Heck yeah, for sure. Because I’ve been through a few different scenarios to where it molded me into learning about the business side of this league.

What do you feel like you’ve learned? What are some things that you know to do now and know to pay attention to now that, a few years ago, if you had been in that same situation, you would’ve missed?

I would say just being a consistent professional. It can be easy to just be a professional half the time, and you may see half the results, but when you’re consistent, you can see your full results and you can pan out to be who you want to be year by year.

Is that the stuff you’re doing off the court, in terms of taking care of yourself?

Yeah, yeah. Coming into the league, you don’t know how to take care of your body and recover in the proper ways and things of that sort. The older you get, the guys you see doing it, the older guys you see doing it, taking care of their body 365 days a year, it’s contagious.

What are some of the things you’ve started doing? And how extreme are you? I know there are guys who are nuts.

Yeah, you can be sick with it. There’s a lot of the guys who are sick with it who have had a lot of success, because they just eat, sleep, shit basketball. I hired a full-time chef, so I wasn’t taking that time to order pizzas or eat Wild Wings or stuff like that. I travel somewhere, I’m gone for a long period, I have a chef. I think that elevated my game.

Sweater vest, $695, by Wales Bonner at Barneys New York / Pants, $995, by Lanvin at Barneys New York / Shoes, $140, by Dr. Martens / Belt, by John Varvatos / Watch, his own, by Audemars Piguet

What kind of stuff are you eating? Is there a consistent plan, or is it just good food?

I’m part-time vegan. I try to be vegan when I can. But I dip and dive in everywhere. I’m not really a bad eater—I try to stay away from that as much as I can. I’m trying to get the most out of my calories.

Who are some of the guys that you feel like you’ve really looked at and taken things away from? Not just a good pro, but somebody who’s getting the best out of life as a guy in the league.

I would say [Rajon] Rondo. Rondo’s one of the guys that I’ve seen take care of his body in the offseason. I’ve seen him with the chefs and the meal preps, and I’ve just seen his work ethic. He’s definitely someone I’ve gotten a lot of jewels from.

I think one of the most interesting things about the NBA right now is you guys aren’t just basketball players. You can be whatever you want to be. You see guys who have entertainment companies, who are making clothes. Did that surprise you, coming in?

I give credit to a lot of the older guys that paved the way. The game’s elevated in so many different ways that allow us to take advantage of other platforms. Acting or whatever—you can branch off and do it because the game has grabbed a worldwide audience; everybody has their own fanbase.

Is there anything that you’ve been thinking about? Of course, clothes have been a big thing for you, but is there anything that you were like, “I want to do this now?”

Honestly, I kind of just winged it, and then a lot of doors have opened when it came to fashion. I always liked clothes. I always liked what I liked versus trying to compete or whatnot, and then these opportunities gravitated towards me.