On one of the most recent episodes of “Listen In With KNN” sports talk podcast/radio show presented by FOX Sports Radio 1340AM/96.9 FM, host Kelsey Nicole Nelson was joined by former UNLV Runnin’ Rebel and NBA veteran Tyrone Nesby.

To kick off the show, Nelson’s listeners gave Nesby shoutouts and remembered what he meant to the DMV area as a Washington Wizards player in the early 2000s. Avid listener Mike Patton asked “What was your most memorable moment in D.C. as a member of the Wizards?”, Nesby replied, “playing with [Michael] Jordan.” As a follow-up, Nelson asked if he ever felt nervous around Michael Jordan and Nesby said “I had a great time. I wasn’t really nervous to play against him, I was more nervous about making mistakes…He’s just a normal guy. He’s a guy that wants to win and he finds ways to do it.” 

Nelson then asked about the brotherhood that he created with his former teammates, such as Etan Thomas, Jahadi White, Chris Whitney, and Kwame Brown. “Anybody who plays in the NBA should be connected to a brotherhood. It doesn’t matter if you play three years, five years, 12 years, 20 years, we all have done something that a ton of people would love to do in this world,” said Nesby. 

He then went on to discuss the privilege of playing in the NBA. “We are in the 1% and it’s not even 1%, it’s less than 1% of guys that make it to the professional level…what we did is we always picked each other up and made sure we were ready for the next game and I appreciate that from the guys.”

Another supporter and listener of the show, Donetta Coleman, asked Nesby “What are your thoughts on the new NCAA ruling of allowing college players to be paid through endorsements?” Nesby replied, “I’m a big fan of it…people don’t realize as a player, all your time goes into schoolwork and the court or whatever sport you play in…I had to call home so many times to get $20 from my mom just to have some money in my pocket…It’s very difficult for a student-athlete to survive.” 

Nesby then spoke about his thoughts on NBA superteams: “I’m old school when it comes to certain things…I like when the guys stay with their original teams, but we talking about 2021 now…it takes away the fun, but they wanna make sure they leave their legacy.”

Going from super teams to championships, Nelson asked Nesby if winning the [championship] ring means the same if you won it in a super team and he answered, “As a player, we don’t care how we get it…we’re excited about getting it. As a fan, they know we’re supposed to get it…a ring is a ring.” 

Back to how it all started for Nesby, Nelson asked how he got into the game of basketball. Nesby started playing in the 8th grade after a coach invited him to tryouts that were later that night: “I had a coach who said “Yo big guy, you play basketball?” and I said “Nah, I don’t play” and he said, “We got tryouts tonight you should come”.  And as I’m coming home to my mom’s house, he was there talking to my mom…once that first year was up, I just fell in love with it.”

“I never dreamed about getting to the NBA, I’d be lying if I said that, I just took it as I liked the sport…my junior year of high school is when I really started falling in love with it.” Nesby truly loves the game and also noted that “basketball was my first girlfriend and it’s still the love of my life”.

Nesby gave lots of credit to the man he is today to his mom and how she raised him, “My mom never tried to live through me when it came to basketball. When I got home, we just talked about schoolwork. She didn’t even ask me, “How did the game go?” She said, “I know Friday you were supposed to have a paper turned in, did you turn it in?” And I said, “Mom, I did, I turned it in”, and I’m trying to talk about the game and she doesn’t even care about the game. Rest her soul, I really appreciated that kind of support because that did keep me focused. It’s funny because to this day I have a rule with my son that we don’t talk about basketball at home.”

Since his time in the NBA, Nesby has become a coach. His most recent role was at Muhlenburg High School in Pennsylvania. Nesby was awarded the 2020 Coach of the Year for the Class 5A level in Pennsylvania. “To be honest with you, that was the last thing I was thinking about.” Nesby continued on talking about the surprise he had when he found out he got this award. “It wasn’t easy; to be able to get this in three years is something that normally doesn’t happen.” When Nesby started at the school, the team averaged five wins per season and by the time he left, they were top 10 in the state for 5A. 

Nelson asked what it meant to him being a high school coach and how he was able to get this recognition. “I take my job very seriously. If I could get a kid into college to continue his education and the game of basketball…if your mindset isn’t to get a kid to college, then you shouldn’t be coaching.”

Nesby also spoke about his future goals in his role as a coach. “I eventually want to get that college coaching gig…that’s something I want to do. I want to make sure that whatever I’m doing is with the kids and developing the kids. I feel like I do well in player development”.

Speaking about his player development skills, Nesby created “Nes-B Sports” which focuses on basketball camps, one-on-one training, and mentorship. “It’s one of those things where I can actually be myself…I can teach the game how it’s supposed to be taught and also have that part of being a mentor because we do mentorship”.

With the Olympic games just wrapping, Nesby also spoke about Simone Biles and bringing awareness to mental health while in Tokyo. “When I see Simone up there speaking and I’m listening to her talking and I’m just there shaking my head about these people who ain’t ever worked out a day in their life behind their computers typing what they want to type…people don’t understand the pressure they’re under.”

Another one of Nesby’s current projects is Organik Sportz. Nelson asked him to expand on why he started the company. “I started because of me growing up and watching sports and also in high school hearing the negative things people got to say about me, but I never told my story,” said Nesby. 

Nesby’s Organik Sportz is dedicated to telling the story of athletes from the athlete’s perspective. Nesby added, “With Organik Sportz, I thought about this years ago…it’s giving players a platform so we can hear their voice and also we can listen to their perspective of what they think and how they live their life…Organik Sportz in a nutshell is giving you the opportunity to be very organic, so you’re gonna hear guys be straight up, 100.”

To wrap up the conversation, Nelson and Nesby spoke about the USA Basketball team who competed in this year’s Tokyo Olympics and the criticism they have been under. “These boys haven’t really had no time off…I’m not trying to make excuses for the guys…all the other countries, got their best people and we don’t got everybody…y’all keep playing hard, I’m going to keep supporting and [they will] keep representing”. The team went on to win gold, keeping their streak since 2008 for their fourth straight gold.

To learn more about Tyrone Nesby’s journey watch the episode below. Be sure to also check out  Nes-B Sports. You can get in touch with Tyrone on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and stay tuned for Organik Sportz at @organiksportz on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.