He Won Rings in Three Decades and Nobody Noticed | John Salley | Coffeez Ep. 314

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby

NBA legend John Salley joins Joe Shalaby on Coffeez to discuss his four-time championship career across three decades and three teams, delvi

Key takeaways

• Salley attributes his long career to treating every game as if it were his last, maintaining focus and intensity.
• He emphasizes the importance of body care, using stem cells and natural supplements like Shilla Shit for joint health and longevity.

Main topics

• NBA championship history across three teams
• Longevity and health maintenance with stem cells

Notable quotes

I played every game like it was my last game.

Fame is an unbelievable drug.

Conclusion

John Salley reflects on a storied career marked by resilience, health

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) One, two, demand service. Speaker 1 (0:16) Oh my god. I will give you service. Speaker 3 (0:19) Are you John? Yes, I am. What's your name? Speaker 1 (0:22) Alyssa. Speaker 3 (0:22) Alyssa, how are you? I'm Speaker 1 (0:24) great. So good to meet you. Speaker 3 (0:25) Wonderful. Nice meeting you. Speaker 1 (0:26) Are you a basketball player? I Speaker 3 (0:28) did when I was young. Yeah, I was young. Are you a Victoria's Secret model? Speaker 1 (0:34) I was when I was never, but I was. But I appreciate that. Yeah, just thought so. When I was young, I was always like the role model. You wanted to win. You grow up and then you get young. Speaker 1 (0:52) What can I get you? Speaker 3 (0:54) Well, let me see, you got agave there, you have tea. Is it uncool to have tea? Wait, you got coconut water? I've Speaker 1 (1:00) got Speaker 3 (1:00) coconut Speaker 1 (1:00) water. Oh Speaker 3 (1:01) yeah, I'll take some coconut water. Speaker 1 (1:03) Okay, beautiful. Let Speaker 3 (1:04) me get that for Speaker 1 (1:04) you. Yeah, I appreciate that. Put it in this glass. Speaker 3 (1:06) Yes, ma'am. Speaker 1 (1:07) No Speaker 3 (1:08) ice. Speaker 1 (1:09) No ice. Pure Speaker 3 (1:09) hydrating. Speaker 1 (1:10) Pure, okay. Why coconut water? Speaker 3 (1:12) Because it's the closest water to your oil, to your blood, and the only thing that really hydrates you, 100%. So, Speaker 1 (1:23) yeah, Speaker 3 (1:24) let's not show the label of the company. They're not paying us. But yeah, no endorsements. Speaker 1 (1:32) Now with the holidays around the corner, I was going to ask you, what is your favorite Christmas movie? Speaker 3 (1:38) Oh, my favorite Christmas movie is this great movie called The Ultimate Christmas Present. Speaker 1 (1:45) Of course it is. That's my two. Isn't Speaker 3 (1:47) that crazy? That's right. It's one of my favorite movies. Speaker 3 (1:52) That's what I like. Speaker 1 (1:54) No, come on over. I'm going to bring you over to Joe. Joe's ready for you. Speaker 3 (1:59) Oh my goodness. Hello, Mr. John Sally. How are you, sir? Speaker 2 (2:03) To say that I'm a Speaker 1 (2:04) fan is an understatement. Speaker 3 (2:06) Oh my Speaker 1 (2:06) goodness. I'm with an actual... What's Speaker 2 (2:09) up, everybody? Welcome to Coffees. I'm your host, Joe Shalvey, and today we are sitting with NBA legend, John Sally, a four-time NBA champion, who won a championship in three different Speaker 1 (2:22) decades and two millennia. Speaker 2 (2:24) He also won it with the Bulls, played with Jordan, with the Lakers, played with Kobe, with the Pistons, played with Isaiah Thomas. This guy is an absolute powerhouse and has dominated everything that he's been in from basketball to entrepreneurship. Please welcome the one, the only, John Sally. Let's go. Speaker 3 (2:42) You know, I don't remember not one game I've ever played in. Speaker 2 (2:45) Was it because you just partied too much in the NBA? No. Speaker 3 (2:49) No, it's because. You hung out with Speaker 2 (2:52) Rodman too much, huh? Speaker 3 (2:53) No, not at all, to be honest. It's because I took every game as if it was my last game. So I played it like I didn't lose focus. So they all are the same, on the same loop. Speaker 3 (3:08) I guess that's what it is. Plus, I got hit in the head a lot. Speaker 2 (3:12) And you played three different generations. I mean, three different decades. Do you attribute being a vegan to being able to have that much longevity? Because, I mean, LeBron is over here. He's playing almost more than you. He ain't no vegan. Speaker 3 (3:26) No, but he has way more money. So he said he puts a million dollars in just to keep in control of his body. And he has... More advanced than we do. Speaker 2 (3:39) What million dollars? That's a lot of peptides. Speaker 3 (3:43) You can't say that. They're not allowed to take peptides. Yet. Speaker 2 (3:47) Yet. Stem cells are more expensive. Speaker 3 (3:49) You know, I do mu cells. I got my guy here, Speaker 2 (3:52) Kyle. Speaker 3 (3:55) He hooks me up with mu cells. Those are the... Cheaper Speaker 2 (3:58) version? Speaker 3 (3:59) No, those are the warriors. So what they do is they put the stem cells together and the ones that survive, those are the strongest ones. extract those and then they inject them. Speaker 2 (4:08) So those are more expensive. Speaker 3 (4:09) Yeah, they're 85, between 85 and $10,000. So Speaker 2 (4:15) look at it, this is why I do it Speaker 3 (4:17) three times a year. So it's $30,000 worth of staying young, but it's worth it because getting old sucks. It hurts. But after you do stem cells, it's almost like you're me, like in my 30s. And I'm not exaggerating. Really? Yeah. Where do you get the mucosal injected? I get it in an IV. So I take a long drip, and that drip would be about 90 minutes. And if I do it early in the day, like sometime I'll do it at like 11 o'clock in the day. If I do it then, then I... Speaker 3 (4:57) will take some B12 and put that in it, mainly in that point. But I don't really, I just would do it, and I like to do the stem cells at around seven o'clock. I think it was like five to seven, because I get tired after, and then I go to sleep. Speaker 3 (5:23) So it's just how you administer it. I wind up starting a company because I didn't want to just be going to this guy, this guy, this guy. Oh, that's one way of looking at it. But the other way is, too, I was with this company called Valhalla Vitality. And it was a trip because when I first, like your guy over here, I knew he was Scandinavian. And Valhalla. And I was like, why did you name it? Valhalla. And he was like, you know, it's an old Viking story. And I thought it was because they're going to conquer the telemedical world. And I was like, that's a nice way of putting it. But then I had a provider, certified. They did my labs. It wasn't just me bringing it to somebody who didn't know. And I'm particular. I'm particular. It's the only body I have, Joe. So you have to, if this is the only body you have, my spaceship, you got to take care of it. Speaker 2 (6:17) You've done a great job. Thank Speaker 3 (6:19) you, man. You've done a great job. I'd like Speaker 2 (6:20) to start this show off with the same question I ask everybody, and this one is going to hit home for me because I'm really going to take some advice from you on this one. What's your morning routine? Speaker 3 (6:28) To wake up. Speaker 2 (6:31) That's important. And then after that? Speaker 3 (6:33) I'll do a lot of podcasts, and a number of podcasts, but not even more than just my own. And they ask me that question, but you all give the answer. I do Shilla Shit. which is a teaspoon of it not a big teaspoon small part mine is the company is called vibe medics how do you Speaker 2 (6:57) take it you just like Speaker 3 (6:58) no so i take it's a small pinch like a pea and i put it in and i put the turn the kettle on put the hot water on and i let i let it soak no no i don't put any uh any bovine fluid in my system so Oh, you called it milk? No, no, Speaker 2 (7:16) no, no, no. I mean, like, you just pour hot water on top. Just hot Speaker 3 (7:20) water. Give me a little spoon. It's like a spoon from the 70s, if you know what I mean. But you put a little spoon of that and just a tiny bit, man, in my joints. Because you don't really pay attention. You get older, your joints start hurting, arthritis kicks in. This right here knocks it all out. Speaker 2 (7:40) She legit? Just that resin? Speaker 3 (7:42) That resin. And especially the ones that's real. I've tasted all of them. I'm at the Natural Food Expo. Yeah, I got to the point where I got used to it because I know it's... Speaker 2 (7:54) I just take it like the whole spoon, just swallow it. Really? Speaker 3 (7:57) Yeah, it's Speaker 2 (7:57) gross. Speaker 3 (7:58) And then I slam a protein shake after. You better watch out. It's going to make you short and white. Oh, you drank too much of it. No, I'm just joking. But that's it. And then I... I do a lot of calisthenics. And I have this one thing, I wish I had a video, it's called the shifter. And my boy Jase made it. And I just get on it. People go to my house and go, what is that? A toy. It's not a toy. And I hang upside down just because I like being tall. And I don't want to get to the point where I'm like this. Speaker 2 (8:36) That's that back machine that flips you over? Speaker 3 (8:38) Yeah, the inverter machine, inversion machine. And I walk a lot. So I have a dog, so I do a lot of hills. I walk backwards a lot. So I really don't, I won't take a call before 11 Speaker 1 (8:52) o'clock most of Speaker 3 (8:53) the time, because I want to make sure the morning is, because my body starts waking up around 12 totally, but I get up around 8, 9. Yeah, that's Speaker 1 (9:02) it. Speaker 2 (9:02) And you go into bed late. Speaker 3 (9:03) Well, it's funny. I usually take a nap every day. But I had to drive down here, and the car is on driving itself. But it still bothers me. No, Speaker 2 (9:13) I'm just joking. Speaker 3 (9:14) I get my rest. And I work really hard on not stressing. It's hard to do. But I work really hard on not stressing. What Speaker 2 (9:27) do you need to stress about? You're retired. Everybody loves you. The most beloved guy around in the NBA. You got no beef with nobody. Not LeBron, not Jordan. Nobody. Everybody loves you. Speaker 3 (9:38) Well, they don't all love me, but I have no beef with anybody. And this is, I'll tell you why. Life, our life is short. Life is long, but our life is short. So, you think I'm going to waste it on beef? Like, for what? Like, fix it. Drive on, man. Speaker 2 (9:57) I saw how you are with beautiful ladies. You still game like you play basketball. Speaker 3 (10:02) Oh, Speaker 1 (10:03) that's because I Speaker 3 (10:04) don't like men. And I hate men. And I love women. I love so many of them. God gave me four daughters. He was like, you like working with women? Yeah, well, let's just see behind the curtain. But yeah, I get a better vibe from females than I do Speaker 2 (10:23) from Speaker 3 (10:24) men. Speaker 2 (10:25) I'm with you on that one. We can vibe on that. So let's get into it. You're seven foot, basically, and you're full vegan. You're not even vegetarian. You're vegan. Speaker 3 (10:36) How Speaker 2 (10:37) does a vegan diet nourish you sufficiently to operate that seven foot body of yours? Speaker 3 (10:45) You know, I was talking to this 800 pound gorilla. I said, you're a raw foodist? Speaker 3 (10:52) Everybody wants to be as strong as the ox and they forget that the ox eats grass. And they go, well, they got four stomachs. Let me tell you something. If you want protein to buy availability, you get it from plants. They want you to get milk or whey and they think it's going to bulk you up. The reason it bulks you up is because milk is designed for a calf. from a heifer until it becomes a 250-pound adult bull or heifer, if you try to feed it milk after that, it'll kick it over. But only humans feel that they got to eat bovine fluid. Your body doesn't work it. That's the reason you see people so big and jacked is they're inflamed. It's just not how it is. You know, that's a beautiful city of Detroit behind you. Yeah, Speaker 2 (11:50) we're here in beautiful Detroit right now. I know it. Your hometown where you won your Speaker 3 (11:54) first championship. I know. I was going to put Brooklyn up, but I'm trying to help revive Speaker 2 (12:02) downtown Detroit. So always, always big up to the D. What up, though? What up, D? Let's get into it here. You know, you played with Michael Jordan. You played with Isaiah Thomas. You played with Shaq. You played with Kobe. You played with LeBron. You played with all the legends. Not LeBron. Not LeBron. Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah, he Speaker 3 (12:21) was Speaker 2 (12:21) born when I finished. Speaker 3 (12:24) I think he was. He was a little boy then. But, no. Speaker 3 (12:29) I say, Isaiah Thomas, Adrian Dantley, Dennis Rodman, Bill Ambeer, Joe Dumas, Vinnie Johnson, Rick Mahorn, John Long, Michael Williams, Fennis Dembo, James Edwards, Bill Ambeer. And that's a group of characters that were Mark Aguirre, sorry, draws, that was constructed. Speaker 3 (12:59) a whole bunch of characters and we just had a chip on our shoulder and we played basketball the right way. But no one- Did Speaker 1 (13:07) you Speaker 3 (13:07) say Speaker 2 (13:07) the bad boys was the right way? Speaker 3 (13:08) Yeah, so there's been 20 rule changes- Since you guys. Since us. Speaker 2 (13:13) So we got a bunch of pansies now in the NBA, you're saying, huh? Speaker 3 (13:17) Well, we just figured out how to play the game to the rule and to the edge of the rule. That's a whole nother thing. So they were like, man, you guys hit people. Boston Celtics hit people. We just didn't allow you to get to the basket. I can only block, if you're going straight to the basket, I'm trying to block you. I have to get in the way of you. And they didn't quite get that. But we wasn't bad guys. We just played the game the way it was always played, by men. Speaker 3 (13:48) What I mean by that, not saying women didn't play, and I can say this. If you watch the WNBA now, Angel Reese and a couple of the other ladies are no joke. They play exactly like we played in the 80s, and it's accepted. And they get up off the ground and they go shoot the foul shots and they be PO'd. But now, if you hit a guy in the NBA, remember half these guys are Fortune 500 companies. So you're damaging a Fortune 500 company is why it's so, why it's one, it's emphasized, why it's so looked down upon playing tough like that. Well, you're saying Speaker 2 (14:30) like guys like LeBron are literally a Fortune 500 company. Speaker 3 (14:33) There's about, there's a couple of them. Remember this? Steph Curry, you got. No, there's guys, there's guys who've made over $330 million in their career. You don't even know, most people don't know their names. I mean, that's. that's like Speaker 2 (14:47) duran's like the highest paid ever um Speaker 1 (14:50) yeah Speaker 3 (14:51) yeah the rant but what should should make you wonder right like he's the highest paid ever and he's like wow and he's the uh my favorite player and i've said this on vlad tv i said this for years he was my favorite player because we had the same body but he can shoot better than me dribble better than me And even though we both would want to kill you, he is just a stone killer. Like, I love Kevin Durant. Speaker 2 (15:20) That's Speaker 1 (15:20) my guy. Speaker 3 (15:21) I agree. And play on, player. Speaker 2 (15:28) Play on, player. So who was your favorite to play with? Who taught you the most in the NBA? Was it Jordan out of Kobe, Jordan, Isaiah Thomas? By the time I got to the Lakers, Speaker 3 (15:38) I was the teacher. You were the teacher. I sound like Darth Vader. I am now the teacher. Speaker 2 (15:42) Well, by the time you got to the Lakers, but that was like towards the end. Speaker 3 (15:45) Yeah, that was my last year. That was your Speaker 2 (15:46) fourth championship. Speaker 3 (15:47) Yeah, yeah. I deserved seven, but I only got four. Speaker 2 (15:51) You also deserve the Hall of Fame, which that's BS. Yeah, which is cool. I'm Speaker 3 (15:55) in the Hall of Fame. Speaker 2 (15:57) You are? Yeah, because all four of the teams I Speaker 3 (15:59) won championships are in the Hall of Fame, baby. I've been there four times. But individually, I never looked at it that way. That was the best thing about being on Detroit. We wasn't trying to stack our stats. We were trying to win a championship. So I sacrificed. Everybody had to sacrifice. Speaker 3 (16:24) I could score like anybody else. You put the orange thing in the orange thing. And I've been doing that since I was six or seven, really serious since I was 12. So I could put the ball in the basket, but they needed defense and blocked shots and everybody on one accord. And you know what's funny? I asked her, who scored the most points in game seven of the championship that you just saw? No one knows. No one knows because who scored the most points wasn't important. The most important was who won the game. Speaker 2 (16:57) That's right. Speaker 3 (16:58) So that's the way I looked at it. So I learned the most from Detroit. I was 22 years old. I had a great coach, Chuck Daly. I had great veterans. And Adrian Dantley, I always start with him. Joe Dumas, Sid Green. Rick Mahorn, Isaiah Thomas. So I had to learn Joe Dumas, Vinnie Johnson, really. They would whisper things to me. Young fella, you know, next time somebody's talking, shut up. I was like, okay. But I learned and I had, and Speaker 2 (17:30) I was a lot of humility. So let's jump into it. Before the championships, before the fame, before the legendary teammates, there was a young guy learning the lessons that would eventually... prepare him for some of the toughest locker rooms ever known in sports history, right? So growing up in Brooklyn, what shaped you more? Was it your family? Was it your neighborhood? Was it basketball? It was my family. Speaker 3 (17:58) Yeah, I'm from a, the Sally family is a really big family. I got 51 first cousins just on one side. How many siblings Speaker 2 (18:06) you Speaker 3 (18:06) got? I got four brothers, three brothers. Well, Really had like five brothers. Did you even play Speaker 2 (18:12) pro? Speaker 3 (18:13) No, no, no. I'm the great one Speaker 2 (18:15) in the family. Speaker 3 (18:18) No, you know what's funny? My brothers, I was a football player because my brother Ron, football player. My brother Jerry was like the second or first black quarterback at my high school. And I remember, you know, I ran a route and did a button hook, caught the ball. When I turned around, I got hit. I took my helmet off, went straight to the gym. And I was like, I am not built for this cold weather, smelly, overly aggressive savages. I'd rather be in the gym where the cheerleaders are. So I went straight and basketball became my focus. But that focus is my brother's. You're talking about routine. It was like, Johnny, get up. And you, what's up? He said, we're going to run this mile. And you get up, move a little bit. You go to the bathroom for a second, put your sneakers on, run down the stairs. We lived on the eighth floor down the stairs, and we would run around the project outside, which was a mile. Then we would do 25 push-ups and how many holds you can do and how many crunches and then how fast it was to run back up the eighth flight to the point where that became my routine from... 14 until 18 every day. Snow, sleet, rain, race riots didn't make a difference. Heat, you had to get up in the morning and do that routine. So always being in shape was important. You don't get ready, you stay ready. Speaker 2 (19:49) So would you say that that philosophy of always being ready that you learned as a kid you've kept that your whole life would that be the thing that you're kind of shaped you? Yeah Speaker 3 (19:58) There's no better time than the present. That's a constant I say even like even if I go I get up in a minute and do that I get up right then because as soon as I that it could wait situation. That's a mistake. You can't wait You you know when opportunity knocks you open the door So you have to be ready. If an opportunity came in, someone hit me with something that I'm doing, I have to be ready. I'm a samurai. Somebody comes at me, I got to be ready to handle it. Speaker 2 (20:31) Now you're going to like this. When I met you, John, for the first time in prison, you strike me as a super confident guy. Oh, yeah. Extreme confidence, charisma like nobody's business. At what point did you realize the difference between confidence and arrogance? Speaker 2 (20:50) So I'm also a minister Speaker 3 (20:52) of the Frequency Church, and we deal in all kind of plant medicines. Speaker 2 (20:58) Frequency Church? What kind Speaker 3 (21:01) of church is that? It's a church for mushrooms and for DMT and for ayahuasca and for bufo and a couple of others. Cannabis plant, psychedelics, psilocybin. Speaker 3 (21:17) We made it a church so we can get donations. Well, yes and no. Yes, it feels crazy for me to ask you to pay me to you to eat something that the earth has given you. Right. It's Speaker 2 (21:32) a Speaker 3 (21:32) it's Speaker 2 (21:33) a Speaker 3 (21:33) little different. But I'm saying all that to say when I did my own journeys. Speaker 2 (21:38) An ayahuasca. Speaker 3 (21:40) Yeah. I realize this is a skin bag of bones and blood. My spirit has nothing to do with this wonderful sexy body you're looking at right now. So watch yourself. I'm watching you Joe You're Speaker 2 (21:54) not Speaker 3 (21:54) my type man. Remember how you said I don't like men? I love women. I see the glare in your eye man. I'm not that guy. I know Speaker 2 (22:02) you're from LA and you get that a lot. Baby come get your Speaker 3 (22:04) man. No, what I mean is once I realized that I was not really of this body You know, that's why I can joke and be calm and seem like confidence. It's because I know none of this is real in a way. And I know we put so much on things that. don't really matter and I rather be fun and optimistic and charismatic than walk in here like, don't you know who you think I used to be for what? You know? Like you talk to me about playing sports and I say to people all the time, they go, oh you play basketball? I say yeah, when I was young I played. And then it goes on and on and on and then they go, why you didn't tell me you was a pro? I say you didn't ask me that. You asked me if I played basketball. I answered it. Like, it doesn't define me. It's what I did. And I was so blessed to do it. And I won in a million Americans as an NBA basketball player. Every one million. Speaker 1 (23:08) And Speaker 2 (23:08) then there's only like a few that won championships. And then of that, nobody's won them in three different decades. In Speaker 3 (23:17) two millenniums. Just thought I'd mention it. Speaker 2 (23:19) Yeah, and two millenniums. Nobody's won Speaker 3 (23:22) them Speaker 2 (23:22) in Speaker 3 (23:22) two millenniums, Speaker 2 (23:24) three different decades, four different teams. But Speaker 3 (23:28) that's another thing when they start talking about the Hall of Fame. It's a team game. It's a team game. I remember how I got on the Lakers. Do you want to hear the story? Yeah, absolutely. Speaker 2 (23:41) How'd you get on the Lakers? Speaker 3 (23:42) So, 99, it was the shortened season. And one time in my life, I'm watching a game. I literally stopped to watch the game because Shaq and Kobe is playing, and I'm watching, and I go, that's weird. These guys are losing. If they had the triangle offense from the Bulls, man, Phil should be