Joe Budden On “7PM In Brooklyn”

Joe Budden, The Kid Mero, and Carmelo Anthony talk about business breakups plus Mero reveals the two key things that led to his split with Desus on “7PM in Brooklyn”.

Today, we share this week’s episode of “7PM in Brooklyn”, a Wave Sports + Entertainment Original, hosted by NBA legend, Carmelo Anthony, and multi-talented comedian and host, The Kid Mero.

This week the guys are joined by Joe Budden as the trio sit down and delve into the topic of business breakups and the personal and financial baggage that comes with professional separations.

During the conversation, Mero opens up and pinpoints two key business disagreements involving DraftKings and Judd Apatow that marked the beginning of the end for Desus & Mero and why it would take a “significant bag” for the two to ever consider teaming up again.

Later in the episode, Joe Budden shares his perspective on his own business breakups while Carmelo talks about his strained relationship with former coach, George Karl.

Lastly, the guys talk about the upcoming NBA All Star Game and key moves that teams need to make heading into the final stretch of the season and Joe makes the bold prediction that Steph Curry will be traded soon, raising questions about his future with the Warriors.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• 12:31 – JOE ON HIS DWIGHT HOWARD COMMENTS

Mero: “You had a very unpopular opinion about Dwight Howard, saying that he is not a top 150 player of all time.”

Joe: “I said that?…After this [the video clip came out] – because part of this is being able to say when you’re wrong. After this I went to look at numbers for Dwight Howard, so anybody that wants to make the argument that he’s a top 75 player, I’m not mad about that.”

• 18:40 – JOE CAN SEE STEPH CURRY GETTING TRADED SOON; NOT STICKING AROUND FOR A REBUILD

Joe: “I do see– and this is a hot take. This is a bold take. I see Steph Curry getting traded soon. I just had this talk with somebody, right? And if Klay [Thompson] is cooked like they acting like he cooked, and it’s really rebuild time and Steph is what? 35? 36? They [are] going to come to a point where they’re going to have to make a decision. I don’t think Steph is staying around for a rebuild at all. And I don’t think they’re trying to pay him what [Steph] is going to ask for at that age. Yeah, I see him getting out of there soon.”

• 45:40 – MERO OPENS UP ON THE EXACT MOMENTS THAT LEAD TO HIS SPLIT WITH DESUS INCLUDING A MISSED DRAFT KINGS DEAL AND AN ABANDONED PROJECT WITH JUDD APATOW

Mero: “Now after time has passed, looking back, do you have a different perspective on it [business breakups]?”

Melo: “You going first.”

Mero: “…At first I was upset, it’s the business. There’s no friends in the business. And we was in a situation where I got four kids, two mortgages…I got real life situations going on so I’m like ‘yo, if we get an offer from DraftKings for 1.5 [million] before they got logos on the NBA court and you’re like ‘nah bro, this ain’t it’…And I’m like…’this is going places bro we need to do this.’ And you’re like ‘nah.’ I’m like ‘fuck outta here.’ To me, that’s like the beginning of this shit is like corroded. We’re on different wavelengths.”

Joe: “Well what are some of the reasons that somebody wouldn’t just say fuck yeah to that? Because that sounds awesome.”

Mero: “There’s a stigma attached to it…that and also I don’t know shit about this. So when we sit down to talk to these people, you don’t know what the fuck +300 means. You don’t know what an over/under is. You don’t know what a spread is…So the situation was we were in two different places in life, right? I was very much so aiming for ownership, being a production company. Owning your IP because that’s life or death in media. If you own your shit, you’re good if it’s good…If you know that, you go into it with a certain approach. I need longevity, I need ownership….we developed this shit out the mud so this is us…We not selling this to nobody…You [Joe Budden] had a very poignant statement where you were like ‘it seems like they’re preparing Desus for Hollywood.’ That next level of Hollywood. And I heard like and I was like you know what’s crazy? No! The next level of Hollywood is the three of us, Desus, Victor myself sitting down with Judd Apatow and saying ‘yo we’re gonna do a movie.’ And then the movie gets written, and Desus was like ‘I ain’t really feeling this shit.’ When I know in the business mind, is like yo when you do a movie with this guy, you’re not just doing a movie with this guy, this dude is a kingmaker in the film industry. If you get in there, you make a banger with him. You solidified. That’s what takes you up to the next level. If you get a little taste of that Hollywood, get a couple Rollies and shit, you get access to things and you good with that? That’s not the type of time I was on.”

Melo: “…Do you think a conversation could have been had by two men and really like see how we can come together and accomplish this…Was there ever a time where you could sit down and build on the vision and what we’re trying to build? And how was that received?”

Mero: “Yea. It was received as yea, let’s get it. But there was never action. It was like, ‘Yo my lawyer told me this, my agent told me this so Imma rock with that. My main thing that I said was listen if we’re gonna fail. let’s fail on our own terms….That plan that you’re talking about was developed, like yo we’re gonna run on these two parallel tracks because we were very well positioned to be in the linear space and in the digital space with the Bodega Boys shit, YouTube and all that. So these two tracks are running at the same time, so why would you want to stop this one and stick to this one knowing it’s the more fickle one? When I was at Viceland I was making more money on the podcast from Vice.”

Melo: “Do you feel like y’all can sit down and have a conversation? Right now.”

Mero: “I never say never bro…I don’t think it can be fixed. I think it’s he’s on another creative pathway now. He’s not on the ‘yo this is where I’m from, this is my voice.’ When you go to the major shit, you gotta acquiesce to that major shit.”

• 1:05:10 – JOE BUDDEN OPENS UP ABOUT HIS OWN BUSINESS SPLITS

Joe: “In my situation, I’ll try and find a clean way to say it. The trust was broken. That’s it. I heard that in your story too. I don’t think I was trusted to lead and some of the shit I set up was and I don’t think I trusted people to do the work that was necessary to get to the level that I wanted to get to. And our shit was nuanced. We talking about friendships and business where that always gets mucky….Are people not respecting me as the entrepreneur that I’m working to be or are you just thinking we’re on some old-school kiddy kiddy back in the hood, nah that ain’t what we’re running here. I’m trying to run a business and the business has to run the way I see fit to run and I’m down to make any uncomfortable decisions that comes along with that.”

• 1:09:28 – MELO ON GEORGE KARL & WHEN HE KNEW THEY WOULDN’T WORK OUT – GEORGE CALLED MELO OVERRATED

Joe: “No but my first question is about Denver though. You and George Karl.”

Mero: “…George Karl…it was evident even in general media…that it was like bro he does not fuck with this [guy] at all. Both ways. But George Karl was just more vocal about it. Taking little shots. As a guy you have to walk into the gym and see this guy everyday…was you actively like get me the fuck outta here bro?”

Melo: “…No not at all…The minute that I knew we wasn’t going to work out. Or we was going to have issues. The first day he got the job. He got the job a couple days before we played [the] Milwaukee Bucks so the whole thing was I’m not coaching no game. My first game I want to be against the Milwaukee Bucks…I really don’t know the game when he came to the team. I’m 21 now. All I know is I got a big name coach coming. George Karl, coached Milwaukee, coached Seattle…you know all of that. We get to Milwaukee after shoot around [he] called me to his room and he tell me, hey man I think you [are] overrated. Like you have a lot of work–”

Mero: “Yooo that’s crazy. First sentence?”

Melo: “…I know I got a long way to go in this league. But my [guy] you just got here. You ain’t asking no questions of who’s who, what’s what, what’s going on, what’s the vibe. Individual meetings with every player to introduce yourself. You ain’t done none of that yet. You call me, told me I was overrated. Looked at him. Alright. [He said] I see your role on this team, you’re more like Detlef Schrempf. This is a fact…Because I was a student of the game at this point, I couldn’t shit on Detlef Schrempf because I know his game. I fuck with Detlef. But in that moment you made me look at Detlef Schrempf a lot different. Every time, you comparing me to [him]? I fuck with Detlef though so why you make me look at [him] different. Our whole relationship from that point on has always started off under the impression that I was overrated. That he was going to teach and guide me into the player he wanted me to be.”