I'd like to welcome our first major guest, controversial.
She is unapologetic.
She is.
But in the same sentiment, she has over 17 years
in this damn industry.
So respectable.
She is, everybody.
Miko Grimes.
Hi, you guys.
Thank you so much.
Darion, I obviously know you, but I don't know your co-host.
So hello.
How are you doing?
This is the first time we ever met.
But like, yeah, my name is Kyle.
Nice to meet you.
Very excited for it.
How you been?
Nice to meet you as well.
Very excited.
For me, it's just the thing of we have a lot of people
that do know you, but we also have some people that may not
know the full effect of Miko Grimes.
So early on, Miko, what was your life like before the fame,
before you got into even basketball?
What was it like for you?
Young black girl from Inglewood, California.
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
I never want people to not know that part about me.
Born in St. Louis, moved to Los Angeles around the age
between like four or five years old.
I moved to LA.
And I've always been a tomboy.
Soccer was my first love.
Got a little issues with anger management,
so couldn't play soccer.
Got introduced to basketball and just fell in love
and just knew I wanted to be a professional basketball player
since I was about 10 years old.
And my whole life was just based on just
trying to get, I was always just trying to get good grades
and trying to play basketball.
That's just how I grew up and had a lot of ups and downs
in life.
Things happen.
I had to push through a lot of unfortunate things as a kid.
But I pushed through and I think that I
created a great life for myself.
In 2006 is when I started in my second career
as a sports journalist.
And that's after I was done playing basketball overseas.
I went overseas and played for quite a few countries.
People always ask me, oh, what country, what team?
I wasn't on any of the Euroleague teams,
the big time teams.
I went to a Division II school, Cal State LA.
So it wasn't like I was a big time player,
but I was a hooper.
And played overseas when I retired from playing basketball
overseas, I decided to do a career in journalism.
And I found out that they don't just
let women just jump right into sports journalism at that time.
You have to go to school.
So I went to broadcasting school.
Got my credentials, got everything I needed to be a sports
journalist, and been doing that since 2006.
Oh, very nice.
Is this true or not?
I read about you that you were also
offered a role in NBA TV.
Passed on that, 2006-ish?
Oh my god.
That's one of the things I did want
to talk to you about when you were telling me
some bullshit place to go in my time of trying
to climb this ladder.
I wasn't offered a job.
I was told that I would, you know,
I had a show with Dennis Scott.
Everybody knows Dennis Scott if he played basketball.
We had a show, and it was his show.
It was called 3D After Dark, and I was his co-host.
And when he moved to NBA TV, he would constantly
tell me that, you know, I'm going to bring you up.
I'm going to bring you up.
To the point where there was two different times that he
asked me to meet him at a studio.
He was basically saying, I can't promise you a job,
but I'm going to get you in the building.
I'm going to introduce you to everybody there.
They're going to see you.
They're going to see you're real.
They're going to know you're good.
You know, it's going to happen for you.
Two different times he told me to meet him at the studio,
and he left me outside both times.
No pickup of the phone, no text back, no nothing.
That's the closest I've ever been to getting a job on NBA TV.
He's like, when did you realize that you
had a voice that resonated with the people that
listened to what you had to say with the confidence
that you have when you say it?
I've always been a leader my whole life.
Like, even as a kid, I never followed people.
I never did what everybody else did.
I traveled to the beat of my own drum my entire life.
And I learned at a young age that people
would follow me like that.
I had a lot of friends that followed me,
and they just thought like I was a leader.
And I never was a bullshit artist.
I never played with people.
I never capped what they call it today.
I just kept it real.
And I think people, even young, always liked that about me.
So I always knew that if I kept it real with people,
that people would listen to me.
So I just always was myself and always
said what was supposed to be said.
I said the uncomfortable things and things
that people were afraid to say.
And that's why a lot of people followed me and listened to me
and supported me on my entire journey in life.
Covering sports over the last 17 years,
I'm sorry, Miko, in that time, what
are some of the negative encounters
that you've actually had, anything you want to speak on?
Yeah, I was going to speak on that Dennis Scott situation
where I was doing that show with him.
And we had a great show.
He loved me.
He was just like, because we covered
the Falcons and the Hawks.
This was in Atlanta.
This is how I met my husband as well.
But he would just always give me so many compliments.
The callers would call in.
And it was a live radio show.
So you can't bullshit your way through something like that.
So I was just always on my toes.
I knew my shit.
And he was just like, man, man, I got this opportunity at NBA TV.
And I want to bring you with me, man.
You deserve to be on TV.
You really know your stuff.
He would always like, you're beautiful.
You're smart.
You got everything that you need to make it.
You just need somebody to look out because I'm going to look out.
And I'm like, OK, cool.
And he didn't look out.
He literally looked at me hanging.
It was so weird because me and my husband had seat.
We weren't even married at the time.
But we would get season tickets to the Hawks games.
And he was working there.
And he would see us and come over and try to dap me up.
And I would never want to dap him up.
And Brent would always say, still dap, still speak,
still be respectful, even though he played you.
And I'm like, fuck him.
But Brent is always like, he's a do-gooder.
He does the right thing all the time.
And I would just be respectful.
And he'd be like, yeah, you don't have to talk to him or be nice to him.
Just dap him up and keep it moving.
And there was other little incidents where
I would try to get work or get jobs.
And men would want me to do inappropriate things.
I remember one time this producer, he came this close to my face.
I was sitting down.
His dick was right here.
And he was saying to me, you're so good at this.
You're so talented.
You just need one or two more things to get over the hump to really make it.
And I carry a gun.
And so I pulled my gun out and put my gun on his dick.
And I was like, if you don't move your dick from near my face,
I will shoot that little motherfucker off.
And it was stuff like that, like men approaching me
for sexual favors to get work.
I was sidelined reporting for a couple of HBCUs.
I was just hustling in the industry trying to get out there.
But men are constantly wanting head or pussy or whatever.
They try to see if you're with it.
And I was never with it.
I've never done a sexual favor for a job ever in my life.
And I never will.
Because first of all, my shit is worth more than whatever this bullshit job you
try to offer me anyway.
You're not getting this or that.
It was just weird to me that that was even something
that people thought I would do, knowing how rudely honest and loud I was.
It was just crazy to me.
But I experienced that.
I'm sure a lot of women experience that in their industry.
And stuff like that meant just people constantly lying about saying
they're going to do something, get you into doors, help you with something,
and everybody just being full of shit at the end of the day.
So obviously, it takes a lot of resilience for you to, well, one,
look a man in the eye or anybody in the eye that's done you wrong.
And like Brent said, still be able to adapt them up and act
like everything's cool in that moment.
It takes a lot of resilience to do that.
How much of that can you take or have you taken before it got to the point
where it's like, man, fuck this.
I don't want to do this anymore.
It seems like I'm never able to actually get to where I want to be because
of these fucked up people.
I had come to that conclusion a couple of times, but it was just something
I love about sports journalism.
I would do it for free.
And I've done it for free quite a few times.
And after I had my son, I was thinking, of course, I'm going to take some time
off and make a decision on whether or not this is an industry that I still
want to be in because I didn't want to have a babysitter or a nanny taking
care of my child every day and me working knowing that Brent is providing
plenty of money for me to take care of myself.
But it was something I truly loved.
And he got the contract in Miami with the Dolphins.
And the first day that he signed, there was a sports journalist there
named Omar Kelly.
And he wrote a column basically saying that they had paid Brent too much money,
that he had heard that Brent was washed and he wasn't, you know, because he had
the Achilles injury, he wasn't anything like he was supposed to be.
And at the time, this was like Twitter, you know, Instagram had started, but it
wasn't like popping like Twitter.
And I was, you know, on Twitter heavy, like super heavy.
And so I tweeted him back and I was like, I'm going to go through every article
that you've written about this team and I'm going to dissect everything that
you were wrong about.
And I was bored.
So I took the time to constantly tweet him and berate him and disrespect him on
his false opinions, false education about certain players and he was wrong about
certain situations, certain downs, certain calls.
Like I just took the time to just violate him, you know, on Twitter.
And all the fans were already there was like, oh, we love her.
Like she, season ending started.
This is in March. Okay.
And I'm violating him on Twitter.
And I told him, I said, you're going to learn to never disrespect my husband
ever again.
Like you're going to learn when the season starts.
So I want to say like maybe three or four weeks into the season, Bray is clearly
balling, like kicking ass.
And he hit me up and DM me and asked me, we were in New Orleans, they're about to
play the Saints and he DM me and he asked me to come to him.
He wanted to meet with me for lunch.
And I was like, should I meet with him and Bray was like, sure, why not?
Maybe he wants to apologize for, you know, disrespecting me.
Like, you know, and I was like, all right, I'll meet him for lunch.
So we were in New Orleans and I met him for lunch and he apologized to me for his,
you know, being incorrect about Brent's skills.
He's like, he's incredible.
He goes, I was told all these things about him from the Falcons.
That's why I was reporting.
And I was like, that's not a good reporter.
Someone can give you information, but you still have to do the work and do your
own research.
He was like, you taught me that.
I learned that I can't go off of what a team he's leaving says about him.
I have to, you know, get my own eyes on him and, you know, get my own experience.
And he was like, all right.
He goes, how would you feel about joining my radio show?
I have a radio show called the Omar Kelly show.
I would like you to be the cohost.
And I was like, really?
He goes, yeah, I looked you up.
I heard you have a lot of experience.
You had a radio show in Atlanta.
He goes, I would love to have you as a cohost.
And I was skeptical because of everything I've been through.
And I was like, I was like, I don't know.
I don't feel like getting played.
And he was like, I promise you, I'm not going to play.
It's not going to be that.
And I was like, cool.
I decided to do the show with him.
Before the show was over, the program director had, he was the head mic.
You know, on radio, there's a head mic and then, you know, the cohosts, they had
made me the first chair of the show and turned it into the Miko and Omar show.
And let me lead the show.
I'm literally the show.
And Omar took that and said, you're right.
They're right.
You can do this job better than me.
Like he said that to me.
And he was like, I don't mind being your second chair.
Like you're incredible.
You're amazing.
Let's do this.
So I was first chair on the show and the show was incredible.
We did an amazing job.
It was fun.
I pushed the envelope.
Of course, you know, I don't tow the line.
I step over that.
I'm a habitual line stepper on the show.
I covered the dolphins.
I covered the heat.
I covered the hurricanes.
I did my job and it was great until I got arrested and then I got fired.
But Omar Kelly made me want to continue sports journalism just because of the way he treated
me, the way he had my back, the way he was honest with me and said that he knew that
I had the talent to lead the show.
And he most men wouldn't do that, what he did.
And that made me want to continue, honestly.
So then you said that obviously that was probably a hell of a highlight for you to start off
your career, right?
And so a man tells you that you're in a good spot and you mentioned that you got arrested.
Can you talk a little bit about what happened during that situation?
Yeah.
So a big part of my show, which you're not supposed to do as sports journalism, you're
supposed to stick to sports.
I never stuck to sports.
I'm a black woman and I don't take kindly to the way that police treat people of my
color and any minority.
And so I had segments on my sports talk show where I talked about the crimes that Miami
Day police department was committing and some of the wrongful arrests, some of the bad smearing
things that didn't reach TV.
But I lived there so I can speak on these things.
And so I got a lot of flack from people calling in that were saying they were police.
We would kind of screen the calls a little bit, but people would lie and they try to
get on the radio and say things like, oh, when I catch you out somewhere, I got threats
from people on social media.
They were saying they were police, they were saying they were going to do something to
me for bringing up the police and what they're doing in Miami.
And that particular day I was tailgating like I always am.
And to make the story short, because nobody really cared about what really happened at
the end of it, the police beat my ass at the stadium for no reason.
They said I was trespassing.
They said I attacked four police officers.
They said I headbutted a police officer and busted her head open.
All of it was lies.
They really just attacked me because of what I was saying on my radio show about them.
And the Dolphins, I wanted to counter sue.
They dropped first of all, I had to take a lie detector test.
The state attorney was trying to get me to work out a deal and I refused.
I said, I'm not doing, I'm not working out nothing.
There's no deal to be made.
I don't care if it doesn't.
They were like, well, there's no jail time.
We're just going to make you go to anger management, make you do community service.
I said, no, I'm not doing a fucking thing.
I didn't do anything wrong.
And they're like, you're facing 11 years in prison.
I said, let's fucking go.
When's the trial?
Because I didn't do it.
I didn't do any of this shit.
So the state attorney was telling me that she was having trouble getting the police
to all have the same story.
They had mixed up stories.
So she asked me to take a lie detector test on the situation.
The police set the whole thing up.
I went and took the lie detector test.
You have to take a, get a seven to pass.
I got a 12.
And they were just like, whoa.
They were like, this is crazy that you got a 12.
Can you do it again?
They asked me three days later to do it again with a different, like a whole nother test.
And I said, sure, I'm not lying.
And I did a test with a whole different questions, everything.
I got a 12 again.
And so the state attorney decided to drop all the charges.
She said, don't even come to the trials.
The first day she's like, don't even come.
I'm dropping the charges.
And she said, I don't even, I think that something foul went on.
This girl's not lying.
The police's story was all mixed up.
She doesn't have a gash in her forehead.
Why does the cop have the gash in his forehead?
You know what I mean?
Like, and she dropped the charges.
No one cared once they were dropped, you know, no one gave a shit.
And I was just like, wow, like that's so fucked up.
So I wanted to counter sue.
So I had, I, you know, subpoenaed the footage because this happened right outside the stadium.
So I subpoenaed the footage from the dolphins and they refused to give me the footage and
basically told my lawyer that the cameras, all the cameras, all these cameras everywhere
happened to malfunction when this situation took place.
They asked me to let it go.
They like, Miko, just let it go.
They dropped the charges, let it go.
And I was like, I got my ass beat.
I still to this day have a slip disc in my back from that, from the way they beat me.
And I just, I had no proof.
My lawyer was like, you can try to do it, but without evidence, no judge is going to
take your side.
They're always going to take the police side.
So if you want to give me your money to sue them and we're probably going to lose, then
we can, but it's just your word over there is if you don't have the footage from the
dolphins.
And so I didn't sue.
Did that, did that kind of like that situation, did that kind of give you pushback for future
like jobs that you had coming up?
Like after that situation?
Yeah, at that point I knew I was done.
I knew that I was done and, and I was telling my husband like, this is your last season
with the dolphins.
Like this, we're done with them.
I told him to quit during the season and he wouldn't.
He was like, no, I can't do that.
He goes, I know you were wrong, but this is like, these are his brothers, you know?
He's like, I'm going to finish the season with them.
I don't want to leave them hanging just because the front office did some foul shit.
And I was like, all right, I respect that.
You know, that's who he is.
He's a standup guy.
So I was like, all right, you know, I was like, but this is the last season.
And I knew I was going to get blackballed after that.
And that's kind of what happened.
I got blackballed after that.
I didn't get any like work with either, you know, the big names after that.
So I of course went on a rant and destroyed them.
The only thing I could do.
I mean, so not to discredit you at all.
Did your husband's, did his name kind of help going in the future?
Like, or like, was that that help you get jobs going on in the future?
Or was that just something that just happened naturally just from your charisma and everything
that you bring to the table?
No Brent didn't, his name didn't help me at all.
They knew that I was a pro players.
Like even my radio show, like I didn't, whenever a player, let's just say you were a player
and you got a DUI or something like that.
I didn't bash them.
I gave them, I gave advice on, you know, like I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
I was never like, I was pro player.
I would never take the side of, of front office.
Anytime there was a disgruntled situation with a player and you know, this player is asking
for a trade, this player is asking for more money.
I was always like pro player and giving all my listeners examples of why they should be
pro players.
So they didn't like that about me either.
The dolphins con came to Brent several times and asked him to ask me to quit my job.
They were like, tell her to quit her job.
And he was like, why?
And they were like, because she's saying things that we don't like.
Like she's saying stuff that we don't want the fans to know.
And I'm like, he was like, she doesn't work for you guys.
She's not going to quit her job.
She was doing this before I met her.
Like this, this is her job.
She's pro player.
Like this is what she does.
You know, and there was this like saying, making it a money thing, like, oh my God,
you make so much money.
Why do you have your wife working?
And he's like, I don't have her working.
She loves her job.
And they said it so much to the point where he, he was like, you know what?
He pulled out his phone.
He told me this happened.
He put out his phone.
He called me and put it on speakerphone.
He goes, you guys tell her to quit here.
Here.
She's on speaker.
And I'm like, hello?
And they got quiet.
And I'm like, what's up?
And he was like, oh, I was, they didn't say anything, but I told them to tell you to quit
your job.
They won't do it.
They want me to do it.
And I was like, fuck.
And I started cussing.
He hung up.
He was like, I'm not listening to you guys.
Like she's going to do her own thing.
She's always done her own thing.
You know?
And they were just mad that I wasn't like a typical sports reporter.
I didn't just do what I was told.
I did what I knew was right for the players.
I was always for the players.
Yeah.
Oh man.
See that that's a testament to who you are as a person.
That's something I've really enjoyed about you so far.
I want to, I want to take a step over more to you and Brent because obviously he's your
rock.
He's in your corner, it seems like, and how he's has been.
Did you know what it was going to be like or at least what you were going to get yourself
into marrying a pro athlete?
Well, I thought it would benefit him to be honest.
And it did.
I mean, he's married pro athlete.
He's married somebody.
I met him when I retired.
So I had already been through the mind of being a professional athlete.
I was able to give him experience on what I had went through.
And I was, you know, even though he had an agent, you know, I was behind the scenes,
you know, and I'm in the contract talks.
I'm all in this shit.
I'm like, you know, pushing the buttons and making sure shit's going right for him.
And I just always thought that I love athletes.
I've always dated athletes and they're like, Oh, you're a gold digger.
Like, I like successful people.
I don't if that's gold digging, then sign me up, bitch.
I'm a gold digger, but I like people that are successful.
I like people that are making money and I like people that are athletic.
And that's what I've always dated.
So, you know, it was different for me to date a football player though, because I like basketball
players.
But, you know, I just like Brent and he was a nice guy.
And I didn't think anything of marrying him.
I thought like, honestly, I'm just keeping it real.
I thought he would benefit from my experience and I'm older than him and everything.
And we would have a good time because I'm a good time.
That you are and that you are.
And so you guys have a 13 year old son together, correct?
Yes, Aiden.
Can you tell me about him?
Aiden is, he's me.
I feel like he's me.
He has my personality.
He does have a little bit of Brennan Ham when he doesn't care to, I'm a party animal.
I like to party, socialize, have a lot of fun.
Aiden's like that, but he's still kind of like chill in a way.
Aiden is trained to be a professional tennis player.
I try to get him to play basketball, but he loves tennis.
So he's in a tennis academy right now, struggling with the transition a little bit.
We talk about it on my podcast a little bit.
He's just an amazing kid.
He's smart.
I teach him to think for himself.
I teach him to speak up for what's right.
And he's just amazing.
Good.
Yeah.
So for those that don't know, I do have the pleasure of editing her podcast.
And so the moments that I see that Miko has with Aiden and Brent are really, really, really
good to see.
So I mean, such a beautiful thing.
So make sure you check out that when you can.
I want to talk about one last football related thing before we go into kind of why we're
really here.
Channing Crowder.
I think it was 2015.
There was an incident you guys had a little back and forth.
Can you tell us a little bit more on what the fuck happened there?
Well Channing, like the radio show I told you that I was on.
Channing was the show right before mine.
He was on.
There was three guys.
I don't remember all their names, but there was three of them and like they had the show
before us.
So you know, radio was in slots.
So I was a slot behind him for the most part.
And I was by Channing was cool.
You know, he kind of gives me like the, the, the, I don't want to be, I don't want to be
rude or mean or anything.
I try to be honest, but I want to be nice because I've moved past the situation.
There's, I don't have any issues with him or any beef or anything, but he was telling
people that trying to insinuate that Brent was giving me all of my information for my
show.
Like, like I wasn't smart.
Like it wasn't coming from me, which is strange.
It's a live show.
People calling in, like I can set what we're talking about all I want.
When people call in after respond with, you know, information.
And he was just trying to say, you know, negative things about my show and everything.
And I was just like, kind of like pissed off about it.
Cause there's not that many black people on the, on the, on the network, the radio show
that we were on.
And I kind of let it go that he was talking shit.
And then we had a reality show that we did together with his wife and me and his wife
got into it because she wanted my son and her son to film because they went to the same
school, but my son didn't like her son.
And I didn't force my son to film with him.
They wanted, you know, Hey, let's do a scene where, you know, our kids are playing together.
And I asked Aiden about it and he said, no, I don't want to film him.
Like I don't like him.
And he actually told me he had beat him up a couple of times at school.
And so I didn't let my son do that.
And so we were on the show, the wife was kind of trying to press me about letting them film
together and calling me a bad mother and saying that I was trying to keep best friends apart.
And I'm like, girl, my son don't even like your son.
Like, you know, a lot of, a lot of stuff was lost in editing on that show, but then they
had this whole situation where they confronted me at a, at an event on the show and try to
disrespect me and come for me.
But Brent was there.
And of course, when Brent is there, I have to be a lady.
So I kind of took the high road of the entire situation just because I'm listening to what
my husband is telling me to do.
But I wanted to cuss the asses out so bad.
But I just kind of took the high road in that situation because I just, you know, I don't,
I don't like men approaching me talking to me about stuff that like that.
Like it was just weird that he was, I felt like honestly that the 2015 was not the reality
show that was just him talking shit, but he brought it into 2017 when we're doing the
reality show.
And I was trying to like take shots at my show and everything.
And I never, like I said, I'm trying to be nice.
I never valued champion opinion in sports IQ.
I never did.
I always thought he was the funny guy on the show.
You know, I'm trying to be nice.
He was the guy with the jokes.
He can make every situation funny.
Like, you know, you always need a guy like that on, on shows.
So I never really valued anything he brought to the show.
And I might, may have said that, but I never had any, I never had any beef with him.
I never had any issues with him at all.
And I just didn't like that he was coming for the black girl on the network.
You know, it was just weird.
Again, other, you know, like it's always just men.
It's always men coming for me and attacking me.
Like, how do you think I was on the radio all these years?
You think Brent was sitting next to me every day?
Like, like it was just weird for him to say that I didn't know what I was talking about.
That it was Brent, like feeding me information.
I think a part of it, he was upset that some of the knowledge I did have, I did get from
Brent, you know, like I would know if somebody was interested and they were going to play
that week.
He wouldn't know that.
You know what I mean?
I'm laying in bed.
I'm sucking dick to a man on the team.
Of course I'm going to have information that other people don't know, but that's not why
my show was good, you know?
So he would just, he was like jealousy.
He was kind of upset that I knew things.
I had tea that the other shows didn't have.
Well go suck one of their dick then if you want it.
Yeah, really.
So disrespect seems to be a consistent thing.
Even though Brent wasn't beside you feeding information because you damn sure more than
capable to find that out and be knowledgeable yourself.
I'm sure he's been a major backbone and by your side through this time now.
So how has he felt about the disrespect that you've received on Gills Arena so far?
It's typical.
He's heard all my stories, you know, so he's not shocked.
He's more shocked that it's a show that I was literally flying to LA, leaving my family
behind to do it.
You know, he was just like quit.
You're rich.
You don't need this.
No quit.
Like, don't let someone disrespect you.
Like, you know, he always he's going to like tell me whatever is going to just end it.
You know, he's not the, you know, of course, when he found out like what was really going
on, what was happening with me, he was upset that none of these men, you know, had my back.
They weren't like supportive of me.
And that's what he was just like quit, leave.
You don't have to take this.
You don't have to deal with this.
Like, don't, don't, you know, let anyone talk to you like that, especially, you know, over
something you don't need.
And I'm like, but like, I, I put all this work in, I put all this time and I didn't
want to quit, you know, even though I probably should have, but I didn't want to quit.
This was and I was, I was asked not to quit several times.
And Brent was just like, if you stay, you know, so this is what you have to deal with.
You know, he basically was like, you don't have to work a day in your life.
Why are you doing this?
You said you were done with sports reporting anyway.
You said you were jaded from the whole entire industry and you went back because you know,
someone you consider a friend constantly asks you to come back and you went back and you're
just being disrespected.
And it wasn't just, there was multiple things that were taking place off camera, you know,
that he was hearing about.
And he just kept saying quit, quit, quit, quit.
I just didn't, you know, I just like, no, I'm standing my ground on this, you know,
like I'm not going to just bitch up and let them get to me, you know, I deserve to be
on this couch, you know?
And he was just like, well, this is what happens if you deal with people that don't, you know,
support you that aren't real men.
Is that Gilbert Arenas?
Like how did that friendship, like how did that start?
Like from the beginning to get you back up?
Well I've known Gil and Brandon, we all are from LA.
So we've known each other forever.
Even if we weren't like best friends, we know each other.
We know it's Gilbert Arenas.
I've known him since he was in middle school.
He would come to, he would come to certain gyms I would see him at.
And then when I retired from playing sports and I was working in Atlanta, I went to, I
was at a Hawks game and he was playing in the game.
And he asked me, he goes, do you remember me?
And I'm like, yeah, of course I remember you, you know?
And then at that time I was, I was single and I was outside.
I was socializing all the, the basketball players, football players.
I would get invited to everything, all the events, anything that was going on.
I was there and you know, Gil was, you know, a popular person.
He was pretty damn famous at that time.
So I would, I'm always in circles of, of these players.
I'm everywhere.
I'm seeing them everywhere.
And our friendship continued from there.
Right?
And we just kept in touch until of course I met Brent, got married, had a family, all
these things.
And when I got arrested is I didn't, you know, I'd hear from him a long time when I got arrested
is when he kind of cracked a joke.
I think my mug shot, you know, it's on social media or whatever.
Like he like sent me a comment or something.
He at me and said, welcome to the club, you know?
So it was kind of funny and I was like, you know, he's a jokester.
He's funny and all that.
And so I was like, Hey, I, I want to do a sports show.
I want to do a sports show.
You want to do it with me?
And he was like, yeah, let's do it.
You know?
So this was around 2016.
I want to say 2016 going into 2017.
We were constantly on the phone trying to brainstorm on what the show would be called.
You know, what we're going to talk about because he doesn't know football.
I know football.
So he's like, okay, well, you can cover the football stuff.
I can do the best one.
Like, hold on, I can do the basketball too.
It's like, yeah, but you know, you need to do the football shit.
I'm like, okay.
So we had several conversations where we were brainstorming for almost like eight months,
I want to say, all over the phone.
We're brainstorming to come up with a show idea.
And this was from, I want to say, let's, let's just call it like late 2016 all the way into
like September, October of 2017.
And we had a time when we were supposed to get on the phone in 2017 to talk about like,
we, I, I was pretty much coming up with most of the stuff and I was like, okay, let's,
let's, you know, I'm ready to do this.
I'm ready to get this going.
And then out of nowhere on social media, I see that he has a show coming out like in
three days called out of bounds.
And I'm like, what the fuck?
So I call him and I'm like, yo, you got a show coming out on complex.
He goes, yeah, yeah, I do.
And I said, why the fuck have you for eight, nine months been brainstorming with me about
doing a show and you already have one.
Like when were you going to tell me?
And it's with Mia Khalifa, a porn star.
I was like, what the fuck is that about?
And he was like, well, they came to me about doing a show and, and I told them that I wanted
you to be the cohost, but they decided to go with her because she has more followers
than you.
She's a bigger name or whatever.
And I was like, okay, but why didn't you tell me?
Why have you been wasting my time?
And he had nothing to say about that.
And that right there is when I look at everything that has taken place, that right there, when
was a red flag that I totally ignored in this entire situation because he played me, you
know, I was hurt, but I wished him the best.
I supported his show.
I posted it.
You know, I watched it, everything.
And I knew it was going to fail because she doesn't know football.
She doesn't know sports at all.
She's just famous.
And so I'm watching the show.
She has no feedback.
She has nothing really to add to the conversation.
And so then he hit me up and he was like, Hey, we got to do a show about the Superbowl.
Can you come on?
I'm like, hell yeah.
You know, he's like, okay, come on the show.
Let's do this.
And I'm like, all right, bet.
So I did the show.
I believe, I believe she never came back after I did the show.
I don't know if that's true or not, but I don't think he did another show after I was
on there.
And then he had me come back again.
I did the show again.
And then there was, there was other guys that were there with us.
And I did the show two times and it was great.
I did, I did a good job according to the viewers and the co-hosts.
I did a good job.
And he thanked me and everything and it was good.
And we moved on and I had a podcast at the time as well.
I heart me go podcast while I was just covering NBA NFL and you know, time went by, time went
by the pandemic happened and that's when I was like, you know what?
I'm kind of tired of this.
I'm not getting respected.
I'm not getting love.
I had to fire all my advertisers, all my sponsors because I didn't want to sponsor things that
I didn't believe in and everybody was like, you have to do this.
Like I'm not, I'm not going to do a Sprite commercial.
I'm not a vegan.
I'm plant-based.
I don't drink Sprite.
It's bad for you.
I'm not going to let Sprite run a commercial on my show.
That's just who I was, you know?
And I was like, this just, maybe this isn't for me because you have to do stuff like this.
Like they had me advertising a knee sleeve and an ankle or wrist, elbow sleeve that makes
you better at your sport.
Shit like that.
It's not right.
It's not real.
I had to advertise pills to get your dick hard, to grow your hair back.
Like these are things that I'm against.
I don't believe in this type of medicine.
I don't believe that a knee sleeve can suddenly give you 20 years back of your athletic athleticism.
And I was like, this is the only way you can make money is off advertising and things that
I don't want to advertise.
And I was like, this just isn't for me.
This is not the industry for me.
That's why I can't do radio.
I don't, I'm not doing any of these ads.
I was like, fuck.
So I had to stand on who I really was.
And so I quit sports.
I quit.
I just quit.
So during that time, right after you departed, I want to just touch on this real quick and
then we'll go back to Gills.
You also wrote, Ho, happiness over everything, correct?
Yes, I did.
I did that during the pandemic.
So when, when I decided that I wanted to leave the sports industry, the pandemic happened
and I was, I was originally a journalist, a sports journalist.
I was a writer, but I knew that, you know, writing was gone once social media happened.
You had to do video.
Everything was instant.
You can't, no one was reading the newspaper anymore.
So I was a writer for no reason essentially.
So I just said, you know what?
I want to write a TV series.
I want to write TV and film.
I had nothing else to do like everybody else during the pandemic.
So I ordered a whole bunch of books to teach me how to write a short film.
I decided to make it a short film first and reached out to some people that are in the
industry on what I should do.
They told me what books to buy.
So I bought some books and I taught myself how to write a script and I wrote a script
for a short film called Ho.
It's an acronym, happiness over everything.
And I wrote it and I shot it during the pandemic.
And so far I've won eight awards in film festivals.
Oh shit.
Everybody give a little clap.
I love that.
That's eight.
That is crazy.
That's crazy for someone that's self-taught too.
So that's amazing.
I love that.
And the best part about it is I didn't just write it.
I starred in it.
Look, she's a writer, producer and actress.
Right.
I've never acted.
I've never taken a class.
I felt bad because I was like, I could, you know, it was during the pandemic.
You weren't supposed to be filming anything, you know?
So we had to do this very small set.
I wrote it.
It was only five characters.
So it wasn't like a big thing, but it was a big thing.
I'm going to say that's a big thing.
But I starred in it and I wrote it.
I executive produced it.
I cast it.
I did the music, which is called Scoring It.
Yeah.
I just kind of dove into a new industry and it's like, I want to try something new.
I want to start over, you know, something different.
And I'm loving this industry now.
And I was doing this for the past two years.
And then that's when I, when I, when Gil reached out to me and told me he was doing this show,
Gil's Arena.
It was in July of 2022 is when he approached me on it and said, Hey, I'm doing a new show.
Gil's Arena is going to start in 2023 and the beginning of the year.
And it's in LA.
And I was like, Oh, I can't do that.
Like, I'm not going to be able to live in LA.
Like I live in Florida.
You know that.
And he was like, well, we have floating rotating co-hosts.
So you can kind of pick a week where you can come out, do a week and go back home.
You know, you can pop in and out.
We'll have a schedule so that, you know, you can pick when you can come.
And at the time I said, yes, but then when January, 2023 came, I didn't want to do it.
I was like, Oh, I don't want to do it.
I don't feel like traveling to LA every week.
And you know, I worry he was going once a month because I have businesses and things
here, but I didn't want to do it.
I didn't want to get back into the sports world.
And I was like, I'm jaded.
I can't, I don't trust it.
He's like, you're doing it with me.
I'm your nigga.
Like we, you know, like, no, we're doing this.
Like, come on, this is perfect for you.
You'll get to say everything you want to say, you won't have to worry about people, you
know, trying to cancel you a black boy.
You know, I'm going to say everything I want to say.
We can be disrespectful as fuck.
We can, it's going to be our true opinions.
Like we're going to go at it.
Like, this is going to be one of those shows and you belong here.
Like you, you belong on this cast.
And I still didn't do it.
I was like, no, I just don't want to do it.
And it took me until April of him, you know, texting me, hitting me up and saying like,
yo, I really, you know, come on, like, come on, I need you.
Like, come on, do the show, do the show.
And I'm like, I talked to some of my friends about everything and they were just like,
do it.
Like, you know, it's Gil, like he's not going to play you like all these other people did.
He's not going to do you dirty.
And I'm like, you know what?
You're right.
This is my people.
Fuck it.
I'll do it.
So I joined the show in April and here we are.
Was it just like that vibe that he was selling to you when he was talking to you or did it
just always start off kind of shaky?
Oh, no, it was exactly as advertised.
I was having the time of my life.
I was able to be myself.
I invented what we call a titty Tuesday.
You know, I was the only and I found out only girl on the show.
I was like, oh, I got to give some titties.
I got to give.
I got to, you know, I just wanted it to, I didn't want to be a basic sports reporter,
have a suit on.
You know, I wanted to give feminine energy on this show with so much dick.
And I was just like, we need some estrogen, you know, and he allowed that he was like,
yes, he goes, I love what you're wearing.
I love what you're doing.
I love it all.
Like you're bringing sex appeal, but you're also, you know, your shit.
Like it's it was going great.
Everything was going really good until I, I, how do I say this?
I found out that Rashad McCamp wearing fake Jordans.
So we'll get to that in a second.
What was the experience like with everyone else?
When you first started, so obviously talked about Gil, he was, you know, you guys were
hand in hand in that and everything was seeming to go great.
But what was the experience like with Rashad and then Brandon and Kenny didn't come until
really later.
But what was that experience like for you?
Well, I, as I said, I've known Brandon for a very long time.
Brandon and I have very, very strong friendship for a lot of years.
And then we had an incident that I don't really want to speak on, but we ended our friendship.
And so when I decided to do the show, I was like, okay, I'm going to run into Brandon.
And so the first day, the very first day that I was on set was with Brandon and I walked
up to him and I said, the last time we spoke, it was beef.
Is it beef?
And he was like, no, it's over with.
I moved past it.
We're working.
Let's go.
Let's do this show.
It's going to be good.
We dapped up, acted like the beef never happened.
And we were working great together.
Me and Brandon were back like it was when we were fucking BFFs.
It was great.
I didn't know Rashad McCamp.
I didn't even know him as a basketball player.
I always thought that I knew he played in the NBA, but I thought it was like maybe one
year.
I didn't know anything about him.
The only thing I remember about him was that he dated Khloe Kardashian.
That was it.
I had no after UNC, I had no information about him whatsoever.
Nothing.
What was your time like with Rashad?
So I mean, what was the atmosphere like?
What was the temperature up into that Jordan moment?
I know it got worse after that, but was it at least okay until that point?
No.
I didn't like that he was his sports IQ was so low.
I didn't like that.
I didn't understand why he was on the show.
I would ask Gilbert constantly like why he was there.
And it was relayed to me that everybody needs a guy like him.
We need clicks.
He brings ratings, the stupid things that he says, it gets people to click on it and
talk shit.
Even if people don't realize it, just talking shit about him gives people ratings.
When you click and you type in this motherfucker is so stupid, why would he say da, da, da,
da, da?
You're generating buzz for the show and all publicity is good publicity basically is what
I was told that he's on there for.
And it was bothering me because I'm sitting here thinking to myself, I don't want to be
a part of something like that.
I want true journalists.
I even questioned Brandon being on the show.
Brandon brings nothing to the show either.
He doesn't even talk really.
If it's not about Tuff Crowe or Steph Curry or the Bucks, he doesn't have pretty much
anything to bring to the conversation.
But again, I realized after talking to Gilbert that he was struggling to get people on the
show consistently and they were available.
Of course they're available.
They're not talented.
Damn.
That's wild.
I mean, because I would assume with being a name like Gil, everybody knows who Gil is
like we said earlier.
So it's weird that what else did he do off the court or off the cameras that is building
that tension where people didn't feel comfortable to come on his show.
You know what I'm saying?
That's pretty wild.
Yeah, I didn't understand either.
I honestly thought Gil could get anybody on that show.
But what I think I learned being on the show is that Gilbert, his opinions are like mine
sometimes.
It's hard to take.
And some people might be scared to come on the show.
Some people might not like some of the things that he might say or maybe he says some things
about them in the past.
You know, because this isn't his first show.
What's funny about that is I know we're in a tough spot right now.
That's what got us here as far as you and Gil, right?
But obviously I've been covering that show for a very long time for Entirely NBA.
And I will say that the dynamic that you two have is well beyond those of the other co-hosts.
So yes, Rashad is there for Clicks, Brandon is there for maybe the connections with Steph
and Tough Crowd and etc.
But between you and Gil, you can clearly see that both one, you are both well-educated
in terms of not only sports, but people in general, right?
Because you have to have that emotional intelligence to be able to see what type of emotions and
thinking goes into certain decisions when it comes to basketball or certain actions
or whatever it may be, right?
So I always said to myself, God damn, if it was just really those two leading it, what
would that show really become?
And so I say that to also say, love what you guys did together.
The other person that I love on that show is obviously Kenyon.
So what's your relationship like with Kate Mark?
Kenyon, I love him.
He is the epitome of a man, you know, and I had to bring a situation to Kenyon that
I didn't think he remembered.
Of course he didn't, but I had a run in with Kenyon way back in the day where his security
physically beat up me and my girlfriend in a club.
Will not beat us up, but slammed us to the ground in the club because they thought they
were trying to get to Kenyon's section.
But reality, my girlfriend was drunk and being stupid and they kind of like and handled us
in the club.
And obviously it wasn't Kenyon's fault, but you know, his security did that.
And so when I got on the show, I was like, do you remember this incident in the club?
And blah, blah, blah.
I was telling him about it.
He was just like, oh my God, that was you.
And I'm like, yeah.
But he was, he was always a class act.
And even with my first time having him be on the show with him, he told me that after
the show he was like, I had no idea that you were this smart.
I had no idea that you had this kind of information.
He goes, I'm doing my own show soon.
I'd be interested in talking to you about being the cohost on my show.
And I was like, really?
And he was like, yeah.
He goes, well, you know, once I figure everything out, we can, we can talk about that.
He goes, but I really respect your IQ and everything.
And I was like, thank you.
And he just a nice guy.
He's his IQ is this high, you know, and he's no bullshit.
I love that about him.
He's no bullshit, but he's also smart, you know, obviously just like you described, Kenyon
is the way that we see him from afar over here.
I'm sure you guys converse after every show or have some type of group chat.
What the hell does Kenyon say about some of these antics that happened between you Rashad
and Brandon?
Kenyon is not in the group chat.
He seemed like the laid back type, like he's just coming to do his job.
Like coming to do his job, figure out what he can do and go back home.
That's what he seemed like.
He had no idea of some of the things that I was going through until I actually told
him.
All right.
So then if that's not something Kenyon knew, then tell me about the experiences you would
have at least bringing this up with these guys off camera.
Was there any instances that you could talk about that you had with Brandon or Rashad
after show hours that you could speak on?
We would have situations where we'd be in the group chat trying to brainstorm or think
about coming, doing a show earlier or like, oh, we're going to do a game today.
So we need to come in at this time and that time.
And Rashad would not be responding in the group chat.
And so people will be like, yo, text him outside.
Somebody call him and tell him he needs to get in here.
We need to coordinate this or whatever.
Right.
And then there would be hours that would go by that he wouldn't respond.
And so then he would come into the group chat like, oh, I'm so sorry.
I was just fucking these three exotic bitches.
One was sucking my toes, one had my dick in her mouth, one did it.
I was like, what?
Like we're in the work group chat.
You know?
Like, why do we need to know that?
Right.
And so I was the only person that would address it.
I would be like, yo, what the fuck?
Like, what is, what is this?
And he did it constantly.
And I would always say something like, God, no one cares.
I said, did you know the men that talk about all the pussy they're getting are getting
none?
Don't get none.
You know?
And then he would always talk about the girls being exotic.
And I'd be like, what, what do you mean exotic?
And he's like, yeah, I don't, I don't fuck with black bitches.
I only fuck exotic bitches.
And I was like, what's more exotic than a black girl?
And he would just always saying this stupid shit and it would get on my nerves.
And then he would start saying disrespectful things to me.
Like he was making up nicknames for me that were like, kind of like sexist or disrespectful,
like just kind of coming at me, like saying stupid shit all the time.
And I would talk to the producers and like, yo, like tell him to chill.
Like shut up.
So Gil made a separate group chat for just us, the co-hosts.
Like yo, you guys aren't supposed to be talking to the, to the white men in the group chat
like this.
Like y'all save all that other shit for over here, you know?
And I'll just be like, yo, what's wrong with you?
And so they were, Brandon and Gil told me that Rashad wasn't doing any of that talk,
being disrespected, being crazy until I came on the show.
And they were telling me like, oh, we think he likes you.
And I'm like, why would he like me when he just said he doesn't like black girls?
They're like, he must be trying to impress you by telling you how much pussy he's getting
because he never once had this type of energy in the group chat until we put you in there.
And I was just like, okay, whatever.
It was just weird.
And I was constantly asking him to stop.
I was, you know, and took, and then it got to the point where he would say little slick
shit to me when we were off camera, you know, just being super disrespectful.
And it got to the point where the producers had to say something to him.
Like he got a warning about how he was talking to me.
But again, I hate that I even brought all that up because to be honest with you, we
squashed it.
We squashed it.
We moved on.
Then the shoe thing happened.
Talk about that real quick.
I didn't even know that he had a shoe line, that he had a clothing line.
I didn't know any of that.
I swear to you, I did not know that.
And I think it's because I didn't watch the show before I came on.
I watched maybe three episodes and the whole four months it was on.
I was living my life.
I was doing shit.
I played tennis.
I'm a mom.
I have shit going on.
So I wasn't really watching the show.
So maybe I would have known that this was all his clothing lines, clothes, his shoes,
everything is all his shit.
So when the situation took place with the shoe, I didn't know I was disrespecting him.
I really thought that he just had bad fashion and that he was cheap.
So I didn't know that the things I was saying was disrespecting his actual brand.
Because had I known that, I would have never said what I said.
I'm not here to destroy people or to shit on what they're trying to accomplish, especially
a black man.
I would never have done that.
I'm just sitting here looking at my favorite Jordans.
I got married in Jordan 11s.
My wedding pictures are in Jordan 11s.
So when I looked at the shoe, I could tell it's a fake.
You know, but it wasn't me.
I don't know why everybody's blaming me.
Josiah is the one that asked the question.
You know, the chat is going on live.
Josiah is watching.
The producers are watching.
They fed that into us for us to talk about his shoes.
So everybody there knew that this was his clothing line, that that was his shoe brand.
And they brought it in.
I didn't know.
So I didn't know that I'm attacking a man's brand.
And he just kept trying to act like they weren't fake.
And that was bothering me that he kept trying to act like they weren't fake.
But that's what I kept going.
Like, no, my nigga, those are fake.
And not only that, that's not Burberry.
That's a fake knockoff Burberry pattern as well.
Like, what are you doing?
Like, just own it.
If you're wearing something fake, own it.
I wear fake shit.
Girls wear fake jewelry, fake everything all the time.
Who gives a fuck?
If that's what you want, that's what you want.
But don't try to lie about it.
Because when the lie happened, that's why I kept going, going, going.
Because I'm like, no, my nigga, you're not going to sit here and lie in my face.
So then after the show was over and how I realized how upset he was, I went to Brandon
Gilbert and I was like, why is he so upset that I said something about his fake shoes?
Like, doesn't he know that they're fake?
Like, did he get hustled?
Like, you know, you could buy something that's fake and you didn't know.
And they were like, no, that's his brand.
He made those.
And I was like, what?
He made fake Jordans and fake Burberry?
He like on purpose did that?
And they were like, yeah.
And they were laughing about it.
And I was like, I was like, okay, so why does he wear those clothes?
And they were like, that's his clothing line.
And I'm like, what?
And I was like, so you guys are his friend.
Like you guys have been on this show this whole time.
Why don't you guys talk to him about, you know, getting like help them out, Brandon,
you got to close the line, like help them out.
Like, you know, so he's better.
And they were just like, no, we're going to let him keep wearing that bullshit.
That's that's what he want to wear.
That's on him.
And I'm like, I wish you guys would have told me I would have never went at him like that
had I known that was his, I would have backed off.
I would I would have just stayed away from it.
So I felt like it was like intentional.
They wanted me to do that.
It's that's that's crazy.
That's pretty you would have me hot to.
I'm not going to lie.
You would have me on to I mean, but you didn't know in your defense.
It look, he says a bad business decision.
That's why you wear knock knock.
You can't wear knock knock.
That just doesn't work out.
It's too many people that know about Jays to wear knock knock.
Knock knock.
Okay.
That was one of those last draws.
I remember seeing that episode and then after that, it was kind of just subtle knocks.
You can kind of tell in the mannerisms when you would speak, it'd be like, you know, why
should you at this point?
Why is she talking?
We didn't want me on the show.
I need to say this.
I approached him first of all.
Four times since that shoe incident and attempted to apologize to him face to face like a grownup.
He pretty much told me to fuck off every single time because I could tell that he was coming
at me after that because of the shoe thing.
And I would come up to him like, can we hug it out?
Can we dab it out?
I'm sorry.
I didn't know.
I will never speak on it again.
I didn't know.
And he just like, get the fuck out my face.
Fuck away from me.
Like rude.
And I was just like, I can't even win.
I was like, fuck it.
Then I guess this is beef the rest of the show then.
Because like I tried to apologize and I would tell Gill and them, I told the producers,
like I keep trying to apologize to him.
He won't accept my apology.
He just keeps telling me to fuck off and get the fuck out of his face.
What am I supposed to do?
You said it earlier.
I mean, you did your part.
You can only do your part now.
I'm saying that if he doesn't receive what you, your apology or accept the apology.
I mean, you did your part and then you can do after that.
Yeah.
I mean, and so I just said, fuck it.
And then I guess we just gonna go at it because you're already having bad takes.
And I was trying to be nice and not come at him every time he had a bad take.
But after that, now I'm gonna, every time you say something stupid, I'm gonna tell you
that it's stupid and I'm gonna tell you why.
And that's kind of became the thing.
And Gilbert was like, I love it.
I love it when you guys go at it.
Oh man, this is so good.
Keep going.
I'm like, you love it, but I'm the one that's getting shit on.
I'm the one that's getting disrespected and keep saying like, I don't belong on the show.
Like I don't belong here.
Like, wow.
Like why is he allowed to say that?
And he was just like, just ignore him.
Just keep going.
Just keep going out.
Just keep going back.
And you know, Gilbert loved that type of shit.
He loved drama.
He loved it.
Was there any, so that's on camera.
I'm sure that carries over off too, but was there any validation given by Gilbert just
to let the guys know like, hey, I understand this is what's said on the show, but you also
got to understand that she knows what she's talking about.
Nothing like that.
Never, never.
And I constantly asked for it.
And he just was like, just deal with it.
Suck it up.
You'll be fine.
You can take it.
I got you.
Okay.
I mean, I have no doubt that you can.
I know it's still something that you shouldn't have to deal with a hundred percent.
And so that led to, I mean, some more turmoil, but then obviously the a hundred episode came
up, which you didn't really know that you weren't on it until someone had to tell you
you weren't on that sizzle.
How did it feel?
One, being left off the a hundred episode celebration.
And then two, what was that conversation like?
Cause I'm sure you brought it up.
So I have to, we have to go back and we have to talk about the elephant because I feel
like a lot of people think that the issue and the reason that I'm not on this show is
because me and Rashad were beefing and I couldn't handle it.
And that Rashad has nothing to do with why I'm not on Gills arena.
Yes.
He's an asshole.
Yes.
He disrespects me all the time, but he is not the reason I'm not on the show.
The reason I'm not on the show is August 9th.
There was an episode where Rashad McCants asked if he could do a shout out and the shout
out was for the cars.
And so we're like, yeah, what's your shout out?
You know, and this is the same episode where we got into it about the whole, who the leader
should be that that whole episode that was, this is, that's the episode where all this
shit happened.
Brandon was not on the show.
Okay.
So I'm told after the fact that Brandon asked if Carl Malone could be on the show, the producer
said no, because Carl Malone's a pedophile.
Okay.
I'm guessing that Brandon gave Rashad, Carl Malone cigars that he wanted to promote.
So Rashad decides to promote the cigars on the show.
As he's giving this shout out, Gilbert and I are both cutting him off, basically calling
Carl Malone a pedophile.
Right?
Because this is happening, Brandon is clearly watching the show from home and he's texting
in the work group chat saying, Miko, you got a problem with Carl Malone?
And I'm, you know, we're able to be on our phone during the show and I see the group,
you know, and I'm looking and I just threw a thumbs up in there to that text.
Like, yes, I got a problem with a pedophile.
Duh.
Right?
I put my phone down.
I don't look at my phone the rest of the show, but it's going off, you know?
So we do the whole show, the whole leadership happens, the whole, I got titties, that moment
happened, you know, of him telling me, because I didn't play in the WNBA, but my opinion
is invalid.
Gilbert, you know, getting his chips and egging it on, loving it like he always does.
And so when we get off the show, me and Rashad, Dap, like we always do.
We beef on the show, we talk shit, we get into it, but we dap'd.
I have no problem with Rashad outside of him just having a low IQ and being, you know,
a fucking dumb ass.
I leave, as soon as the show's over, I'm out.
I leave immediately.
I got shit to do.
I leave, I get in my car, I look at the text messages in the group chat and I see that
Brandon is threatening me in the group chat, telling me that his girlfriend is going to
basically beat my ass tomorrow on the show.
He didn't say those exact words, but that's what he said.
I asked him, I said, is Gilbert getting beat up too?
Because I wasn't the only person calling him a pedophile.
Why aren't you threatening Gilbert?
What's up?
It wasn't just me, it was Gilbert.
And all he kept saying is, oh, okay, yeah, yep, it's on, it's on.
I see what it is.
It's on.
Can't wait till tomorrow.
And I'm like, are you really threatening me in the work group chat?
And he goes, you can call it whatever you want, but if you played a stupid game, now
you're going to get a stupid prize.
Yep.
That is something we've heard on episodes after that.
That is a quote they've heard.
I think it's exactly what plays stupid games, wins stupid prizes.
Yes.
They come, that was attack at me.
Every time you heard that, they're talking about me.
Rashad started to repeat it as well.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
So it was like a threat to me.
And so when this happened, I called the producers.
I was crying because again, I know Brandon, I know him.
And without telling anything else, I felt threatened.
I was worried for my life.
I was worried that I was going to be harmed.
So I called the producers and I told them that I thought Brandon should be fired at
the very least suspended for threatening me at work.
What happened after that?
I was told by the producers that they were going to, um, I guess, suspended from the
next, the show the next day.
I said, I said, I didn't want to do the show at all.
I wanted to quit.
And Gilbert was calling me, telling me to apologize to Brandon.
I was like, why do I have to apologize to him?
He was like, because you disrespected, um, Carl Malone, who is family to him.
And I said, he's a pedophile and Gil's like, I know, but I had to apologize too.
So you just apologize.
I said, no, why did you apologize?
He goes, because I want my show because I don't want this to ruin my show.
I need my show.
So just apologize so we can move on.
So we can move past this.
I said, you want me to apologize to somebody that threatened me?
And he was like, yes.
And I said, I will not apologize.
He was like, well, I'm going to tell him to apologize to you too.
And the apology came in and had a butt in it.
When you apologize, you don't butt.
And he, and Brandon also told me I needed to apologize.
And I'm like, I never responded to the apology.
And I felt unsafe.
And so I told the producers, I said, if you guys have Brandon on the show with me ever
again, I'm going to sue you guys for unsafe, unsafe work environment because his girl comes
to set with him every single show.
She's there.
And you told me that she's going to be my ass.
And there's nothing inside of me that doesn't believe that Brandon would join into that
ass beating.
Brandon knows where I live, Brandon in my home, everything.
So I don't feel safe at this point.
I'm scared.
And so I sent the text message out to my family members just so people could know that this
man threatened me and I don't know what to do.
Okay.
So at this point now, obviously everyone cast wise is aware of the situation.
The people that promote the show, fund the show, underdog fantasy executives know of
the situation.
He suspended for in the chat.
They saw it.
Yeah.
Okay.
Wow.
So more than aware of the situation.
He doesn't come for one episode.
And then what happens in the following weeks after that?
So I was, I was on every other week.
So I would fly in two weeks out of the month.
So that was, so that was a Wednesday show.
So the next day I did the Thursday show and it was so bad.
It was, it was so bad, but I can't even believe we did that show.
Me and Gilbert got into like, we were like, they were counting us down to go live and
me and Gilbert were like, damn near nose to nose arguing on set to the point that he like
yanked his mics off.
He's like, I'm not doing the show today.
Cancel the show today.
Because I was saying to him that I was, I don't fuck with him.
I said, I don't fuck with you.
You're not, you're not my friend.
I told Josiah, I don't fuck with you either.
You're not my friend.
I told all the other black men that were in that group chat that were on set.
I don't fuck with none of y'all.
You guys saw him threaten me and you said nothing and you did nothing.
The reason that I'm at work is because I'm a, I'm a professional, but don't, Hey, Miko,
don't hug me.
Fuck y'all.
Y'all did not have my back.
None of y'all checked him and Gilbert just went crazy.
Like he was upset because I was basically saying, I'm going to do the show, but I don't
fuck with you.
But we ended up doing the show anyway.
Like we kind of calmed down.
They took five minutes.
We both kind of separated, calmed down and we did the show.
I flew back to Florida.
Like I always do.
I fly back right after the show back to Florida every week.
The next week comes on the shows.
And of course there's just constant play stupid games, win stupid prizes, only NBA players
on this show.
Only people that actually played in is something that's with the NBA.
Only this, only that.
Like just cotton.
I'm texting Gilbert while I'm watching the show saying, why are you letting them do this
to me?
Why are you letting him say that?
You know that that's a threat to me.
That's stupid.
He goes, he goes, I don't know, Miko, I'm just, I'm just not going to get into it.
I'm not getting in it.
I said, so you're just going to allow them to keep threatening me.
And my family's watching now.
So they saw the screenshots and they're like, Oh, he's still threatening you.
And I'm like, I know.
And they're not doing anything about it.
So my family was like, let us beat his fucking ass.
And I was like, no, because if you do that, it's going to act like it's going to look
like I asked you to do that.
And I didn't, I don't do not touch this man.
Don't touch him.
I'm not going to jail for nothing.
Y'all did to him.
You have a no from me.
I had so many of my male friends asking for my permission to beat brandy's ass.
And I said no every single time.
And then that whole week went, and then I came back for the week afterwards.
I did that show and that's when I kind of aired out Gilbert.
And I was like, you just going to let them keep disrespecting me.
And he did, he allowed them to proceed disrespecting me until the show ended for that season one.
That was the end of August.
Yes.
At any point in time, was it clear that you were leaving the show?
And if so, was there, or were you approached by Gil, the team, anybody for you to come
back to the show?
So the only person that I had communication with was Gilbert.
I didn't speak to anybody else after that.
And I told Gilbert that I wasn't coming back for the show.
And he was like, don't say that.
Like, no, like I need you.
And I said, Gil, you don't have my back.
I don't feel safe.
How weird is going to be that I can't recall with Brandon?
Like, that's just weird.
I don't even feel safe.
Like at all.
I'm scared that I'm going to come to the show.
I'm leaving, you know, some bitches are going to try to jump me, do anything to me.
And I'm not pussy or nothing like that.
I can fight, but I don't like I'm 48 years old.
Like what I look like fighting at this age, you know, over Carl Malone being a pedophile
was weird.
And so I told Gilbert, like when the very last episode aired of the season one, I texted
Gil and I said, you know, great season.
I enjoyed myself, but I think it's best that I don't come back for the show for season
two.
He called me.
I was on the phone for two hours of him pretty much begging me to come back and telling me
why I should come back and how good it's going to be.
And I'm going to talk to them.
You're not going to film with Brandon.
It's going to be fine.
He goes, you, you feel comfortable filming with McCants?
And I was like, yeah, he's just low IQ.
It's annoying.
He goes, he goes, Miko, we can play that up.
Like that's good.
Like you can destroy him even more because he doesn't know what he's talking about.
You know, like do it.
Like let's go.
It's fun.
It's good for ratings.
Like it's entertaining.
He goes, I promise you, Brandon's not going to do anything to you.
I'm not going to have him on the set.
I'm not going to have this girl on the set when you're there.
Come back to the show, please.
This went off for about a week of us talking and him convincing me.
And I said, okay, I'll do season two.
Let's go.
As long as you say you're going to have my back, I'll do it against my better judgment.
I said, I'll do it.
Fast forward to September.
Never sends me a screenshot.
The schedule for October for the show.
And I'm not on the schedule.
He says, he goes, why aren't you on the schedule for October?
You couldn't film in October.
And I was like, no.
He goes, why aren't you on here?
And I was like, I haven't even heard from anybody from the show at all.
No one's called me, texted me nothing since my last episode.
He was like, what?
And I'm like, yeah.
He goes, well, call them and see what the fuck is going on.
I need you on the show.
Okay.
I called him.
They tell me that the text that I sent Gilbert after the last episode where I said I want,
I don't think it's a good idea that I come back.
Gilbert sent them that as a screenshot and said, she's done with the show.
So that wouldn't be minus some of the smaller incidents.
This would be this second huge burn by Gilbert arenas.
Yes.
So I was like, there was like, I said, he texted you.
I said, did he tell you that he called me for like a week and begged me to stay?
And they were like, no, he's never mentioned you since that, since that text.
And I'm like, so why did he ask me to call you guys and see why I'm not on the show?
And they were like, that's what we're trying to figure out.
We thought you quit.
We loved you on the show.
Like we think you're amazing.
Like, like some of the shows you were on with highest rated, you have our number one, the,
the, the show about Anthony Davis, the viral clip that I said about him.
They were like, that's our number one, like as far as like views, everything we want you
back in the show.
Gilbert said that you don't want to be on the show.
So we didn't put you on the schedule and also they were like, do you want to be on the show?
And I was like, yeah.
Like he talked me into it.
So long as I don't recall with Brandon, I'm fine.
And they were like, okay, well shit.
Well, October's already set, but we're going to have you on in November.
And I'm like, okay, cool.
Moved on.
I called Gilbert.
I said, why did you send them the screenshot of me saying I quit the show, but then you
didn't follow up and tell them how for a week that you talked to me out of it.
And he was like, Oh, is that why you're not on the schedule?
And I'm like, duh, Gilbert, like what the fuck?
And he was like, Oh, that's my bad.
Yeah, I should have told them.
But they know now that you want to be on the show, right?
And I was like, yeah, they know now that I'm going to be on in November.
He was like, okay, cool.
So I'm watching the show October.
I'm in the chat.
Everybody's like, where's Miko?
Why isn't Miko being on?
Like this constant Miko, Miko, Miko, Miko.
And I'm texting Gilbert during the show.
I'm like, yo, why don't you just say that I'm going to be on in November?
And then the show's over.
And I'm like, why haven't you said I'm going to be on in November?
Every week I'm like, why haven't you?
Do you see the chat?
Do you see I'm sending him screenshots of my social media?
Everyone constantly harassing me.
When are you going to be on?
When you I'm like top of November.
He was like, Oh, they'll figure it out.
We'll let it be a surprise when you come on.
You know, let's leave them in suspense.
I'm like, okay, cool.
So the whole month of October happens and then November comes.
I'm not on the schedule again.
I call them.
I'm like, Oh, I'm not on the schedule for November.
What's up?
And they're like, Oh, well, we didn't have the budget to fly you out.
It's interesting.
For November.
So we're looking at December.
So I'm like, okay, that's stupid.
Cause you haven't even talked to me about budget at all.
I haven't even been paid for season one.
That's my fault.
Cause I didn't even turn the paperwork.
Like I said, I do this for free.
I would do this show for free.
I hadn't turned any paperwork to be paid yet.
I just did it last week.
So I was like, you haven't even asked me what I would want to be on the show.
Why wouldn't, why, like, why are you saying budget?
That's a lot.
We know it has nothing to do with budget.
They're giving away a hundred thousand dollars for a shootout.
So fast forward, I hit up the other producer and I said to him, cause the guy who told
me about the budget, I was like, why haven't anyone discussed money with me?
He goes, we'll talk to them about it.
So I hit the money guy up and he never responded to me.
About three days later, he sent me an email.
I want to read the email.
Yeah, by all means.
It says, hi, Miko got your texts the other day and thought this will be easier to break
down in an email.
As you know, our schedule for the rest of 2023 is already locked.
Didn't know that what's changed is that a month into this season, we're really happy
with the dynamic of the current cast and don't envision bringing you back on a full time
basis.
This show was always supposed to be former pros and we really liked the mix we have now.
That being said, we are looking for other opportunities to involve you in our content.
We're starting to kick off discussions regarding touring, performing live venues, blah, blah,
blah.
And Gill and I talked about you being a part of that cast this week.
In short, we'd like to find a way to work together in the future, but don't have anything
firm yet.
We'll be in touch when we do.
I responded, Hey Tim, thanks for the email.
I get the part about you guys liking the new dynamic, but now I'm not a former pro.
Ouch.
I'm going to let my followers know I won't be back on the show now since it's official.
That was November 4th.
Okay.
I sent that screenshot to Gill and Gill was like, what the fuck is this?
What are they talking about?
You're not going to be on the show anymore.
I said, Gil, why are you acting like you don't know this?
And he's like, I didn't know that.
I didn't know they weren't going to have you back on the show.
I didn't know any of this.
Okay, Gill, whatever.
And you're full of shit.
I've been, I said, it makes sense now why you would never say that I'm going to be back
on in November.
It all makes sense.
Why my name hasn't been mentioned or anything.
Right?
I said, but you know what?
Fuck it.
I'm moving on.
He goes, well, I'm just going to help you with your podcast.
I'm going to teach you how to grow your followers.
I'm going to teach you how to, you need to go live more on your YouTube.
You need to do this.
You need to do that.
Like I want to help you build up your podcast.
And I was like, okay, that's fine.
I appreciate you helping.
I move on.
Then the 100th episode takes place and I didn't watch the episode, but soon as I opened the
app, my phone is blowing up with people saying how disrespectful they were to me.
And I'm like, what the fuck did they do?
What was disrespectful?
You know?
And so my friends watched it and they were like, they did a montage, a whole sizzle reel
of, of all the 100 episodes.
Did you guys see it?
I did.
Yes.
Yeah.
I still haven't seen it.
I don't even, I'd never tuned, tuned in to the show after all this shit was going on.
And um, I wasn't in the sizzle at all.
There was not, I was told that I not even a picture.
It was almost like I didn't even exist on the show.
Would that be correct?
That's correct.
Yes.
That pissed me off because now you're trying to embrace my existence of it all.
And it also just makes me feel even more like, you know, they just basically had no intentions
of ever having me back on the show and they just didn't have the balls to say it.
So I sent a screenshot to the, I made a group chat with the producers and Gil and I said,
you guys hate me and no one responded to the, the, the texts.
And so Gil texts me separately and said, they're not going to respond.
You know, it's legal.
And I was like, what do you mean it's legal?
He goes, once you threatened to call your lawyer, when Brandon threatened you, they
were never going to have you on the show again.
And I said, so why didn't you tell me that Gil?
He goes, I just found out yesterday, which was a Wednesday.
And I was like, you're full of shit.
You knew this the whole time.
My lawyer told me this, you know, that they were going to do this, but she's all just
see what happens.
You know?
And I said, the fact that I thought you were my friend and that you would tell me like,
why would you let them egg me on?
Why would you let me, why would you encourage me to continue supporting the show, posting
it like doing all the shit I'm doing, knowing that I wasn't going to be on the show.
He's like, it's your fault.
You shouldn't have brought up a lawyer.
You should have just let it go.
You should have just got over it.
You caused it.
And there's more.
I sent you the screenshots, Darion of what took place.
He just completely disrespected me, like talk shit, telling me all this shit about, oh,
you know, it's your fault.
You know, you attack, you attack Rashad McCamp constantly and now you want to play the victim.
This has nothing to do with Rashad McCamp.
This has everything to do with Brandon threatening me and them not doing anything about it.
And them telling me that they couldn't fire Brandon because they had a Steph Curry interview
coming up that they really needed.
And Brandon had locked in the interview and they really needed that interview with Steph
Curry.
So they couldn't fire him, but told me this was a strike against him.
We're going to reprimand him.
We're going to tell him that if he does anything like this again, he's fired.
The same thing they said they told Rashad McCamp.
If he disrespected me anymore, he was going to get fired.
And I said to the producers, I said, you know, if you allow people to continue to disrespect
someone and you do nothing about it, you know it continues, right?
It just continues.
And so I was so upset with Gil and I was like, you're so full of shit.
Like you're trying to tell me they told you on Wednesday that I was never going to be
back on the show.
But then what I find out afterwards is people told me that he said on the show on the hundredth
episode, we're trying to, we're trying to find some, we're going to have Miko on season
two sometime, you know, this, this season or some shit like that.
He said, I don't remember exactly what was told.
Why would you say that when the day before they told you I was never going to be on the
show again?
Why would you say that on the, on the show?
You're trying to cover your own ass.
Yeah.
It certainly sounds like that.
I want to pose a question from my side and you know how I feel about the situation with
you.
I want to play devil's advocate though.
Do you think it's possible that this is more a testament to the producers and them not
wanting you on the show and Gilbert still trying to find a way to fix it for you on
the behalf or do you solely still believe that it is, you know, Gilbert fucked up this
whole situation?
I think that Gilbert found out that I was not going to be on the show anymore in September
when he sent me that screenshot of the, of the, of the schedule.
I believe that's when they told him in September and they probably told him, don't tell her
that she's like, I'm fired basically.
Because when I said I didn't want to be on the show anymore, I didn't quit.
I just told that to Gilbert and then he talked me out of it.
And then I said, okay.
And I think that they were probably like, why did you talk her into being back on the
show?
We don't want her back anymore.
And then he was kind of in a situation where he kind of had to play the game.
Gotcha.
Yeah.
And they certainly can't excuse the behavior on in that aspect.
I haven't been back here since the show because I don't trust Brandon.
I come here by myself.
So I'm always scared that when I come back in town, he knows my house.
He knows a layout of my house.
He spent the night at my house.
He spent a lot of time here.
So I'm always afraid that when I come here, that something's going to happen to me, that
somebody's going to harm me to the point that I asked Gilbert to help me with purchasing
a gun.
And he did.
Have you, um, Brandon had any, like any conversation or anything at all?
Or has it just been completely silent?
Silent.
Nothing.
One thing I do want to circle back to real quick is, um, how Gilbert said that he loved
what you brought to the show initially.
Bring that sex appeal, bring that knowledge.
I know we recently saw a comment page that said she only really add sex appeal.
She's speaking down on McCants, then wants to play victim.
Fuck out of here.
Gilbert then responds with a comment and agreement.
How does it make you feel when you were told initially, this is what you should bring,
be you.
And that was approved of now in hindsight to see it as a knock on who you are.
It just validates to me that Gilbert was not my friend.
Like he's not somebody that I should have called a friend.
It validates the things that I thought about him, which is he would do anything for clout.
He would do anything for attention.
He loves his show.
He wants his show to be number one.
And I wanted his show to be number one, but not at the expense of other people.
And that's the part that hurts my heart genuinely, because I'm now learning once again that these
men in these spaces and this sports space, they will do anything for whatever it is that
they want.
They don't give a shit about you.
He doesn't care about me at all for you to go in there and like that comment for you
to be on social media, like agreeing with people saying that it's the reason I'm not
on the show is McCants.
Why are you doing that?
You know, it has nothing to do with this man.
No, I don't like McCants.
No, I don't think he belongs on the show.
But he has nothing to do with why I'm not on this show.
And you're perpetuating that lie with the viewers because you're not man enough to say
the real reason she's not on this show is because she was threatened.
Now I got to do it.
Now I the pussy, the only pussy on the show has to have the biggest dick in the room and
do this interview with you and tell everybody what really happened.
Oh, that's a title.
That's tough.
Go, Granz.
Nico, where do you go from here?
Well, I'm back writing my script.
Oh, it's not just a short film.
It's a TV series.
As I said, I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm learning how to write a TV series.
That's what I was doing before I started this show.
And I put all that aside because when you're doing sports journalism, you can't just sit
on a couch and give your opinion.
You have to be watching.
You have to be involved.
You have to I don't speak on things unless I watch it, unless I see it.
I've done research.
So I had to make sure that I was on top of my shit.
So all I've been really doing is sports stuff.
Like those two and a half years I took off from sports, I was watching as a fan.
If I watched, I watched.
If I didn't, I didn't.
I didn't care, but I had to go back and watch all kinds of shit.
I was researching and doing all this homework to make sure every week my opinion was backed
up with facts.
And so now I'm back writing my TV series.
How is a TV series?
I am on episode five of it.
I'm getting ready to shoot it.
I'm going to shoot the first four episodes and put that out because everybody seems to
love the short film.
And they're like, what happened next?
What happened next?
It ended on a cliffhanger.
And so I'm just back writing my short film.
Like that's what I'm doing.
I'm back in the TV and film industry where nobody knows me and I can just kind of, you
know, get my writing off and have some fun in another industry.
That's what I'm doing.
I'm taking care of my son.
You know, he's in attendance Academy.
I'm just kind of helping him navigate that new transition for him.
And I'm just having fun and living my life.
And I have to, you know, I hadn't been back to LA and everybody's like, why aren't you
back in LA?
And now I'm just like, fuck Brandon.
Like I'm coming to LA.
I'm not going to be scared of him.
I'm not, I'm not going to let him punk me out of my own fucking city.
I have people here that will have my back, that will support me when I go places.
Because like I said, I don't trust him.
He's shy, he is fuck.
And I feel like he might harm me.
Well, hopefully that's not the answer at all.
But do you think there's ever a chance that you go back to the industry or you're just
doing film for now?
Since this happened and I'm not on the show, I've had a lot of people reach out to me about,
you know, continuing this sports journalism job.
And I just kind of told everybody, told people like, I'm not sure.
I'm not even sure if I'm going to finish my podcast, if I'm going to still do it.
My son is trying to talk me into keep doing it.
But it's just like, I'm just tired.
I'm just so tired of, of being great at something and being disrespected.
Every time I reach a certain point, there's something that knocks me back down.
Like it's just, it's exhausting and I'm just really tired of it.
And it's something that I truly love to do.
Like I said, I would do it for free.
I would love to do another sports show.
But when I tell you this shit would have to be so right, it would have to be so real.
I would really have to respect the people that I'm doing it with.
That's the only way it would ever happen again.
I agree.
And that's why I'm, look, man, this is why I'm trying to get all my ducks in a line and
then, you know, cause I could be the right guy.
We could be the right team, but we'll see how it goes in the future.
Like I said, I pitched you that and we'll see, we'll see.
Go ahead and talk to everybody on here real quick.
Anything left that you want to say?
I first want to, I want to thank everybody that has supported me.
You know, I do get a lot of hate in this industry, but a lot of you love me.
You support me.
You have my back.
And I just want to thank everybody that's allowed me to be myself and still supported
me and love me.
You don't have to agree with everything I say to support me.
You know?
And so I want to thank those people.
I want to thank my family.
I want to thank my friends that want to beat Brandon up for me.
And I want to thank you guys for not beating him up because I do feel like that's going
to just cause me more drama and everything.
And I just want to tell everybody that if you have people like me who stand on shit,
who stand on what they believe in, support them.
Don't support the clowns.
Don't support the fucking losers, the people that are treating people badly.
Who gives a fuck who they are, famous or not.
Support people that are doing things that you like.
If your friends have a podcast, if your friends have a business and it's a good business,
support them.
You don't always have to support the famous people.
They have enough people following them.
Support your people, people that are trying to get their shit off the ground.
Look out for them.
Those are people that are going to appreciate it more than these people that will never
even know you exist.
I love that.
I'm going to let you close this out.
Peace.