Chris Broussard: Being True To Yourself

Chris Broussard:
When I started doing television, I was just myself. That's one thing I tell ex-athletes when they want to move into TV, I say be yourself. Don't try to sound like Bob Costas. We don't expect that from you. What we want from you is to give us the insight that we can't get. We weren't in the locker room for game seven speech. We haven't been in the locker room after a disappointing loss. We haven't been in the locker room and seen arguments or fights on the team. So, all of that stuff is what you can bring to the table.

Michael Redd:
Hey, everybody, this is Michael Redd, and welcome to The Betting on Yourself Podcast, where I interview successful entrepreneurs, athletes, and other top performers who rose to the top, took success into their own hands and bet on themselves. In this episode, I have Chris Broussard on the show. He's a sports analyst and commentator for Fox Sports Radio and the founder of the K.I.N.G Movement, a national Christian men's organization that seeks to strengthen men in their faith in lives.

Michael Redd:
We talk family, his path to becoming one of the most influential sports commentators in the industry, and how betting on himself early in his career changed everything. Here's my conversation with Chris Broussard.

Michael Redd:
Let's talk about you for a second, man. Obviously, your career is historic, man. I've known you for the last almost 20 years and you worked your way up from being a beat writer to being with ESPN Magazine, which is how me and you connected again, and then also, working for ESPN over the years and then becoming a panelist with FS1 to having your own show with Rob Parker Couples. And then obviously the Kingdom Movement, which is probably the most proud achievement of your adult life, one of the proudest achievements, outside being a husband and a father. But, tell me about, from your perspective, what it has meant to you to bet on yourself?

Chris Broussard:
When I talk to young people, I say there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. And you have to learn how to walk it. Or maybe I should put it confidence and having a sense of entitlement. But I remember when I first started in journalism, I had a summer internship in Cleveland, the Cleveland Plain Dealer 1989. And they sent me out to write the story on a minor league baseball team [inaudible 00:02:45] Akron Minor League Team. I didn't do well, hadn't really done that type of thing before. And so, few days later, the assistant sports editor was just going off on me, just like, he closed the door, but he's yelling, everybody else hears it outside. He was going off for me.

Chris Broussard:
And so in that moment, I got this college internship, my family was proud of me and happy for me. And as he's yelling at me just going through my mind is, dang, what am I grandparents going to think? They were so proud of me, like, I'm failing, blah, blah, blah. But I had to make a decision at that moment. I had to have, like you said, bet on myself. I had to have enough confidence to know that despite what he was saying, I still could do this.

Chris Broussard:
That was at the beginning of summer so I still had to work through it. And I did. And while I had to have the confidence in myself to handle what he said about me and still walk out there and know everybody heard him yelling and believe in myself, I also had to not be arrogant and entitled, like, man, this dude don't know what he talking about, forget him, all that stuff. And be humble enough to take the constructive criticism he gave me and apply it to what I was writing going forward, which is what I did. Every other article I wrote got published. It was like 33 articles through that summer that got published in the newspaper.

Chris Broussard:
So, I tell that story a lot because it shows you have to be confident enough in yourself to be able to overcome the obstacles, handle the criticism, and still believe you can do it, but humble enough to take constructive criticism, not have a sense of entitlement and things like that. So I started, like you said, I started out low before being a an NBA beat writer, I was covering high school sports on a part time basis at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I bet on myself in another instance where when a plain dealer hired me, they told me, we only have a part time job right now so we'll start you there. But as soon as there's a full time opening, you're in. So that sports editor who made that promise left. But one of his guys got the job after him and he was like, I understand the deal, you'll be full time as soon as we can make, then he left. And the third guy came in, didn't know the deal.

Chris Broussard:
And so, here I am, I was four years in and I'm still part time and covering high school sports. So they had a full time opening, which was to back up the major beats, the Cavaliers, the Indians, the Browns. And I went and talked to the sports editor about it, and I didn't get it. And so, the Akron Beacon Journal, you know Cleveland and Akron being from Ohio, they're close to one another, so the Akron Beacon Journal, which is a smaller newspaper, but a little bit better I thought at that time, they offered me a full time job. And not the Cavaliers, but they offered me a full time job. So, I had a decision to make, do I stay at the Plain Dealer and be part time at least for the time being or do I go to the Beacon Journal, a smaller paper, but be full time? That was betting on myself because I did go ahead and go to the Akron Beacon journal.

Chris Broussard:
Within six months, they promoted me to cover the Cavaliers. They had me covering the Indians when they went to the World Series in 95. Then they promoted me to the Cavaliers beat. And that's where it began. And then I did the cast for about three years and then went up to the New York Times. And I had talked to Other people at the Plain Dealer at the time as I was raising up at the Beacon Journal. Some of them told me, they're like, man, we wouldn't have, one in particular who was a good writer himself and reporter, he said, "Man, I don't think I would have had the guts to make the move you did, going from the Plain Dealer to the Beacon Journal." And then they ended up making all those part timers full time. Some of them jokingly, or at least this guy told me, they jokingly referred to it as the Chris Broussard rule, because I ended up obviously doing well and kind of blowing up to some degree.

Chris Broussard:
And so, I think back and honestly, it sounds crazy now but if I hadn't bet on myself, and if I had stayed at the Plain Dealer just out of comfort and security and all that, I can't say I wouldn't have still been covering high school sports to this day. I think I'd be full time but it's very possible that I would have remained just a high school sports writer for 25, 30 years. So that betting on myself did progress my career, man. So yeah.

Michael Redd:
I know you're a competitive person. Tell me about the mindset that you had when you first started, when you were just getting started, tell me about that mindset you had. Knowing you for the last 15 years and watching you on television, I know you're competitive.

Chris Broussard:
Yeah, that's a great question because, and this plays into the system entirely, I tell young people all the time, because a lot of kids, they'll see Stephen A. Smith or Skip Bayless or myself or somebody debating opinions, and kids in college may feel like man, I could do that, I should be up there with Stephen A or Skip or Shannon Sharpe or whoever. I tell people, the best way to get to ESPN or to Fox Sports or the New York Times or one of these high levels, is to dominate where you're at. So when I was covering high school sports, my mindset was to do the absolute best I could do in high school sports. Yes, I wanted to end up covering the pros. I would have loved to have gotten to ESPN, although at that time, I couldn't even really fathom it. But I had those goals but I wasn't so focused on that that I wasn't able to focus on where I'm at.

Chris Broussard:
And so, I think if I'd just been so focused, man, I should be covering the NBA, why am I covering high school sports in Akron. If I'd had that attitude, I wouldn't have done this well on the high school reporting. And so what I did was, I said, okay, I do want to get to the pro level, I do want to get to these bigger networks. But for now, the best way to get there is to be the best high school sports writer I can be. And one thing I did, and this is before the internet, this was the early 90s. And so, I used to keep, I had notebooks and I got this from my partner who was older, but he did it first, but then I took it from him. I would keep a notebook of all of the, so like during basketball season, I would cut out all of the clips from the local newspapers on all of the high school games, and I would keep them in my notebook.

Chris Broussard:
So when I was covering a game, I'm out at a high school game writing about it, it was almost like I had a little internet with me. I had notes and I could refer back to what Michael Redd did three weeks ago and all that stuff. And so, when Akron Beacon journal interviewed me, they asked for clips so I brought that in because it was my stuff but also other writers' stuff. And the sports editor was blown away because he had never seen anything like that. And so, that showed him my work ethic. So yeah, that was a part of the mentality of doing whatever I had to do to be the best high school writer I could be. You know this, I mean, when you were at a younger age, the best way for you to get to the NBA was to focus on where you're at right now and being the best junior high or high school player and working on your skills to make you dominate at that level. It's the same thing for me.

Michael Redd:
100%. Where did that mindset get cultivated? With your family, your upbringing, the Midwest? Did that help with that mindset?

Chris Broussard:
I think My family upbringing, I grew up, my father was in a two parent household, my parents in October, they will have been married 55 years, in October. So, I came from a good family, that's great. And my dad was an authoritative figure. I wouldn't say an authoritarian because it wasn't uncomfortable in the house or anything, but he was the authority figure. So that taught me work ethic and respect for authority. So I've always been able to respect authority and work hard. He made sure I did well in school and got good grades and stuff. So, that work ethic definitely came from the way I was raised. And getting good grades wasn't, it wasn't an option for me. It was like, you're going to, and everybody may not be an A plus student, they may not have that capability, but you can certainly be a solid student, most people have that capability.

Chris Broussard:
And I was a good student because of the way my parents pushed me. So I think all of that, and I actually say that because it was in college when I decided fully that I was going to, I wanted to be a sports writer. And I often tell again, when I talk to young people, going through high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do, my first couple years in college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. But I still did well in school and had good grades. I had about maybe a 3.3, 3.4 grade point average in high school, 3.0 in college. And what that did was enable me once I decided, okay, I want to pursue journalism and be a sports writer, because I had done well all the way up till that point. I had the resume that opened up the doors.

Chris Broussard:
So when I had my first interview for an internship at the Plain Dealer, they saw, okay, you don't have a lot of experience but your grades are good, you're a good student, you're involved in a lot of extracurricular things on campus, you're in leadership roles and things like that. So that opened the door for me to realize my dream. If I had not been a good student, say I had a 1.7 grade point average, even though I knew, okay, I want to be a journalist and I want to be a sports writer, people would have seen that and those doors that were open to me may not have been open because I hadn't prepared myself.

Chris Broussard:
So, even as you're a young kid and you're sitting in history class thinking why do I need to know all this history or why do I need to learn geometry, calculus, pre-calculus, I don't want to do math for a living. Why do I need this. You should do your best in it anyway because there will come a point when you know what you want to do and you want to be a productive citizen. And if you open, if you do well in school before that point, up to that point, those doors will be opened for you. If you don't, you're kind of digging yourself a hole that can be difficult to get out of once you do realize this is what I want to do, because Mike, I get people all the time that come up to me, they may be early 20s, they may be 30s, 40s, I've even had a few in the 50s, I want to do what you do. How do I get there?

Chris Broussard:
And I'm honest with people. I don't sell dreams. I'm like, look, you're too old at this point to decide at 54 that you want to have a sports radio show. Now you can do a local thing and do a podcast and all that, but it's not realistic, I hate to say, that you're going to get to ESPN. So, you can do certain things, and like I said, do the podcast, do the local stuff. And hey, maybe a miracle to happen. But for the most part, it's late. And so, it's good to know, if you know what you want to do at a young age, you should pursue it. But even if you don't know, you should do the best in the classes and things that you have access to so when you decide what you want to do, you have a chance to realize it.

Michael Redd:
Yeah. What you do is not easy at all and you have had 25 years to get to this point to where you are now. It's a great point, man. I want to ask you this question about, who did you glean from, who inspired you? I know you're a history of your craft. Who inspired you the most at what you do now?

Chris Broussard:
Wow. As a kid, I mean, obviously, we all loved Howard Cosell. I loved Brent Musburger, who was huge when I was a kid. But then obviously seeing African Americans being an African American, seeing a guy like Fred Hickman. I don't even know if you remember when he was on CNN.

Michael Redd:
Of course.

Chris Broussard:
Bryant Gumbel, obviously, Irv Cross who was a former NFL player but was in a role on television. So, those things kind of opened the doors and let you begin thinking I could do this. And I'm going to say, I wouldn't say these guys inspired me but I do think they opened doors. One would be the legend, Stuart Scott. And I say he opened doors because before Stuart Scott, a lot of African Americans men, you kind of felt like you had to be different on television than your natural personality and things. And he obviously brought hip hop culture language, Ebonics, if you will, to the national level, and took a lot of shots for that. He got a lot of criticism for that, especially in those earlier years.

Chris Broussard:
And I always say if it wasn't for Stuart Scott, now maybe somebody else would have come along, or maybe one of these two guys would have been the precursor instead of Stuart, but there may not have been a Charles Barkley because Charles is not technically sound, he's just up there being himself. But when you go back in the day, OJ Simpson had to, when he called Monday Night Football, take the bass out of his voice. He tried to change his whole diction and mannerisms and everything to fit into that. Stuart Scott was himself. Now Charles Barkley who's probably the greatest ex player or one of them certainly to move into broadcasting, he's just being himself. And then the other second guy I say is Stephen A Smith. Stephen A is being himself.

Chris Broussard:
And the great thing is that with African Americans, we're not a monolith, we're all different. So, you have those guys who are different from a Stephen A or a Charles Barkley and different personalities and things like that. I bring up those guys because they opened the door for other African Americans to kind of be themselves. When I started doing television, I was just myself. That's one thing I tell ex athletes when they want to move into TV, I say be yourself. Don't try to sound like Bob Costas. We don't expect that from you. What we want from you is to give us the insight that we can't get. We weren't in the locker room for game seven speech. We haven't been in the locker room after a disappointing loss. We haven't been in the locker room and seen arguments or fights on the team. So, all of that stuff is what you can bring to the table.

Chris Broussard:
You got to know how to communicate to some degree, but don't be so concerned that, man, I used the slang term or I said ain't. You can be yourself, so be comfortable, because the best ex athletes and even analysts in my belief, they come off as comfortable, as being themselves. If you're viewed as being up there being phony and awkward and stiff, you're not going to be good on television. And so, I think I've come along in a time where I didn't have to worry about being so polished, but I could just kind of be myself, have my own personality and do my thing. So those are some of the guys that kind of inspired me and opened doors for me.

Michael Redd:
I think you're one of the best personalities on television.

Chris Broussard:
Thank you.

Michael Redd:
[inaudible 00:21:33] because you have, and we talked about this maybe even last week, you have a balanced approach. With so much competition out there, you mentioned the Stephen A Smiths, the Skips, the Shannons, all this competition out there, what has enabled you to stand out?

Chris Broussard:
I do think that, like you said, I just try to keep it real. I'm not carrying an athlete's water where no matter what, I'm going to always defend him no matter what because that's my guy. Obviously I got relationships, friendships and guys that I like, but I got to be objective. And then I'm not there to be a guy's antagonist either. I'm not going to hate on a guy no matter what. You score 45 points, hit the game winner, but I'm killing him because of some free throws he missed in the second quarter whatever it may be.

Chris Broussard:
So I'm going to try to call it like I see it, which makes it interesting because, it's weird because some people, when I see people on the street or whatever, they think I'm a LeBron guy. And I've had a good relationship with LeBron and did a lot of stories with him over the years and got to know him, more so in the past years than now, but they see me as the LeBron guy. But then there are other guys who see me who actually think I'm anti LeBron. It's just because I talk obviously favorably about LeBron because he deserves it in so many ways. But then a lot of times, I think Michael Jordan is the best player ever. So when I'm comparing LeBron and Michael Jordan, you nitpick. When you're comparing the all time super elite, you're nitpicking because they're all, you're choosing little things here and there that differentiate them. And so then in those cases, it looks like I'm going against LeBron, so it makes for a weird dynamic.

Chris Broussard:
If I'm on with somebody who is ultra LeBron, then I may come off like I'm a little anti LeBron. If I'm with somebody who's anti LeBron, I may come off like I'm just protecting him at all costs. And my thing is, I don't want to be seen, I just want to be viewed as objective, and like I said, I don't carry the water for any one guy. I'm just calling it like I see it. I want to stand on my own, I want people to judge me on myself and what I do. If LeBron fails, that shouldn't come on me. If he succeeds, that's his success, that shouldn't come with me. I may be right in a prediction or something, but at the end of the day, and yeah, I look good if I predict LeBron's going to lead the Lakers to the championship this year and he does it, it makes me look good. But at the end of the day, I want to stand on my own, I want people to judge me on my own merits and not on somebody else.

Michael Redd:
I want to talk real quick about 2016. You have worked your way up the ranks, you are now known nationally, globally, for what you do at ESPN. You make a big bet on yourself, and you shift and you pivot your career. Talk a little bit about that time period.

Chris Broussard:
I moved from ESPN to Fox Sports. And the reason I did it because ESPN, they made me an offer and they wanted to keep me fully in the reporter space. They wanted me to try to break news, when I'm watching television, just stick to reporting the facts. And obviously, I was doing sideline reporting, which was a lot of fun, and I do kind of miss that. But they just wanted to keep me in that role. They didn't want me to, even though I had done it there on First Tape with Skip Bayless before Stephen A became permanent, I was in the rotation of the guys that were debating with Skip and give my opinion and stuff. But they wanted me after 2016 to kind of just stick to being a straight up reporter and not give my opinion and things like that. And Fox wanted me as an opinionist, as someone who would go on their shows as an analyst/opinionist. And so just give my opinion.

Chris Broussard:
So for instance, this summer, or this offseason, Anthony Davis is a free agent. Now, it's pretty clear he's going to go back to Lakers but he is a free agent. So whereas at ESPN, my job was to chase that news down and try to break where he's going to go. At Fox, I don't have to do that. When he decides, now they want my analysis, now they want my opinion. Did he make the right decision? Did Kawhi make the right decision by going to the Clippers? Just giving my opinion and analysis. So I wanted to move in that space. And so, that's really why I made the move, and like you said, it is kind of betting on yourself because even though Fox Sports is obviously a big network in its own right, Fox Sports 1 is not ESPN. I love the role better.

Chris Broussard:
In old newspaper days, you used to have beat writes and I was a beat writer. So, I covered the Cavs, I wrote the game stories, I went to their practices every day and wrote the practice stories. And then you had columnists who just wrote their opinion. And they didn't go to all the games but they wrote their opinion about the team. And so, what I did in moving from ESPN to Fox was I kind of went from a beat writer role to a columnist role, except this on television. And so, that was, I was ready to make that move and I'm much happier in that role. And also, a lot of people have told me that they've seem more of my personality and more of my views and more of who I am here at Fox than they did at ESPN because I was more so in the reporting role.

Chris Broussard:
One of the things that surprised me is that in my view, my platform has not diminished at all because like I say, ESPN was bigger, it is bigger than Fox, but I still feel like people, just as many people see me now as they used to, a lot of that's social media in the way, even if as many people aren't watching FS1 as ESPN, they still can see you on social media, Instagram, Twitter and all that. So the landscape for everything has changed. But yeah, I don't feel like my platform's diminished at all.

Michael Redd:
How important is it for someone to stay true to who they are and true to what they love and true to their happiness because I'm sure during that transition, everybody was like Chris, why are you leaving ESPN?

Chris Broussard:
Right, right.

Michael Redd:
It doesn't make sense. But you were able to be true to who you were, your identity, and be committed and loyal to what was passionate to you. Talk about that, Chris, for a minute.

Chris Broussard:
A wise man once said, what does it help to gain the whole world and lose your soul.

Michael Redd:
Yeah, yes.

Chris Broussard:
I think it's critical to stay true to yourself because at the end of the day, if you gain everything but you're not happy while enjoying it, then what is the point? Or your family is falling apart because of it because you're a workaholic and all that, what's the point, I don't get it. So, yeah, I think it's critical to be true to yourself, which can be challenging, more so for younger people who grew up in this social media age. We didn't really grow up in the social media age so it's not as, I'm not as pressed about it as some of the younger people. But they have to remember that. You have to be true to yourself. Don't worry about what the next guy's doing on social media or what they seem to have going on or even as an ex player or as a player, man, you just can't get, I guess you have to know what type of person you are.

Chris Broussard:
Some people can get fueled by criticism. Others, they get too many voices in their head. So you have to know what type of person you are to determine how you should interact on social media. But yeah, you absolutely must stay true to yourself. I always say this about fame, Mike, I've got a little level of fame. And I always say like, fame is overrated. You know this as well. I see so many young people that just want to be famous, whether singing, rapping, sports, like their goal is just to be famous. Nowadays, you can just be famous for doing crazy stuff. And I'm sitting there saying, man, just to be famous for fame's sake is not fulfilling.

Chris Broussard:
The thing I love most about fame is the platform it gives me because I do want to speak to young people, I do want to speak to men at churches, at colleges, at schools. And this gives me the platform to do it. So, I love it. And even on social media, I have a following, so I can put stuff out. I love that part about it. That's what I love most about it. Obviously, there's fringe benefits. There's the money you make, you get gifts, people give you things. You get all that stuff too, but just, some people think that I want people to see my name in lights or I want to walk down the street and people are asking for my autograph or to take a picture. After a little while, that gets old. And that's not going to satisfy you.

Chris Broussard:
And so, I think if you're, and we see this whether it's with athletes or entertainers, people that don't know who they are aren't secure in their identity or their value system. They can get famous and it can destroy you. Whether it's drugs or whatever it may be, you can get lost because fame for fame's sake can end up really wrecking your life. But if you know who you are, if you have your value set, if you have a purpose, a legitimate purpose for your fame or for being famous, then I think you can handle it and it can be a positive. But it's very important to know who you are, be true to yourself before you get that fame because you can get caught out there.

Michael Redd:
Absolutely, absolutely. You said it all, I don't have to add to that at all. I'm going to divert a little bit to some fun conversation now. And we'll start with this one first in the sense where you've kind of seen the convergence between technology and sports and particularly the NBA over the last decade or so. Give our listeners your thoughts on data analytics and how it has affected the NBA game today compared to yesteryear.

Chris Broussard:
Man, analytics has changed everything. It has changed everything. And not just basketball. Baseball. I was growing up a big baseball fan, I still like it. But in baseball, for instance, baseball's generally been manufacturing runs, stealing bases, getting base hits. Obviously, there were some home runs. And now because of analytics, growing up informally, you didn't want to strike out in baseball, that was viewed as a negative. Now with analytics, striking out isn't a big deal. A lot of people, a lot of analytics push, we want home runs, we want you swinging for the fences every time you're at bat. And don't hit ground ball. So it's changed baseball.

Chris Broussard:
But to your point about basketball, that's why the three pointers become so much more prominent because analytically, people began to see that, hey, 50% is always good shooting 50% from the floor. If you're close to that, that's great. If you're above that, that's fantastic, especially as a perimeter player. And analytics guys began to see, hold on, if you hit one of three shots, if you hit 33% from three point range, that's the equivalent of hitting 50% from two. So maybe, generally a decent shooter can hit 33% from three. So, why don't we shoot more threes, especially if a guy's hitting 37% or 40%, we should shoot more threes. That's changed the game because now obviously teams are shooting far more threes.

Chris Broussard:
And then the analytics have shown the mid-range shot is not a good shot because you can hit a, they'll say, rather than take a 20 footer, where you may shoot 41% from, why not step back three feet and shoot a three pointer that's worth more points and you may shoot 39% from there. So now the analytics guys have said there's only, like in Houston with Mike D'Antoni and Daryl Morey, the GM, they're very much into this. They want to score on a three pointer a shot in the paint or essentially at the rim because that's obviously a high percentage shot or a free throw. That's it. They've had games where they've taken four mid range shots in the whole game as a team or even fewer perhaps.

Chris Broussard:
And so, I think, Mike, that sports are always better when there's a balance. In football, I don't want to see the Arena Football League where it's all passing, and I don't want to see three yards and a cloud of dust. I want to mixture, passing and running. In baseball, I don't want to see all home runs and strikeouts. I want to see some home runs, but I want to see some manufacturer runs, I want to see stolen bases, we never see stolen bases anymore. That's kind of rooted out the game. I want a balance. I want base hits too.

Chris Broussard:
In basketball, I want transition, I want some threes. But I also definitely want mid range because some of the most creative players of all time have been mid range guys. Michael Jordan made his living in the mid range. And then I want some post play even, not all post play, but I'd like some post play. And so, I think we're entering an era where I think the NBA has to be careful that it doesn't become too imbalanced where it's essentially all threes and paint shots. And if that happens, they may need to look at adjusting some of the rules to change things. So yeah, analytics has had a tremendous impact on the sport.

Michael Redd:
It's a game of intuition. And I think with the shift of ownership over the last decade and a half from traditional owners to now the VCs are getting into the game as far as ownership, private equity owners are coming into the game, and so they're seeing the game from an analytical quantitative perspective. And I get that on the efficiency of the game, but I still love the intuition, that it doesn't matter to me if I'm close to three point line or not, this is the shot I have, I'm taking it right now. You miss that element. But there's an influx of new owners over the last decade who are VCs, who are entrepreneurs, and they're bringing in their analytics teams.

Chris Broussard:
You hit it on the head in that, traditionally, the next generation of players and coaches has typically, not exclusively, but typically come from players. And so, now, you are getting, and you know this, Mike, there are guys running basketball teams that didn't even play at a high school level or play well at a high school level. And not that they can't know the game but there should be something to say if I haven't played it too.

Chris Broussard:
What a lot of ex players tell me is that when you go in for an interview, whether it's a front office position or coaching, the analytics guys can vibe with that new ownership, as you mentioned, because that new ownership in their other businesses, they're used to graphs. You can show me the numbers versus why this is going to work, why that's not. And that's what the analytics can do. They'll show you, Michael Redd shot 44% from this spot on the floor, so we want him shooting here. When I'm coaching, I'm going to have him shooting here versus over here where he only shoots 34%. They can show you all this stuff, whereas a former player may not be able to do all that, but he can talk to you about the game.

Chris Broussard:
I do feel like there are some analytics guys, not all, but there are some, they can't watch the game and tell you who can ball. They can't sit there and watch it and see who can ball or who can't. They can only look at the numbers. And what analytics don't tell you, Mike, and you know this obviously as a former player, it doesn't bring in the equation chemistry. Are these two players going to work together, going to fit together? Do their personalities fit? Locker room camaraderie. The human elements. Is a guy, okay, his numbers may be great, but does he have heart? How's he going to react under pressure in the playoffs? Things like that. And that's where the, I think analytics is a part of the equation. Where they go wrong is when they make it the entire equation or the determining factor. And that's where there's error.

Michael Redd:
I want to shift back to you in a sense where there's another moment in your life, one of the most important moments in your life I think, part of your legacy, the K.I.N.G Movement. And you are the founder and president of the K.I.N.G Movement. Talk to our listeners about that whole concept and what you've done with it.

Chris Broussard:
Well, the K.I.N.G Movement, thank you for bringing it up, it's a national Christian men's movement. K.I.N.G is an acronym that stands for knowledge, inspiration and nurture through God. And in a nutshell, the goal is to strengthen men in their daily walks with Christ, so that we can live out our commitments of Christ in our marriages, in our relationships with our children, in the workplace, in our fraternities, wherever it may be, on the college campus. And the thing is that, and we do that through brotherhood, teaching, accountability, encouragement, support.

Chris Broussard:
The things that kind of inspired me to start it was I became a Christian when I was 21 years old, I was a senior in college. And as I began to try to live out my Christian faith, I didn't know a lot of young brothers that I could relate to that were doing that. I knew a lot of dudes that went to church. But as far as really trying to live for the Lord, I just didn't see that. And I was in a good church, but you know, a lot of the guys were older or married and things like that. So, I wanted dudes that I could relate to in terms of culture, hip hop, sports, whatever it might be, but who also loved the Lord and would encourage me in that walk rather than tempting me, even if it wasn't on purpose to walk away.

Chris Broussard:
And so, as I began to meet more guys like that, I was in Cleveland, Ohio at the time, as I began to meet more guys like that, who were my age, who loved the Lord, I began to see that they were kind of isolated too and they didn't have a support system of young brothers. And with a lot of guys, what it led to, Mike, is a lot of men's walk is like a roller coaster. Their walk with the Lord is a roller coaster. And one of those down periods, you can ruin your life. You may still be saved and all that but you can ruin your marriage, you can ruin your witness to the world, you can ruin your relationship with your children. I met dudes, hardcore dudes who became Christians in prison, or who were delivered from a life of crime on the streets. If they go in one of those down periods, and I saw it, they ended up back in jail.

Chris Broussard:
I felt like part of the reason guys, their walks were like that, there are other reasons too, but it was because they lacked brotherhood of men who loved the Lord. We all as men need male bonding. One of the best things about being an athlete in a team sport is the camaraderie with your teammates. Growing up, my best friends were always my fellow athletes in high school and college and stuff. So that's male bonding, fraternities or lodges, or even gangs, those are all forms of male bonding. And a lot of times even as Christian men, our male bonding is always outside of the church. And that's not bad because we should have that as well. But in a lot of times, if you only have brothers to hang with who aren't Christians, a lot of times, you can find yourself in a position where they're doing things that you, your biblical principles and lifestyle is being challenged. So you will either feel tempted to do what they're doing or feel like, man, I'm missing out, or be miserable because you're not doing what they're doing.

Chris Broussard:
And so, I wanted to create a brotherhood where you could have men you can relate to in all other aspects of life, but who also loved the Lord, and who were going to encourage you in your walk with Christ rather than, again, maybe not even on purpose, but rather than discourage you. We found that that's been a great, it's been a great help to so many men, to myself, and so many other men because, and I'm not talking about men that are just church doors, I'm talking about men who really love the Lord. Inevitably, and Jesus talked about this when he talked about the Parable of the Sower. At different points in your life, your faith will be challenged. And there are many men who start really strong in the Lord. And they may stay in the Lord but whether it's church hurt, and you see stuff and you deal with the daily aspects of life, and they challenge your faith. And a lot of men lose that, they may still be saved and still follow the Lord, but they lose that fire, they lose that zeal, they lose that zest. Yeah, they're staying in the Lord, but they're kind of just hanging on.

Chris Broussard:
And so, what we found is by creating this brotherhood and this bond, brothers are just encouraged, man. It's just great to see, be able to have other men that, again, you can relate to, they're in your age group, you can relate to them in other ways, but they love the Lord. We got chapters throughout the country. And so, we have men who when they travel for work, now they got brothers that they can hook up with and hang out with when they're in different cities and stuff. So, it's really been a blessing for, like I said, for me and for many other men.

Michael Redd:
It's an incredible organization and it's such an inspiration. Last question that I have for you, is with everything that you've experienced over the last 20, 30 years of being in this business, what would you tell your 16 year old self at this point?

Chris Broussard:
16, I was a junior year in high school. One thing I would tell myself to comfort myself would be, it's all going to work out. You know what I mean, it's all going to work out, because at that age, you don't know. You don't know, am I going to get a good job when I grow up and things like that. I would say that, and we talked about it earlier, being true to yourself. Don't worry about fitting in, especially as a teenager, you want to be in the in crowd and things like that. Don't worry about any of that, be yourself, be true to yourself, and never compromise or sell out your values and principles to fit in or anything like that. But be true to yourself.

Michael Redd:
Wow. You're a man of faith, you're a man of principle, man. It's been an honor knowing you, brother, and thank you for being on the show today.

Chris Broussard:
Thank you. You do a great job, man. Real talk.

Michael Redd:
I learned from the best, brother.

Chris Broussard:
You're definitely nice behind that mic. How long have you been doing it?

Michael Redd:
Just started.

Chris Broussard:
I know you did a little TV obviously too. But I mean like the podcast and stuff.

Michael Redd:
I just started.

Chris Broussard:
Interviews is a different thing.

Michael Redd:
I just started and I've taken notes over the years from all the interviews I've ever done, and how great interviewers have interviewed me and just take notes. But I'm really passionate about the people who I interview with. So I'm all in. I've know you for 20 years, I've known Alan my whole 20 years. So it's an easy conversation with us that I just want to put on to a podcast.

Chris Broussard:
It's great, man.

Michael Redd:
Thank you, brother.

Chris Broussard:
You keep up the good work and we'll obviously be in touch. Yeah, man, this is great, I enjoyed it, a lot of fun. If you are ever interested in getting back on the big screen-

Michael Redd:
Yeah, I'm ready, whatever you want me.

Chris Broussard:
Well, we definitely going to have you on the radio show, but I'm sure there could be TV and stuff too if you want to do anything.

Michael Redd:
You know what, Chris, I did it, man. I was doing it with ESPN a little bit, and I did TNT a little bit with the guys. I was doing NBA TV a lot and it was taking away from my family a lot. As you know man, after having that long career, and then jumping right back into now leaving the house again, leaving house again, my wife was like nah.

Chris Broussard:
That's the right move because look, praise the Lord, you made enough money in your career where you don't have to sacrifice your family. We never should sacrifice our families.

Michael Redd:
I know what you're saying.

Chris Broussard:
It almost ain't even justifiable that you would be away from your family. You know what I mean?

Michael Redd:
I think with me, I had to detox from fame, detox from the limelight, detox from the criticism, detox from the pressure. I've been away from it for seven, eight years. And people now that I'm back on social media, like man, where you been. And I was like, I needed that time of solitude to get away from the rat race and the world that we were in and that you know of so well. I had to rediscover myself again and reinvent myself, man. And obviously spend time with the Lord, what do you want me to do with my life next? I got 50 more years on this earth, God willing, what do you want me to do beyond the game of basketball? But I had to detox from everything.

Chris Broussard:
Yeah, I believe it, man. You know better than me, that's a different world, man. I enjoyed it, and anytime you do double, repeat interviews later on down the line, let me know.

Michael Redd:
You know what it is. All right, brother, I appreciate you, man.

Michael Redd:
There's so many lessons to learn from Chris's story. He's humble, goes after what he wants, and doesn't let anything stop him. His level of confidence in himself is something we should all work towards. To follow and learn more about Chris and the K.I.N.G Movement, follow him on twitter @Chris_Broussard or visit Kingmovement.com. Thanks again for listening to today's episode. To read the shows notes, learn more about my work or connect with me, visit Michaelredd.com. New episodes released every week on Monday. So make sure to subscribe if you want to stay up to date. Until next time, I'm Michael Redd, and remember, you are the secret to your success.