It is no surprise as to why Kings fans really love forward Anthony Tolliver. Sure the numbers may not be all flashy and star-like, but his guidance and leadership on and off the court are priceless.
Bayside church did a Q&A with Tolliver to discuss a plethora of topics and Tolliver didn’t hold back. As always, whenever a basketball player does an interview, they will get asked about the season and what they could do to improve in the future.
What was the most pivotal moment from the Kings’ season? The big trade involving DeMarcus Cousins. With Cousins, Tolliver believed the Kings could’ve made it to the eighth seed due to him being one of the best centers in the NBA.
“The organization decided to go in another direction and build around the young guys,” Tolliver said.
Tolliver didn’t lose faith in the organization and instead showed his class by being a welcoming leader to the new guys that were involved in the trade and had a huge influence on the growth of guys like Skal Labissiere and Willie Cauley-Stein.
With Tolliver entering his 12th season, he has always been one to be a mentor to the younger guys on the team. This is the reason why vets are needed according to Tolliver.
“It’s time to get these young guys and help them out as quickly as possible,” Tolliver said to the crowd. “It is important for me to have a great relationship with them.”
He told a story about some rookies that were doing their pre-draft workouts earlier this month at the Golden 1 Center. When they saw Tolliver, they hollered, “OG” which means “original gangster.”
“THE FIRST TIME I WAS EVER CALLED AN OG WAS TODAY,” TOLLIVER SAID LAUGHING.
However you look at it, each NBA team has that one veteran who comes in and provides good minutes, but Tolliver’s impact goes beyond the court, which is why the younger players respect him.
Tolliver is not only a good basketball player but also a man heading down a successful entrepreneurial path.
He oversees a real estate company (Say You Can), athletic apparel (Active Faith) and children’s fishing merchandise company (Kid Casters).
“I kind of invested based off faith,” Tolliver said about Active Faith. “I didn’t know anything about apparel at the time but I knew Jesus’s name would have more conversation.”
Tolliver also reached out to many NBA players like Jeremy Lin and Stephen Curry (who invested) to promote the brand as well. Tolliver wants the brand to be more about God than anything else.
When Tolliver was 12 years old, he wasn’t the most religious person in the world. He had a buddy at the time that invited him to his church and the only reason Tolliver went, was for the pretty girls that assisted that particular service.
“God can use any situation to reel you in,” Tolliver said laughing.
Tolliver left the church with not only a high understanding of faith, but a relationship with God.
It is more common now for players not to be afraid to showcase their faith in public. Tolliver wants to see more of that on and off the court.
You can tell by the way he handles himself that he certainly had a great support system growing up. He claims that his sister had a big impact on his life growing up and he wouldn’t be where he is in life without her.
Positive influences like Tolliver haven’t been around this franchise in years, which makes the organization’s decision on whether or not bringing him back next season that much more important.
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