TRE SIMMONS ON THE EVOLUTION

Tre Simmons has proven himself on the court again and again. He’s won seven championships and four MVPs in his 14 seasons of professional basketball in Spain, Greece, France, Israel, the Czech Republic and Russia. Not to mention being drafted in the second round of the Big3 Draft in 2019. And in 2020, as an assistant coach, Tre helped guide the Garfield Bulldogs to a 3A State Championship. I caught up with him recently to chat about all of that and his new clothing line, ‘True Motivation’.

Jeremy Mills: Tre, you've been a part of a lot of championship teams, but what was special about this year's team at Garfield?

Tre Simmons: Well, I started at Garfield when Brandon Roy wanted me to come up last year while he was out. And last year wasn't your typical Garfield team. It wasn't the most talented, but I think we exceeded our expectations. This year, our team was pretty young besides Tari Eason, Kendall Munson, and Justin White. After that, we had sophomores and then Jaylin Stewart as a freshman, so our team was fairly young. And they just matured faster than we expected.

Jeremy: You mentioned Tari Eason, a current Cincinnati Bearcat commit, class of 2020. What can you say about working with a guy like that?

Tre: Man, he took the initiative to push our guys. He's a monster. Even in practice, he always wanted to be first in the drills. He's the one running lines. He wanted to be first, so he's a good captain. Sometimes he would go overboard with the guys. They don't take it well but, after everything settles down, he would just go to them and be like, "I'm just trying to help you." He was a great guy. He's a great guy to be around. He's a great teammate. He likes to take over our game.

Jeremy: Another guy that seemed like he took over, defensively anyway: Kendall Munson. What do you think about him and what he's been able to do this season?

Tre: Kendall, each game, he just got better and better and better. He was so determined to prove everybody wrong. You know what I'm saying? In the championship game, he was so focused, so mentally ready to do his task. I just loved the way he just went out there and just disciplined himself.

Jeremy: What would you say Brandon Roy’s strongest attribute is as a head coach?

Tre: Brandon has a lot of stories from his time in the NBA and just knows how to get in your head and knows how to talk to people. I wouldn't say he likes to manipulate, but he knows how to get it in the players minds and have them ready to go.

Jeremy: What do you think your strongest trait is as a coach?

Tre: I'm in the school with them for six and a half hours and then on the court with them for two hours. I think the relationships that I have with them makes it easier for them to come to me and talk to me about anything. With my knowledge, and with Brandon's knowledge, Jamaal Williams' knowledge, we all come together and we really have something. 

Jeremy: Last year you were drafted into the Big3 basketball league. How did that all come about?

Tre: I actually saw it on Twitter. They were asking, "Who did you want to see at the Big3?" I responded, "I want to see myself at the Big3!"

As soon as I said that, they sent me a DM now telling me like, "If you're interested, we need to meet. This is what you got to do." I went through that and then Nate Robinson also called the team operations like, "I want him on my team." They go, "All right. Then you've got to come through for tryouts and the combine." After that happened, Jason Terry was like, "I want him on my team." [chuckles] 

My step brother, Derrick Elliot, came down with me for tryouts. He's real tight with Gary Payton. So, in my first game, Gary Payton's watching me, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, JT, Nate, all them guys are there just watching me. After the game is done, I see these guys in a circle arguing. I'm like, "What is going on?" Then I hear my name. He's like, "No. I'm taking Tre." "No, I'm taking him." "Hold on. You're not. You can't have him. I'm taking him."

Jeremy: So you were probably pretty chill on draft day? For me, just watching that on TV was so fun to see you out there with the DeJounte Murray jersey. Can you describe what it was like for you?

Tre: I mean I was still nervous. Jermaine O'Neal was the captain for Nate’s team. So, Nate was telling him about me before this season, before the draft and all that. I see Jermaine calling Nate up to the stand. He's like, "Who should I get?" Nate's like pointing at me. He's like, "Well, he's right there. What are you doing? Just pick him." I'm looking around. I'm just nervous, man. I'm like, "Man, what's going on?" But Gay Payton picked me and I was so relieved.

Jeremy: Once you got in the league, can you describe the differences as a player in the game?

Tre: So, of course it's 3-on-3, and they have the four-point shot that’s probably like 30 feet out. The shot clock is only 14 seconds, so it goes by fast. You would think there you can take your time and stuff, but when you're on the court, that 14 seconds goes by so fast. It's also really physical, man, real physical. Now they put in as a new rule, if you get fouled, I think you get an option to shoot the freethrow or you can go one-on-one. It's a little different, but it was very entertaining. It was very fun. There are a lot of celebrities that came to these games too. You never know who'd be in the stands. One day it was Bill Self, Tyler Perry, LL Cool J, Jim Jones. We used to have a lot of celebrities out there. I didn't get star-struck by anybody or nothing like that because you are just so focused on the game. You really don't pay attention until after. But you're like, "Oh, wow. He was there?"

Jeremy: Can you describe overall the experience as a player compared to other places you’ve played?

Tre: It was kind of like being in the NBA. It was first class, everything first class: flight, five star hotel. We were sponsored by Adidas. It was crazy. 

Jeremy: What was the best part about playing for Gary Payton and what was the worst part about playing for Gary Patyon?

Tre: [Laughs] I've known GP since I was in high school, so I was familiar with him. Honestly, I did think I was going to play more than I did, but I understand that him and Mario Chalmers played together. For myself, I just felt like I could have done more for the team. You know what I'm saying?

Jeremy: Right. As I watched it was interesting, because the minutes that you had were limited, so you had to try to really pack a lot in and maximize your opportunities. 

Tre: Right. I mean I understand. I wasn't the guy that was in the NBA. These guys all played in the NBA and I didn't, so I'm thinking, "Well, the fans want to see more of them than me." That's something in my head. So I was like, "When I'm out there, I'm going to start doing my stuff." But it’s a great experience and I wouldn't change that for anything.

Jeremy: You also have an apparel brand, ‘True Motivation’. What prompted you to start something like that?

Tre: I always feel like I was always the underdog. Coming from Garfield, I didn't go to college right out of high school. I went to four junior colleges before going to the University of Washington. Then I didn't get drafted, so I went overseas and had a successful 14-year career. I feel like I've always been the underdog, but I always took advantage of my opportunities. My business partner and I have been making moves since I was about nine years old. I first took my logo, which is my nickname ‘Tre Murder,’ but I was like, "Everybody is not going to buy Tre Murder." So I revamped that and made it ‘True Motivation’. 

Jeremy: Personally, now that the gear is dropping, what's your favorite part? Is it just having the business, counting the money, or actually seeing it worn and seeing your friends and family repping it?

Tre: I love people repping it, man. I love when people ask questions about it or they want some different color or whatever. Those are the things that I like. 

Jeremy: You mentioned UW earlier, what do you think of Matisse Thybulle so far in Philadelphia?

Tre: He is going to be a great NBA player. I knew that in his senior year. He has the size, a great defender, and he can shoot the ball.

Jeremy: The season didn’t end the way UW wanted it to this season. What would you build off of if you were in the coaching staff? 

Tre: That's tough because Coach Hopkins did a great job previously up until this year. You can't stop doing what you're doing just because of a bad season. Do you know what I'm saying? But I think if they just mix it up a little bit more, I think they would have a better chance of winning a few more games. But that reminds me, I will be coaching Team Washington in the Basketball Tournament this year. 

Jeremy: Oh man. Can you tell me what players are on the team?

Tre: We have Tony Wroten, Andrew Andrews, Justin Dentmon, Malik Dime, Noah Dickerson, Rob Upshaw. Bobby Jones, Ricky Ledo, Josh Selby. And Jacob Wiley, he might play also. I think we got a pretty good team.

Jeremy: Well, great, I’m looking forward to that. I appreciate your time again, man. Stay happy, stay healthy, and we will look forward to chatting with you again soon.

Tre: Thanks. [  ]