation packed with inspiration, humour, and a deep dive into the world of sports and content creation.

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Speaker 1: 0:00

Mark my words, man, save this conversation. She's going to be a top three WNBA player of all time.

Speaker 2: 0:13

Hey, what's up team. Welcome back to the 234th episode of the Athletes Podcast. Can you believe we continue to put these out on a weekly basis? This week we featured Dakota Rivers, a ball player of the 6'8 variety, 210 pounds, roughly featured on ESPN. He's a senior at Florida Gulf Coast and he was part of the NCAA dunk competition. He was snubbed. We talk all about that more on this episode of the show. He's a YouTube content creator. He's a genuinely great human being. If you see some of the stuff he posts on social media. I'm a big fan of Dakota and what he's doing in the sports space. I'm excited to see what comes from the next few weeks as he goes to future tryouts. But this episode specifically, we talked about his hops, how he trains to jump out of the gym and all the other little aspects that come from being a content creator, ncaa athlete, amongst other things.

Speaker 2: 1:11

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Speaker 2: 2:46

This is the 234th episode of the Athletes Podcast featuring Dakota Rivers. Here we go. You're the most decorated racquetball player in US history, world's strongest man, from childhood passion to professional athlete, eight-time Ironman champion. So what was it like making your debut in the NHL? What is your biggest piece of advice for the next generation of athletes, from underdogs to national champions? This is the Athletes Podcast, where high-performance individuals share their triumphs, defeats and life lessons To educate, entertain and inspire the next generation of athletes. Here we go. So we just had fun on the pod. Uh, you were. You had already started chatting there and I was just like man, we, we gotta kick it off that way. Dakota rivers, welcome to the podcast that'd be the podcast.

Speaker 2: 3:36

Uh, yo, I've. I just said before we started recording, even you were jumping out of the gym like crazy. These highlights are ridiculous. You've been smugged by espn. Let's give people the insight. How the heck? Uh like, what the hell's going on? Um, yo, first off, senior florida golf, florida golf coast. Um, what was it like playing in your hometown dude?

Speaker 1: 4:03

Man playing down there. It was fire. I mean I'm not going to lie Just like. The whole environment was nice, like just being down there. I mean everyone was so supportive too. Like Fort Myers is a very like, very chill city, not like Orlando, tampa, miami, it's just like it's a community. You know what I mean Like, and everyone knows each other. Um, I like it. I think it's very fun to just play there like, and we have, like this rep where it's like dunk city, you know, and I enjoy it. Uh, I was there for all five years too. So, like, if I didn't like it I would have left. Um, like, obviously, like I didn't have it, I would have left. Like obviously, like I didn't have like this like stellar career where I'm averaging 20 a game and I'm you know whatever national player. Like I just enjoyed playing basketball, I enjoyed being around like those people and building relationships and doing those little things. So it was really fun. It was really fun, for sure.

Speaker 2: 5:01

Yo, you're jumping like you're. 6, three, six, four. You got a 42 43 inch vertical. How the heck are you pulling that out on game by day highlight every single night? Uh, what, what's in the cereal or the milk down there?

Speaker 1: 5:13

man, you know it's funny, I'm actually lactose, so there is there is. No, I am not drinking milk like that for real, but I do like almond milk. I like almond milk. But, um, I will say for sure, like I found out that I was really athletic when I was like in ninth grade, but like I thought it was just me having long arms, and then I noticed I was like man, like my head's touching the rim. I was like, yeah, nothing to do with my long arms. I think I'm just athletic and super blessed to have that ability, to have that translated to college and be able to use that to my you know, to my advantage for sure.

Speaker 2: 5:52

Yeah, why the number zero?

Speaker 1: 5:54

My favorite basketball player is Russell Westbrook, and back in OKC he was number zero. So yeah, that's really the main reason. I know he was number four with Washington, but number zero that's like prime Westbrook, like okay, see, I always wanted to play like him. He was super athletic, I'm super athletic and I always try to roll out my game after him. But then I realized I got a little too tall and then I was like I'm not going to be anything like Russell Westbrook. So yeah, that was. But no, you got to understand. This man was averaging triple doubles, he was going crazy.

Speaker 2: 6:28

People don't remember prime Russell Westbrook. Prime Russell Westbrook is probably arguably top five top ten when it comes to like arguably maybe the most athletic athlete ever out there on the court.

Speaker 1: 6:40

I can go a step further. I think he has top three mvp like seasons of all time okay, who are the other two?

Speaker 1: 6:52

you gotta go lebron in that sec. That second mvp he won in miami when he in 2012, 2013 because he almost won defensive player of the year that year too, but I just remember that year specifically no one could stop him. And then I would say of recent history because I don't really think about the 90s and 80s, I don't really go back that far, but I would say definitely, like Curry, when he won unanimous oh my God Bro, when they went 73-9, I swear I didn't think they could lose, and then the greatest player of all time, lebron James, had to shut that up. So it's all right.

Speaker 2: 7:33

Yo, when I think about like the LeBron greatness, I always see these graphics that showcase, like KD Steph, Clay, Draymond and Boogie having to team up to take on lebron. And it's just like you people don't realize that miami braun, he was up there with yeah, it's him jordan, I don't care who. When you get into that debate, it's the best of the generation, that's for damn sure right, it's not just a question, right, exactly, you know, uh, at six".

Speaker 2: 8:03

When you jump the way that you do, how do you take care of your body? Have you had any issues? Injuries? Has that ever been a concern? Have you always just been jumping out of your shoes and never had to worry about things?

Speaker 1: 8:14

It's so funny because when I was in high school I actually had like really bad like groin problems, like my knees, and that was like really my only problem and that was like my only problem. But my favorite like sort of recovery is like I love like cryotherapy because it's not as bad as like getting an ice bath. But I also like ice baths too, because I feel like every time I get out of an ice bath I feel like so rejuvenated, like I hate like the process, like while you're in there, especially the first 30 seconds, oh my god. But like when I'm done I'm like, yeah, I can go back out there and like play another 30, 40 minutes for real. But I I could definitely say, like cryotherapy, um, this, like this, like these, like lead compressors, I like normatex hyper yeah normatex, you is going crazy.

Speaker 1: 9:02

And then uh, what else? Uh, those are really my top three, though, for sure do you rip any?

Speaker 1: 9:09

uh heat like post-workout sauna hot tub oh yeah, a little bit if I'm feeling like real like out of it. But sauna is really good. I like sauna because when I, while I'm in the sun, I stretch, stretch a lot, just because I loosen my muscles up a lot. I'm not really a big fan of cupping. I think it hurts. I don't know. I like getting scraped. When they do the scraping thing, oh my god, it hurts so good. I don't know if that makes sense, but it's a really good feeling.

Speaker 2: 9:43

The scraping I've heard is better than cupping results. You can stick with that one yo. What was the biggest difference going from high school to university? Obviously you're at a div one institution. People dream about going to school playing div one ball. Uh, what was that like for you, finding out you were heading there, like you said. You spent five there, so you obviously love the institution. But, like you know, give me that moment, the day feels when you find out you're actually going to FGCU.

Speaker 1: 10:13

Yeah, the difference really when, like when I started playing like my freshman year versus my senior year, high school, everyone there like that you're playing against, was like the guy. You know what I mean. Like everybody was like the main guy at their high school, you know what I mean. So, like I thought I was like gonna go to, like into these games and be like the guy and realizing that you know everybody has like the guy, caliber levels. You gotta just work extra, like work even more, take a whole nother notch. Uh, you gotta just like level yourself to hold and everyone's got superpowers too. So, like everybody in high school, like you always got that one person that can shoot, uh, rebound, dunk, like like the same thing in college, like everyone's there's. You got that one shooter, that one great rebound. That one athletic guy.

Speaker 1: 10:57

Um, pace is much faster, um, you're. There's so many things like going on in the game, especially going in. From high school senior to freshman in college A lot of things are changing, pace is different, but when you get to that senior year, everything slows down. You kind of see the court a little bit slower, kind of know where the pass is going, kind of know where this rebound is going to go off on the basket. You kind of just see those things now, at the end of the day, like basketball is basketball. You still got to be a competitor, still got to figure it out at the end of the day.

Speaker 2: 11:29

So yeah, I was listening to a podcast yesterday with zach zillner uh, who's the coach for the women's ball team at the university of texas and he's talking about how you know they have alumni like kevin durant who come by the gym and he's putting up shots morning, afternoon, evening and it's like, at the end of the day, it's basketball. You got to play ball right, and if you don't play ball, you're not going to play. Well, it's a requirement and that's you know. You get to be able to play a game you love for the rest of your life. Hopefully right, right For you. Obviously. You were one of eight selected to attend this dunk contest. Can you share how you've been able to now also create a media arm to your athletic career and you're going to be able to double down on that post, whether you end up overseas down in Australia G League?

Speaker 1: 12:22

Yeah, man, honestly, even getting invited to that was surreal.

Speaker 1: 12:26

When I heard that information, I was like no way, like, because a big part of me was like, yeah, they must have been looking at like my social media or like me being on the espn top um, top 10 and that must have caught a lot of people's attention and me getting invited and going there and meeting all these different people that I grew up watching, like Jay Billis being like a ESPN analyst, and Jay Williams and all these great people actually ran into coach Calipari before he signed Arkansas and we took a picture.

Speaker 1: 12:59

I thought that was one of the coolest things ever. Cause, like watching up and watching that that undefeated Kentucky team and him coaching that I was like no way. I just saw, like this is like someone I literally like watched when I was younger and I thought it was the coolest thing. Um, and hopefully that experience can like help me in the future when it comes to like other things, like when it comes to like me and being able to showcase my athleticism, but um just meeting a lot of great people and um being able to say that I, you know, I actually was able to participate live on espn, so I think that was a great opportunity for me any nerves when you were competing?

Speaker 1: 13:35

oh yeah, bro, I ain't gonna lie. Uh, I don't think anyone knows this. All right. So so, before the event right, the event goes on, blah, blah, blah. I get there. Somehow. I didn't have any problems before. I was chilling, drinking a lot of water. It's hot out there in Scottsdale, oh my God. And before we, I think it was like 30 minutes before we go live on television, my stomach starts hurting so bad. I don't know why.

Speaker 1: 14:06

Like I was so nervous, so like I'm like I'm in the bathroom for like 20 minutes, right, tweaking, like I'm tweaking, I'm like no way, like, and I don't, I didn't know what to do, and I think someone had tried to ask me where I was, and someone didn't. No one knew, like where I was. But then I just like, popped out of the toilet. Man, I was chilling, I was, knew, like where I was. But then I just like, popped out of the toilet, I was chilling, I was all good, but I was chilling, but that was.

Speaker 1: 14:28

I was very nervous, I was very like, but also very excited. It was like one of those things where I just didn't believe I was there. And then, you know, I went out there and tried my best and, yeah, got robbed. Oh, my God, I already want to talk about that Dude. No, you saw that right. Like I was thinking, like there's no way this is happening right now, because I'm not mad, right, because I respect everyone that showed up, you know, did their thing, I just feel like I should have made it to the second round At least.

Speaker 2: 15:02

I agree, I agree, at least I agree, I agree. Uh, it sucks because you're like. You know you're at that point. You put up what you think is a good performance and it's subjective in a sport typically, that is, whether the ball goes in or not dictates the end result, whereas unfortunately now you're like a diving contest and swimming. You know you're up to the judges perspectives, right, and it's contest in swimming.

Speaker 1: 15:27

You know you're up to the judges perspectives Right and it's I. I heard a lot of. I heard a lot of stuff about that whole dunk contest. After it was over, it was like it was rigged, this person wanted this person to win, and all this, so it's okay.

Speaker 2: 15:34

I don't even know. Uh, that's unfortunate.

Speaker 1: 15:36

Well, it's just basketball.

Speaker 2: 15:40

Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. It's a game man and you know what. You got to be there, you got your crew, you filmed the whole thing. That's the cool part also about creating content is you get to look back on that, watch that be like yeah, that was me, I did do that. Yeah, that was crazy.

Speaker 1: 15:56

I got my cameraman out there Both of our first times going to Arizona and it was a great experience for both me and him and we're just filming everything we could and it was just we were more than starstruck that we're even there and it was a great experience, so yeah, yeah, no, I love it and I think it's like you know.

Speaker 2: 16:15

The benefits that come from that are tenfold, whether the result is there or not. I just finished across the country in my aunt's miata and ran a half marathon in calgary. Yes, I know your reaction the miata is really small and I'm not 6'8, but I'm like 6'3, so it was tight.

Speaker 2: 16:31

Uh. Either way, I was nervous also pre, uh, half marathon. You get the nerves prior to it and you're like, okay, is this gonna happen the whole time? Am I gonna be all right? And but you know, something snaps when you're an athlete, when you recognize you're like it's game time. I gotta perform right, and I'm sure you felt that. I'm sure you also saw that in others. You talked about westbrook. Were there other like athletes that you watched growing up that inspired you, that you tried to emulate your game after?

Speaker 1: 16:59

uh, when I was younger, uh, I was a huge linda magic, so Dwight Howard was like the first person I could think about right now.

Speaker 2: 17:06

Jesus Crime Dwight's also a problem.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Dude, orlando Dwight was insane and me being like much taller than everybody, like when I was like 8, 9, 10 years old, I thought I was just going to be like 6'11" honestly, because I was just like this is wasn't going to be 6'11", 7 feet. I started watching more like Paul George LeBron, I was a huge fan of Trace McGrady growing up. I loved his game, but I always wanted to simulate my game in a way where it was like whoever was my height, I wanted to look at those people and see what they were like really good at and what they elevate like, how they elevated themselves and separate themselves from other people. Those were probably like the main people, for sure.

Speaker 2: 17:59

What helped you do that growing up? Did you do summer camps? Were you listening to coaches? Were you watching the athletes podcast? What were you doing?

Speaker 1: 18:07

I would definitely say, uh, for sure I was, um, I was getting a lot of coaching for sure from like defensively, because they always say, like offensive is always going to come. Like, if you're just putting your like you take your time to shoot threes and, um, mid-ranges for sure, because mid-range is, like such a very underrated part of the game. But I always worked on like mid-range and threes. But, most importantly, to get to that next level is always defense right. So, like to be a great defender, especially in the NBA, that's going to give you, that's going to bring you so much more longevity, because everyone can score the ball, but not a lot of people can defend the ball like these, like certain players. So I'll say, a lot of the times I'll be working on my defense way more than my offensive game, uh, just because I knew that was going to keep me in this, I guess, successful position much longer for sure.

Speaker 2: 18:55

I love that you said that, because I'm going to clip this and share this with the high school ball team that I'm helping coach and we preach the two over the three every and all day and it's it's underrated and the defense is just you. A good defense is the best offense and when you eliminate the team, the other team's ability to score points, you're gonna win more basketball games man, it's sad how people don't even realize that anymore.

Speaker 1: 19:23

It's like you really have to like emphasize that nowadays. It's like because people are like just like they play mediocre defense and hoping that they miss. But it's like you could really create something special out of a defensive stop and make like offensive, like plays, and I don't know it's not really taught that much nowadays.

Speaker 2: 19:41

So who instilled that in you? Did you just recognize that?

Speaker 1: 19:48

For sure I had, I would say, three people Both my high school coach and assistant coach, my second high school, windermere High School Coach Grisick and his son. It was like a father-son coaching staff. We would do defensive drills for like an hour and a half out of the two hours of practice. Right, we would be doing full court zigzag. We'd be doing like rebound. I'm like man coach, I can't do this anymore. But then that was like in high school and college. I would say my first two years there we had a coach named Donnie Marsh. He ended up leaving and going to Detroit Mercy after that, but he was a defensive. I don't know he would get motivated if someone dove on the floor and got to stop.

Speaker 1: 20:38

He was that kind of guy he really emphasized on defense. For sure. Those were the three guys.

Speaker 2: 20:45

Hell yeah, yo, you got to be a dog on defense for sure. Those are the three guys. I was a hell yeah the yo. You gotta be a dog on defense. You gotta move the puppies, as Jack Armstrong would say on Toronto Raptors TV. It's a it's and it takes a special breed to be able to play that much harder on the defensive end. And you know, like I was gassed I would put man. My stat line was probably two points, 18 rebounds and six assists. Like I was an absolute menace on the board with no other results.

Speaker 2: 21:14

But I think there's something to be said, whether it's the consistency, the compounding, the delayed gratification that comes from playing really good D is unmatched. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I'm glad you said that it's so great. Um, you know when I, when I think about kind of juan reaching out, getting you on the show, you kind of expressing interest. You've got like 150 000 plus subscribers on youtube. You're generating content, obviously you've. You complete your senior year here at FGCE and I'm curious in your head you've probably got a million different options that you could be pursuing right now. You head to Vegas in a couple of weeks. Where's your mind at? How do you feel?

Speaker 1: 22:02

Honestly, I'm excited. I mean, these are things that I feel like I've been working towards all my life. I'm not nervous, um, I would say just a little anxious, I would say just going into it. But uh, I feel like I can't doubt myself. I put in so much work, you know, and like I, it's like why now, like doubt myself and why I feel like I can't, I'm not able to like get to that next level. That's for basketball, but for the influential, influential side.

Speaker 1: 22:28

I'm just going to keep creating content and following my journey. I feel like it's something that I enjoy doing and I want other people to be able to see my path. And it's just not like one of those easy paths. Everyone kind of looks at the path where it's like, okay, you're one and done and you get picked one through 60. And I'm like that's more of a Cinderella path, that's like a one in a billion opportunity. I feel like literally only 60 people a year get that opportunity.

Speaker 1: 22:57

So my thing is to be able to motivate people that feel like that's the only way. That's not the only way. There's so many other ways to get to where you want to get to in life and it doesn't have to be like this, this Cinderella happy ending, because that's not how life is. Life is hard and everyone's fighting for what you want and somehow you just got to be able to separate yourself and, you know, get to that finish line. And it's always like if you really care about the game of basketball, you're going to be willing to play for years to get to that end point in your life for sure.

Speaker 2: 23:34

That goes for anything any sport, any business, any entrepreneurial influential venture that you pursue. This podcast man Like you got to grind that stuff. You got to put in work. You got to put in unlimited hours. You have to expand that time horizon. Know that. You know traditional timelines aren't necessarily a thing nowadays and you know, to your point, you're still playing the game that you love.

Speaker 2: 23:57

If you can make a living out of that, that's pretty dang cool. Exactly If I can make a living talking to some of the world's greatest athletes on a weekly basis, traveling around to wherever they're performing, that's a pretty good living, right. You know like, and we have the time, or we have the beauty of time on our side, right? That's one of the things that I want to constantly remind people who I have on the show, like yourself, who are still young individuals, but also the teenagers listening to this right now that are like oh man, I really want to go to university and get a good degree. I'm going to just hang up the cleats, stop playing ball, focus on school. That is the one regret that I do have and I'm more than willing to share. I wish I continued pursuing grinding at my sport because, man, even now, at 27'm, like dude, I could be taking on the world. Right now I'm. I'm watching people compete, qualify for the olympic games.

Speaker 1: 24:51

I'm like shit, they're only a little faster than me, like yeah and it's really like that, like, especially with like track and field, like it's it's a game of seconds, millisecond, it's literally like who who can separate themselves by that much? And then, and some people just stop, people stop their dreams, their goals, their passion, because they feel like they can't get that that this much better. And it's really, it's really, it's a lot, it's a. It's a year, two, maybe two, three, four year grind to get to that olympic stage again, to see how much all that like if you put in that much work. But people never, people never really get to that point because they feel like they they've hit, like that that bottom, that rock bottom, where they feel like they can't get any better.

Speaker 1: 25:37

So dude dakota.

Speaker 2: 25:38

I'm so glad we're chatting right now.

Speaker 2: 25:39

It's this is legit, uh, mariam abdul rashid, who went to austin as well. She just qualified for the Olympic. She's a cook stark management athlete that I represent and, to your point, like four years ago, she had considered hanging up the cleats, never pursuing track and field again. She's now heading to Paris in two weeks as of this and it's like dude, all of that could have changed. With the snap and it's seconds, seconds, and for ballplayers it snap and it's seconds, seconds, and for ball players it's sometimes it's one shot in seconds in march, madness. That makes a difference, right, and you could I always say that bro.

Speaker 1: 26:13

I always say why quit today, if tomorrow could be the day you win?

Speaker 2: 26:17

literally so let that sink in. You know, did I mention the fact that protein helps with muscle recovery and will probably ultimately help you jump better? I can't guarantee having a 40 plus inch vertical like dakota, but what I can guarantee is that you will add size, get stronger if you lift weights and you drink diesel protein powder. This is the athletes podcast, and you get 20 off if you use the code ap20 at checkout. Let's get back to the show. Where, uh, where do you see yourself five, ten years from now? Ball aside, you've obviously got some like ideas in your mind content creations a thing. Let's just like, put ball on the side, hypothetically, dakota rivers. You've got all of this content that you want to create. I'm sure you've got some business ventures. You're doing commercials with gatorade, no big deal like where, where do you see yourself kind of pursuing? What are your other interests outside of athletics? Let's, let's go maybe that route outside of athletics.

Speaker 1: 27:24

Um, I always just wanted to like just travel. Uh, hopefully, but by like, my like. In five, ten years I've visited almost every continent. Uh, actually never been outside the country yet. So that's something I want canada man, I've been to canada but like whoa I've been to canada, but I'm talking about like flying to another another.

Speaker 1: 27:45

I've never done that. I always wanted to do that. I always wanted to. Well, hopefully, in 5-10 years from now, maybe I'll have a million subscribers just building more content. Hopefully I can bring that athletic side all over the world. I know we said like, not like not bring up athletics, but like hopefully I can get to that point where, like, I'm part of like a I don't know, like some sort of creator athletic all-star thing, where it's like kind of cool.

Speaker 1: 28:17

I don't know, I've always wanted to be part of that. I see people that I grew up watching be a part of that, um, and just meeting some really like great people, like I'm huge fan of a lot of these youtubers and, um, these influencers I've been growing up watching, so even being a part of that, that conversation, that would be amazing, um, not only for me, but just, I don't know, just just to just experience, like just with the people that support me as well.

Speaker 2: 28:42

So yeah, yeah, no, I I've been picking up exactly what you're putting down, man, and like, the other real interesting aspect is, to your point, like your athletics, you're not. It's never gonna leave you right. You're always gonna be six, eight, you're always gonna be able to jump out of the gym and, with ball players this same zach zillner podcast that I'm gonna refer to again they're talking about the fact that, like, guys can play four or five years of ball and then go to an NFL combine and actually make a team. After playing ball, football players can't spend four or five years and then go to an NBA tryout and make that team. It doesn't work that way. Ball players different level.

Speaker 1: 29:20

Exactly exactly. I mean getting hit that hard at football, dude, that's, you're're setting yourself up, dude. I don't know. I wanted to play football so bad, but I got hit so hard in practice one time I quit, I got.

Speaker 2: 29:35

No, but you can ask anyone.

Speaker 1: 29:38

I got hit so hard. I remember me just crying. I was like there's no way I'm out here playing football. When I'm out here playing football, I'm like six inches taller than the next person on my team. Like, put me on the basketball court. And my dad was like this is going to teach you discipline. I'm like what are you talking about? I want to go home, like I don't want to be here right now.

Speaker 2: 30:00

Did your dad play football? Is that why no?

Speaker 1: 30:03

I don't know, like what are you doing? He, uh, he wrestled like my dad wrestled my, both my parents are five, nine, so like it was, I don't, like I said, I don't know, like how this happened, right but mailman dude, might might be, I don't know man, and I still got questions, um, but like, literally, I'm like that.

Speaker 1: 30:27

You didn't play football, mom didn't play a sport, you wrestled. How am I this? How am I six, eight, and then you expect me this is supposed to be a discipline lesson. Like dude, I got hit so hard I just wanted to cry like I didn't want to be there nowhere.

Speaker 2: 30:40

So yeah, that's, oh, that's incredible. So dad arbitrarians was like all right, dakota, we're going to football practice because I don't know where that's what we're doing, because my, my, little brother.

Speaker 1: 30:52

He played football. He's really good. He's 5, 10 strong, though his legs are super strong, fast. And I was just out there, just you know, watching him practice. But when he started playing football he was much shorter, he was like probably like five feet and I was like five, nine, whatever. But I was still out there watching him practice, whatever. And some guy came out of nowhere, was like you want to play football? I was like no, but my dad like said yes, he does. And I was like no, no, I like I feel like I got dragged into the sport, like, but it was whatever, I didn't care. I mean like I I played from, from. I played when I was 12 and 13 years old, so I played two years, but I just, absolutely just like I just sat at the bench but we went 14-0. So I got a ring, we went undefeated, I got a ring.

Speaker 1: 31:42

My brother, his name's Stone. He was completely pissed off about it because he didn't win anything. But he's like this is my sport. But he just walked in here like willy-nilly and just won like championship ring lucky to be good, good to be lucky.

Speaker 2: 31:54

Uh, you know. Okay, hypothetical, here it's you against lebron and kd 2v2. You get to pick your teammate Prime Westbrook or Prime Howard.

Speaker 1: 32:11

Does it even matter? They're going to attack me.

Speaker 2: 32:14

I'm going to lose. I didn't say it was going to be easy.

Speaker 1: 32:17

I'm going to lose. I mean, man, hold on, I might as well do heads or tails, tails. All right, I'm going.

Speaker 2: 32:30

Prime Dwight Howard. There you go.

Speaker 1: 32:31

I feel like you're fighting chance with Prime Dwight I have a fighting chance, because if I let them drive to the basket, dwight Howard has a chance to block it Right.

Speaker 2: 32:43

It's all D. It comes back to.

Speaker 1: 32:44

D Whoa.

Speaker 2: 32:49

I didn't say that pause.

Speaker 1: 32:54

No, I would. I would definitely say for sure, dwight howard. But it's but. With russell westbrook, I feel like they would let me, they would just protect the basket. Let him shoot like he wasn't the greatest shooter but he was so good because he attacked the basket so well.

Speaker 2: 33:11

You know what I mean yeah, yeah, and then like if he's passing it to me.

Speaker 1: 33:16

I don't know what you want me to do. It's LeBron and KD, so like I'm going to pass Dwight Howard the ball and if he gets double teamed team, I can hit a three. I can hit it. You know what I mean. But like, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna have to just make some space, but I'm not attacking the basket against prime lebron, prime kd well, I didn't say they were prime, I figured you give them, give the chance.

Speaker 2: 33:38

They've gotten a little older. I mean lebron voted top player. I can't eh.

Speaker 1: 33:43

LeBron's still averaging 27-7-8 right now. I don't understand.

Speaker 2: 33:48

So is he like in your eyes? Is he the GOAT?

Speaker 1: 33:51

Yes, 100%. It's like LeBron. And then somewhere down here is Jordan.

Speaker 2: 33:58

Dang.

Speaker 1: 33:59

Yeah, he surpassed Jordan eight years ago. Like after that 3-1 comeback. What are we talking about that? Like I get it, everyone's gonna be like oh, jordan never had to be in that position. Well, jordan never played against stephan curry, clay thompson and a 73 and 19, so therefore, yeah.

Speaker 2: 34:22

I mean, hey, listen, I I I'm switzerland here. I just look at these. They're great. I think it's really tough to choose. I think, if you look at the body of work LeBron's done, that's what speaks volumes, and it's, like you know, at this point it's the longevity that he's been able to showcase as well that has to play a factor, right, you know? I am curious, though, what your thoughts are about JJ Redick becoming the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Speaker 1: 34:50

I think it's great. I think it's one of those things where he's very good. He has a very good basketball mindset. He sees things in a sense, because I've been watching him in his podcast with lebron and they dissect the game crazy, like, and this is someone that's been only been retired for maybe like two, three years, but being a part of the game. You know, seeing all these different sets, cuts, like he probably is going to implement that his coaching style, I mean and he's hiring some veteran coaches. I think he'll be in great shape for sure.

Speaker 2: 35:29

Yeah, as a current podcaster, it gives hope for my coaching career down the road, you know.

Speaker 1: 35:36

Dude, I ain't going to lie JJ Redick. The worst thing that probably could have happened, though, for sure, was that it was the Lakers, because, like the Lakers, they need to win now. Right, if it was the Lakers, because the Lakers, they need to win now. If it was any other, it could have been literally any other team. I think he'd be in a way better position than he is right now, because there's so much more pressure to win.

Speaker 2: 35:57

It does force his hand. I do think he's going to. Probably. Well, I don't know. It'll be really interesting to see what this year looks like If LeBron's dictating what happens. Basically, because I feel like with Ty Lue, he did that in Cleveland and I think whenever you have LeBron, you just you're going to have to kind of go with what he wants and and he hopefully JJ doesn't end up being the scapegoat, but there's a potential for that to be the case, right, did he? I don't know I'm talking out of my butt.

Speaker 1: 36:30

All I know is that he's the head coach.

Speaker 2: 36:34

So, okay, we've got to establish that LeBron is the GOAT. He was the GOAT eight years ago. What do you think about the WNBA right now? I?

Speaker 1: 36:45

think and this is my honest opinion, all right, this is my honest opinion, all right, kaitlin Clark is going to be the sole reason why ratings, sales jerseys, all that Attendance is going to go up, because it was kind of like what Jordan did with the 80s, like it just wasn't entertaining, like it wasn't as entertaining I mean like they had Bird and Magic, but that's it wasn't like no finesse, there wasn't no sw finesse, there wasn't no swagger. You know what I mean. Now you got then michael jordan came into the league. You got people out here doing, you know, you're dunking from the free throw line, right, like doing all this weird stuff like you would like. I think they. You would call it like literally like I don't know what, I don't know what you would call it like I don't know. But then with Kalen Clark, you never see anything like this either. So it's like this is what Jordan was doing with the 80s. This is going to evolve the game, and then, if you think this is bad, you think what Kalen Clark is doing right now Wait until Juju Watkins goes in.

Speaker 1: 37:49

People are sleeping on you, bro. She, I don't even know how to like tell you this, bro, but I mark my words, man, like save, save this conversation. She's going to be a top three w nba player of all time. Heard it here first. Here first. I'm telling you she is cold. She's actually 29 as a freshman.

Speaker 2: 38:20

I agree with everything you've just said, and I'm glad you articulated it. It's coming from you authoritative figure in this space. I do have to ask, though why is she not on the Olympic team?

Speaker 1: 38:37

You already know why, but I'm telling you, brad, is this like? I think it's a level of jealousy too? I feel like a lot of people don't really like the fact that she, you know, came in here and people can't accept the fact that I think she is the reason why there's a lot of sales, there's a reason why there's a lot of attendance and that's okay.

Speaker 1: 38:52

I mean, at some point, some point they're going to thank her because you know everyone's going to get paid more. I mean, everyone's going to get like. I'm like you might hate it, you might hate it now, but when that, when that check come in, you got an extra zero on that, on that paycheck. Thank.

Speaker 2: 39:05

And it's crazy the amount of hate she's getting. Oh, it's bad Just internally WNBA, the way the other gals are going after her, and it's so obvious.

Speaker 1: 39:17

It's not one of those things where it's like, oh nah, it's not even that bad when she goes up for a layup. They're trying to actually hurt her. There's no hands being shown. There's no hands being shown. It's literally illegal defense, like people would go to jail if they did this out in public.

Speaker 2: 39:38

But since it's on a basketball court. You know it's just a personal foul, yeah no, I'm so glad you said it, it's so true. I just shake my head every time.

Speaker 1: 39:51

I'm like if this was happening to any other player right now.

Speaker 2: 39:52

That's a flagrant oh no, they're going to jail we watched uh, I was down in la actually uh, what is almost three weeks ago now, and we watched that game where angel reese's team took down caitlin clark's with a minute left. They had like a 20 point comeback or something, and that one averaged 2.5 million viewers or something, which was like espn's highest in recent. It was I'm. I'm a obviously big advocate for women's sports here. I have a female athlete agency. We try and have an equal balance of males, of females, on the show here, and ball has spiked, and when we get female basketball players, our interest level peaks. So, uh, it's happening for the pwhl as well, in hockey, lpga and golf. It's only a matter of time. People who are not opening their eyes to women's sports are going to fall behind, and I feel like even for at the collegiate level, thanks to nil, things have balanced out right like your men's and women's team are getting equal treatment.

Speaker 1: 40:53

March madness is actually a thing now, where the gals are getting their teams end of the day, I feel like everyone should be treated, obviously, fairly like. I just feel like, in a sense, like if you're, if your league isn't generating enough revenue, that's that's, that's not the males association's fault, that's just like the fact like there's just got to be a more exciting way to bring the game of WNBA, or like women's sports, like there's just got to be something more exciting. Now, that's what I'm saying. Like I feel like everyone should be treated for like the reason why men are getting paid higher is because they bring more revenue.

Speaker 2: 41:28

Women will get paid higher if they brought more revenue. It's still a revenue share. I love the argument around that it's still a revenue share agreement. At the end of the day, you're going to get what you generate.

Speaker 1: 41:41

If they don't generate enough, they're not going to make enough, unfortunately. I want everyone to get paid a lot, but realistically it's literally the NBA for women. You would think you would. They should get paid a lot, but since they don't generate enough, unfortunately they just get the bad end of the stick.

Speaker 2: 41:58

So it's coming. It's taking time. They're on, oh yeah they need it.

Speaker 1: 42:02

But they needed caitlin clark something they have just never seen before to at least start it off it's a spark plug.

Speaker 2: 42:08

You need that and, uh, you know, like, like, it's only a matter of time where that's going to continue to progress, get even better and people will again. Nwsl, the Los Angeles soccer team, just got a valuation of like $250 million. So, like these, you know it's coming.

Speaker 1: 42:29

Same thing with the NBA, though. You always have, like these generational players that come in. The revenue went up when Zion went to the league. Look at how Wim and Yamba brought the league up. And when LeBron entered, it's the same size. It's not just WNBA, it's NBA too. When you saw when Brittany Griner joined the WNBA, this girl could dunk. I'm watching. You know what I mean. You know what I mean. I'm going to watch the game because there's someone that's going to be in the league. That brings excitement and joy.

Speaker 2: 42:55

Yeah, and it doesn't matter what it is, it's just a spark. People need a reason to go and watch. That's why it's such a shame that the Olympic Committee didn't bring Kaitlyn Clark on, because they're going to lose a lot of viewers because of that.

Speaker 1: 43:11

It is what it is for them. That's their decision at the end of the day.

Speaker 2: 43:16

They wouldn't be getting the, the views on your YouTube channel the way you would be. Put it that way, yo, if there's one person that you could drop right now and you know wish that, you could, you know, collaborate with on your YouTube, because this is always something I like to drop. We collaborate with on your YouTube, because this is always something I like to drop. We've got a couple of snippets that we're going to pull from this episode drop over the next couple of years.

Speaker 1: 43:38

So, like, who are some people you want to collaborate with? This is, I've never been asked this question Um, who would I like to collaborate with on my YouTube? I mean, you gotta, you gotta, add the people from A&P, I think that'd be great. Uh, like Duke Dennis, kyson, naten, that agent, all those guys, um, those are some great people. Uh, jesser, uh, he's a great person in the in the nba community.

Speaker 1: 43:59

Um watched him for years. Um, I have like this, um, this, this one youtube I've been watching for years, years. I'm talking about before any of them. His name is dashy xp. He makes like um, like video game content. I just thought I think he's just the funniest guy on the internet. I always wanted to uh collab with him. Rdc world, with mark phillips, all those people, um, who's? There was one more person I was thinking about. Oh, what's that guy? I don't know if you you know, I don't think you know, but his name is chris move. He's the pioneer for NBA 2K. I always watch his stuff. I think he's Honestly, I think he's very funny. He's very underrated funny. People think he's just a great YouTuber, but I think he's actually hilarious. I don't know why.

Speaker 2: 44:49

Humor is the most underrated way to get people's attention.

Speaker 1: 44:54

I'm like how? I didn't even know this guy was funny. I started replaying his stuff back from 2012, 2013. I'm like this guy is hilarious. I used to watch his old content right now actually.

Speaker 2: 45:05

What's any of the stories from his content or yours, that you've experienced over the years that you want to share?

Speaker 1: 45:12

leave the audience with today oh so like more like inspiration. I would say like that I got from other people's content anything, man, the floor is yours.

Speaker 2: 45:20

I asked this and then I asked biggest piece of advice. So whatever you got, so I would say my biggest piece of advice, for sure.

Speaker 1: 45:27

Um, just like, literally just find what can separate yourself and everybody else, right? So, like with YouTubers such as like Chris move, before they did like cut scenes on 2k, like 14, 15, 16, he was doing cut scenes before cut scenes were in a thing, so he would bring clips from him playing GTA and then bring it to like his my career mode and like make it seem like he was actually like I don't know like going to the pool before the game or driving to the game before you could actually drive to the game. Like in that, like nowadays you can like go on jet skis and cars in 2k24, but in 2k13 you didn't have all that. So he kind of made his own like storyline with like mixing gta5 and san andre whatever it was I guess at the time mixing in those games and making it seem like real For me.

Speaker 1: 46:14

I try to like kind of separate myself in a way of like my editing and voiceovers, commentating and like trying to find my way around to get more views, I would say, because in a way, it's like everyone's, everyone's doing the day in life, everyone's doing like workout videos, but it's like am I doing? That's separating, separated myself from everybody else and I feel like one of those things is just, uh, editing, uh, camera placement, different angles, um, and just my humor, I feel like. I feel like I'm, I'm like, I'm all right, I'm not funny, I'm not like, I'm not a comedian, but like, I feel like I'm always gonna speak my mind.

Speaker 1: 46:48

Some people are not really like that. You know what I mean. Like some people are like reading off a script and be like hello, my name is blah blah. I'm like no, it's not like that. Just go out there and just like be yourself and like that's how I've always been so have you self-taught your editing skills?

Speaker 1: 47:03

oh yeah, I've been doing that since I don't know, middle school, high school, like I've been doing that for so long. So I like when, when, like, when, when, like NIL started, I can actually like make money, cause you couldn't I didn't want to do YouTube before the NIL, cause I was going to get literally like banned from the NCAA.

Speaker 1: 47:18

So, like I did it after they started this whole thing with NIL and I was like this is perfect, like I'm going to start implementing the things I've been learning for literally years and just put it to like my YouTube videos and it's been working out and I just got a hundred thousand last year.

Speaker 2: 47:33

So Heck, yeah, yo, I. You said whether, like five, 10 year goal, a million, like for sure, within five years you're at a million. I'm calling that now We'll clip it, no doubt. Uh, I'll put the AP stamp on that for sure. Maybe after this podcast you'll get that. No, uh, dakota, I can't thank you enough for coming on chatting, chopping it up with me. This is fun. Uh, I'm excited to see you see what your results are in a couple weeks from vegas. And uh, yo, keep in touch, maybe we'll come down get a workout and see what my vertical is like you need any tips or tricks, but you're nowhere to find me, bro, I'm telling you, yeah, yeah, yeah, hey.

Speaker 2: 48:09

Well, uh, we'll have to see whether I can jump, because we know you can, but we have room for improvement on my end. Put it that way I appreciate your time, and where can people find you? On socials, actually, before we let you go, Follow me on Instagram Dakota Rivers.

Speaker 1: 48:27

Tiktok is DakotaRivers. No dot. Youtube DakotaR Rivers. All together. I don't really use Snapchat and yeah, that's really it. I mean, those are my three platforms you can really find me on, and yeah.

Speaker 2: 48:46

Bless. Thanks for listening, folks. Hope you have a great rest of your day. Hey folks, I can't thank you enough for tuning in. Can't thank Dakota enough for coming on the show reaching out, wanting to be a part of the Athletes Podcast, and for you for tuning in every single week it means just a ton because we continue to do this and it's going to be crazy to see what the next 10, 15, 20 years have in store as these amazing individuals that we highlight continue to achieve incredible feats. We're going to be here to document that, share those wild experiences with you, folks, and bring you along for the ride. Thanks so much for tuning in. We'll see you next week for another new episode. Bye.

The Athletes Podcast

From Dunks to Digital: Dakota Rivers on Basketball, Content Creation, and the Future of Sports - Episode #234

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