-Matisse, thank you so much
for coming on the show.
Nice to meet you through Zoom,
but I'm a big fan of you,
but I'm also a fan
of what you've been doing
while you're in the bubble.
I want to go back,
if you don't mind, to March.
NBA suspends the season.
Where are you,
what goes through your mind,
and what were you
thinking about?
-Yeah, it was --
It's crazy 'cause, for me,
like, just being in the NBA
is crazy.
I'm just trying
to figure it out.
And then as I think
I'm hitting, like, a groove
and finding a routine,
like, everything is shut down.
And to have this be my life
and kind of my new normal
and then just to be put on hold
in a way that no one's
ever seen before is confusing.
And it left me and a lot of guys
in this limbo
of just trying to figure out
what's going to happen,
what's coming next,
or what do we do now.
-Yeah.
-It's been -- It was weird.
-What did you think first
when you heard about the bubble?
-The --
I mean, it sounded crazy.
I mean, it is crazy, like just
the fact that we're even here.
But when I first heard it,
I'm like,
"Well, there's no way
they can do that, right?"
-And then what -- what sold you?
Like, "Okay, they really
have thought this out."
Was there a moment?
-Yeah. For me,
it was a couple things.
So, we started -- we started
doing workouts back in Philly
with our --
at our team practice facility.
And that was, like,
a scaled-down version
of kind of
what we're doing here.
And I felt pretty good
about that.
And then they also sent out
this manual, I guess,
like, this -- of what
they're going to be doing.
It was like over a hundred pages
of the health protocols
and everything.
And I was like --
I mean, I didn't read it,
but I definitely saw
that if they're going to put
that much into...
to send to players,
I was like, "Okay,
they definitely put some..."
-It's almost like
the Apple terms and conditions.
You're like, "Yeah, I accept."
-Yeah. [ Laughs ]
-"I'm not gonna read it."
Yeah. Please.
Well, the reason
why I wanted to have you on --
because you've been
documenting everything
and putting it online.
I think it's brilliant.
And you're filming everything
and editing it yourself,
and it sounds and looks great.
Have you done this before?
Are you --
Have you made videos?
-Kind of.
My friends and I, like --
You know,
you go on a little road trip
or you go hang out or something.
I would shoot some stuff,
but it was never something
I'd put out
because, I mean, as you know,
it's kind of hard to put
yourself out there like this.
And for me, like, having not --
I mean, in college
and in high school,
having not really been
a big -- a well-known person
or, like, a well-known
basketball player,
that was still
very, very weird to me.
And I would make these videos
we'd share amongst each other,
and then that was kind of it,
but now that I'm here --
And, like,
right before we left,
I was going back and forth
with my friends like,
"This is an amazing opportunity,
a historical moment,
and I want to capture it."
And I know what to do
because, like,
we've been doing this, we've
messing around with it before.
And, yeah, so we went
back and forth a lot
and then, you know,
"Just do it."
I was like,
"Yeah, might as well."
Like, get out of my comfort zone
a little bit,
put myself out there, and
hopefully some people enjoy it.
-Good for you,
'cause it's worked.
I also saw that
you solved a Rubik's Cube
in like, I don't know,
90 seconds
or some crazy thing that
I've seen before, like, online.
But how did you learn
how to do that?
Was that something you used to
do in high school or...?
-I learned because in --
when I was in college,
it was either, like,
my sophomore or junior year.
I was at the gym over the summer
with my dad,
and there was this little kid
playing with a Rubik's Cube.
And I went up to him.
He was probably like 12.
I was like, "There's no way
you can solve this thing."
And he seemed like a little kid.
And he's like,
"Oh, I can. I can. I swear.
Get out your timer."
Said, "Okay, here we go."
So, I hit start,
and this kid just starts
going crazy with the thing.
And in 35 seconds,
he had solved it.
I was like, "Wow. Okay."
Like, it was
really, really cool.
And for me, I'm like,
"If this, like, 12-year-old kid
can figure out how to solve it
in 30 seconds..."
I -- At the time,
I was probably 21.
I'm like, "I can at least
get it done to some degree.
I don't care
how long it takes."
So, like, after that...
wanted a Rubik's Cube
and then just, like,
sat on YouTube and studied,
and now it's just, like,
a party trick, I guess.
-Also, if people
watching our show
have not seen your videos,
they should.
They're so interesting.
But one thing is that
you didn't really hold back
on conversations
you're having with your team,
even about racial inequality
and, like,
important conversations.
Were you nervous
to put that out there
or talk about that
or document that?
-Yeah, I mean, I was --
For all of it,
for documenting it,
just 'cause a lot of it
was the opinion of other people,
and, like, that's a very
intimate thing to share
on someone else's behalf.
So, for me, it was --
it was nerve-racking to document
and also just to --
Through editing it,
I wanted to put these guys
who are being vulnerable
and open and sharing
and discussing these topics
in the best light possible.
And, I mean,
I hope I did them justice,
but I was really, really happy
that they were willing
to share that with me
so I could share it
with, I mean, the world.
-It was great they did that,
and it keeps
the conversation going.
And, you know --
And I just think
it was really cool
that you did that.
And I saw that the players
get to choose different words
or phrases on their jersey,
and you chose "vote."
-Yeah.
-Why is that important to you?
-Yeah, that's -- that's one
that is very --
hits very close to home
just 'cause
it's really important
to my family.
And my dad --
my dad grew up in Haiti,
so essentially he's --
To grow up
with immigrant parents,
like, they have
a different perspective
because they come from somewhere
outside of the US,
where we at times take a lot of
what we have here for granted.
And so for him to come from
somewhere where their leader
was a dictator,
not a president,
he really -- my dad
puts a lot of value on the vote
'cause he knows what it's like
to not have a voice.
And to live in a country
where we have the opportunity
to have a voice and be heard
and make change with it is --
I mean, it's an opportunity
that you really --
you can't take for granted.
And I think
that it's been amazing
that I have the opportunity
as a basketball player
to spread this message
on my jersey,
through my videos, with you,
and then also just
that we have as a country,
and even with my generation,
are making a huge effort
to make it a thing
that we're excited about
and passionate about
and take seriously
because it is something serious
and it isn't something
we should take for granted.
And I hope that
in this next election
that we have
a much better turnout
than we did four years ago.
-I think we will.
I know you have a game tonight.
Matisse, go out there and make
more history tonight, buddy.
Thank you so much
for doing our show.
I appreciate it.
-Thank you for having me.
-Matisse Thybulle, everybody.
Check out Matisse's YouTube page
for more episodes of
"Welcome to the Bubble."
