Iman Shumpert continues to score on and off the court!
The famous basketball player has partnered with Uninterrupted to launch his own podcast “Iman Amongst Men ” alongside his brother Ahrii Shumpert. The show features culturally relevant celebrity guests chatting with the siblings to explore topics ranging from money and the entertainment industry to mental wellness, parenting, relationships and everything in between.
The biggest reason the brotherly duo decided to partner up with Lebron James‘ Sports Emmy- winning athlete empowerment brand is so they can be heard in an unfiltered setting.
In this candid interview for REVOLT, the brothers chat about the podcast, what they consider to be a “pivotal episode” with J.R. Smith, and the different guests they would love to speak with in the future. Iman also shares his thoughts on Yung Miami‘s new podcast “Caresha Please.”
Twitter is very divided when it comes to podcasts these days, as it’s clear not everyone needs a platform. How will “Iman Amongst Men “ differ from other podcasts and what key elements do you think will win people over?
Iman Shumpert: The coolest thing about our podcast is these are topics my brother and I are going to discuss anyway at home whether we have a camera or mic or not. This isn’t a politically correct chase or creating something cool for money. This is us bringing our conversations to the forefront because we’re in a time where there is a lack of truth out here. People won’t tell you how it is, tell you straight or let you in on the little details you’re asking. People will try to tip toe around what’s going on. It’s going to be cool for people to have that refreshing sign of relief where people will come and tell the truth. I think that’s what will help us stand out amongst everyone else.
How does it feel to work on something together as brothers? Do brotherly spats pop out at times?
Iman: We argue and shit (laughs). Most people argue and there’s leftover tension or a weird space in the room, but we’re good on separating the two from a business argument and a brother argument. My brother and I have gone back and forth about subjects, leaving people’s mouths dropped watching us argue but even more impressed we’re not into it and hate each other the next day. It’s cool and organic — we’ve gotten used to having our brotherly disputes and business on the opposite end. I don’t know if that’s me or Ahrii who figures out how to separate the two. We may take turns on who’s going to put the sword down first (laughs).
“Teyana & Iman” has been renewed for a second season. Is there any aspect of your life that you would like to showcase more in the show?
Iman: I’d say for me, the only thing that would be better is if we can introduce more of our actual family members. A lot of times when we’re filming, it seems like all the moving parts are focused somewhere else. I would like to introduce more family members instead of friends, employees, and just being around stuff. Whenever the show does get filmed, it’s focused on wherever our lives are at the moment.
When can we expect season two to drop?
Iman: I don’t know as that’s a Teyana Taylor and The Aunties question (laughs). She handles things like that. I’m just going to show up and smile (laughs).
Are there any conversations you see on social media that you would like to bring to the podcast and discuss? And if so, which celebrity guests would you like to have those conversations with?
Ahrii Shumpert: That’s a good question. I would want to talk about the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial — I know it might be a little cliché. I would like to bring on someone that’s funny and can really put this into perspective for me. Although it was really funny, the whole trial was unbelievable and I couldn’t really relate to any of it. I would like to have a comedian to discuss — like a Tracy Morgan or somebody like that to come on and dive in. Or, if they have another story pertaining to it, I would love to get his perspective or his take on the situation.
Iman: Wow, I don’t have anyone that can top Tracy Morgan (laughs). Someone that comes to mind that I would want to talk to is Method Man. I was actually watching a clip this morning before we hopped on the call where he was questioning where all these rappers are getting private jets from? He was saying it costs like $30,000 and how he knows they aren’t rolling in $30,000 for flight money. He kept saying how they are getting these jets … What are ya’ll doing (laughs)?
I want to know, too (laughs).
Iman: Right, I just wanted to know his perspective and how him and his team navigate through the music industry. He’s one of the bigger rappers — he’s like a good 6’3″ or 6’4″ — you’re noticeable, bro. You get that NBA crowd where people ask if you play basketball. I would love to talk to him because I also rap so how do you get people to get off that weird image of being a rapper while being so tall? How do you get people off that hiccup — and oh boy, it’s been a hiccup (laughs).
Are you going to be open and address topics concerning your career and personal life on the podcast?
Iman: Oh yeah — you’re gonna get all those stories. Any story I can think of that can help give some insight to the NBA fans, I’ll usually tell it. There’s times I might have to shelter other players, as I try not to name players unless it’s somebody in the forefront. A lot of the different things I may bring up with the guys that I’m closest with, I’ll especially name them because it’s like bro, I want to tell these stories and most of the time I’m going to talk to them before I share it. It’s never the answer that people want — I don’t know why people expect this clean cut answer but you won’t get that on the podcast. I’m probably just gonna tell you the truth because I don’t have an NBA contract at the moment but I’m not bashing anything. I’m definitely speaking my truth and for me to have my brother there is why my guard goes down so hard because these are the conversations I have with him. For the longest, I would edit them as soon as I walk out of the room. By editing these conversations and things you want to say, there’s a frustration that may build up — a resistance that may build up. We’re way happier letting everything thing out and putting it on the table.
Every time I’ve left a Vlad interview or anything similar to it, people have reached back out and told me how they appreciate me for being candid as a lot of people beat around the bush. When they post the clips of the interviews I do, the fans are very receptive to it. I’ve had fans start off questioning why I would say something and then they go and watch the whole clip or the full interview. That’s the really cool part about podcasts — the whole rollout and the conversation starting, the small clip where they cut off three words and it sounds a little different. Now you’re hooked and you’ll watch the interview because you want to make sure. It’s really cool. All of these conversations are barber shop conversations and me and Ahrii just made it to where now you can come to my dad’s basement where he cuts hair and have that conversation — that’s what it feels like. We’re taking the fanship back to where we’re at a pool table talking shit.
Are there any interesting NBA stories you tell that fans should anticipate?
Iman: There’s alot of them.
Ahrii: There’s a few with J.R. Smith.
Iman: Oh yeah, the fans are going to eat the J.R. Smith interview up. J.R. delves into a lot of stuff.
Without giving too much away, is there a part of the conversation you can let us in on?
Iman: We talked about what happened in the finals. We talked about when me and Smith got traded. We spoke about being down 3-1 and what was really said on the bus. We talked about all of these things.
Ahrii: That one was probably the most pivotal story.
Iman: Yeah, definitely when we chatted about being down 3-1 in the 2017 NBA Finals. You hear about it, but when you start hearing how everyone really turned away from him — nobody was really caring. We finally got to dig into the details because it’s so cool — people sort of got used to seeing me talk a lot while J.R. has been gone focusing on golfing and you haven’t really heard from him. When you hear him speak now, there’s a calm that comes over him. I don’t know if anyone else can see it, but I can see the difference in him when we were in New York to seeing how he’ll talk to people now. Also, seeing the maturity and seeing his mind is attached to something new. Fans are going to be really excited with the sit down with J.R. and see the transformation. People still have this image of J.R. as this kid that came in the league with so many tattoos and getting into trouble. They don’t really fast forward to this part when he was a two-time champion where he was about to do something that’s never been done in golf and he’s got four daughters. People aren’t really taking into account what he has going on in his day-to-day and I thought it was super cool to see the [slow downed] J.R.. Ahrii and I were super excited about the conversation.
Which guest did you cut up with and have nonstop laughter with the most on the show thus far?
Iman: Who you going to say Ahrii? Lil Rel Howery?
Ahrii: I would say Lil Rel but also Eric Dickerson and DJ Head. Both of them were very different and a lot more expressive than I expected them to be.
Iman: Ahrii was waiting on this Eric Dickerson interview. My man got a voiceover book and this is the only guest I would say that Ahrii probably called me two separate times prior to our production call because of his story, how he told it, and how unapologetic he was when he was telling it. Fans will be excited for that one. The other one that was good that people will be excited about is we got CeeLo Green to be on the podcast. Somehow we got him and everybody can’t get him.
Wow … CeeLo don’t even pop out like that.
Iman: He don’t. He wasn’t able to come outside so he had to do it virtually. He even taped it online to make sure he got it done. My dog was singing on the podcast — it was great.
Are there any special guests you would like to secure for future episodes?
Iman: Oh, tons of people. I would love to have Michael Jordan, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason. I want to get some of the old Knicks and Bulls players we don’t ever hear from. These are the guys that made me want to go to the league so I would like to sit down with them. Would love to have a Michelle Obama, Barack Obama or Lori Lightfoot. Me and my brother are more concerned with how things apply to the world from a man’s perspective — we would bring Lori to talk about Chicago, even more so to talk about the state of Chicago and being a woman in a position of power and how she feels trying to communicate to men and hearing our perspectives and hearing our traumas, hearing how things have changed when we were growing up. Bring her to the table and hear how and why her hands are tied because of certain factors.
REVOLT recently announced Yung Miami’s new podcast “Caresha Please.” What advice would you give to the City Girl as she develops her voice? Are there any topics you would like to hear her discuss?
Iman: Hmm, I actually did just see that — she had Diddy on there right?
Yep, Diddy was her first guest.
Iman: I think that’s good — I think as long as the podcast focuses on the challenging questions that we can’t just go to google and get, it’s good. I think that the City Girls have a way of breaking the ice — they are able to do it with their records when you play it for a crowd. Everyone gets this new energy to them. I think we’ll sort of expect that same bop with the podcast from her. As long as she’s asking the questions that break the ice and make people feel that they are hanging with a City Girl now, so it’s okay. It’s almost like being a feature on a song — maybe I don’t rap with autotune on but because I’m rapping with this person, now I can rap with the autotune and feel confident that we’re entering this world.
I would like to see her have guests on there that are sore thumbs. I don’t want to see her talk to somebody she would do a song with. I want to see her talk to somebody where there’s a little bit of a difference going on like someone who we would never think would sit in front of her. It’s kind of cool when you put two people from different spectrums in the same room and you think it’ll go one way — you start to see that both of them are way more [alike] than you ever thought. I feel like that’s what’s going to happen on her podcast. I’m excited about it.
Ahrii: I would love to hear her talk about the new mindset of women in 2022, new women in hip hop in particular, and what they’re doing and how it may be different from what their mothers were doing and grandmothers did back when they were their age. To me, that would be something I would like to know the answer to.