Legends Give Back with Dr. J and Friends

What is your favorite sport?

Well, to play it's golf. To watch is probably swimsuit competition.

To young Hollywood. Standing here with the incredible Dr. J, Julie Irving. How are you tonight?

I'm great. How are you doing?

Good. All right. How are you feeling about this evening?

I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, yeah, I've been here three times before. So uh, I was able to be one of the presenters to Muhammad Ali last year. And I'm either going to do Jerry West or Artist Gilmore this year, I don't know. I think I'm going to do Jerry West. And then uh, at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, I'm going to do Artist Gilmore for sure. But if I do artist here, then uh, then I give the same message in both places. So so it'll be easy.

For being one of the greatest players in the history, probably the greatest player in the history of basketball. Is there anybody here that you get excited to see? Do you ever get star struck?

Well, you're very kind. I guess the Hollywood crowd. Some of the baseball players, the older baseball players like Rod Caro, I had never met Rod Caro before. So uh, got a chance to say hello to him and

So other than basketball, other than basketball, what is your big what is your favorite sport?

Well, to play it's golf. To watch is probably swimsuit competition.

Is that a sport? I don't know, well we'll make it a sport. I don't know if we'll find any of those.

It is a sport. It is a sport.

Jump in, right? Here with Josh Smith. How's it going?

Uh good.

You got the black ice on tonight. I like it.

Yeah, yeah, you know, trying to tone it down a little bit.

Oh, tone it down. This is toned down.

Yeah, it's kind of toned down.

Really? Yeah. So, has this your first time here?

Yes, it is my first uh first time here.

Really? Who are you most excited to see?

Uh, I just seen them. Jerry West.

Did you talk to him?

No, I got I let him I let him like he was in the in a rush, so I let him let him go ahead. He's the logo.

So what's your name?

My name is Josh Smith. No nicknames yet.

Jay Smooth. That's my nickname.

Jay Smooth? That's what everybody calls me, yeah.

You say it very smooth. Jay Smooth, yeah. You're a fantasy champion?

No, I'm I'm I'm like a a popular fantasy pick. Like I'm in the fantasy league.

I see why. I I did I did fantasy and uh, you know, I had some success but you know, I was a little rusty, you know, I didn't know what I was doing. How's life in Atlanta?

Life in Atlanta is is uh pretty good. It's hot. Very humid. How's it here right now? Yeah, but I actually moved out here for a couple of months to work out and working out at UCLA. And um, I'm enjoying the weather out here too.

Where are you from originally?

Atlanta.

You're an Atlanta boy and you're playing for Atlanta. You're a big hero at home, aren't you? Yeah, when you walk down the street?

Yeah, I can walk down the street a little bit. They let they let they let me walk.

Oh, seven feet of you?

Six nine. I wish I was seven. Six nine, only six I would I would love to be seven feet though. Extra extra three three inches.

I think you're doing okay in the height department. You're doing pretty good. Here with James Worthy. How's it going tonight?

It's wonderful. Yes.

You know, I was just talking with Jerry West. He's being honored tonight. Yeah. Do you have any great Jerry West stories from back in the day?

Uh, yeah, I'll I'll I'm going to tell them later on, you know. He was uh he was he was a great man. He really knew character. He knew people. A great GM and uh just brutally honest. And we all loved him for that.

So how do you feel about the Lakers these days? I mean, some people are talking about they need to bring in new players. Other players are saying we're fine. How do you feel about it?

Well, you know, I I look at the big picture. Two out of the last three years, they won two out of the last three championships. So you got to look at the big picture and that's what I look at. It's hard to win three in a row. I didn't like the way they ended the season. But I think the fact that they still have a decent core, maybe with a few minor changes they're still in the mix.

And who are some of your favorite players today?

Uh, I like Kevin Durant from Oklahoma. He's a great player. Uh takes about five or six players to uh describe him. And uh he did he gets the job done every night. I I love to watch him play.

And anybody who you're excited to see tonight yourself?

Uh, you know, a lot a lot of old friends, you know, a lot of old farts around here from the from the 70s and 80s that I noticed. So it's nice to see, you know, some of my old teammates and

Is there a lot of camaraderie between the sports, you know, with people from

Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, from one sport to another, I just saw Eddie Murray, the great baseball player. We all watch each other. We all share the same experiences. From time to time uh we do events together like this and so we get a chance to mingle and get to know each other better.