#33- Paul Schulte

This episode will be a deep dive into the inside game of Paul Schulte. We will cover what's truly important in his life and his approach to this monumental comeback to the US National Team. Look out Paris 2024, the USA Men's Team is strong and Paul Schulte has a role to play! Don't miss this episode! 

Transcript

[00:05] DK: Hello, this is DK. Welcome to the Wheel Print podcast, created to uncover the inside game of adaptive athletes, their untold stories of what drives them and what makes them tick. So be prepared to be amazed as we discover the trials and the triumphs of the human spirit. Enjoy this episode. I'm DK, and I am the host of the Wheel print podcast today. I'm really excited for this next guest who's solid gold in my books. He was injured at the age of ten, and at 14, he didn't know what to think about adaptive sports, much like I didn't know what to expect when Ed Owen walked into my hospital room and wanted me to play wheelchair ball. And I'm like, man, no, I play. I play real basketball. That was my feeling. And I know yours was similar, but this man has a storied path. I could get into all the accomplishments, the achievements, but I will note the fact that I call, call him Pablo is I nickname everybody that's close to me, and this is a nickname that only is for me and the guest. And so I may refer to him as Pablo or Paul, I'm not quite sure. But anyway, he has paralympic bronze medals, and I'm not going to gloss over one of them because I was on a 2000 team when he made probably the greatest paralympic wheelchair basketball roll off shot ever, ever known for a bronze medal, a 35 footer. I keep extending the distance.

[02:20] Paul:: Ball.

[02:21] DK: I don't know, you know, it's. I'm a fisherman, so it gets bigger and longer as time goes on. But, yeah, that, that shot was heard around the world. And, and normally going into a tournament, you don't get excited about a bronze medal conversation. But let me tell you what, a bronze medal is a whole lot better than fourth place and no medal. But he also has world championships, national championships, MVP's of national championships. And, you know, I'm just not going to spend a whole lot of time, Paul, with all that, because you've done many interviews and I think they all take you down a similar road of looking into that side of things. So I'm going to dare to be different while respecting this significant part of your past and what you've been able to accomplish in your life. But I want to get into the inside story of Paul Schulte, and I want to bring our listeners along with it. So here we go. I want to welcome you, Paul Schulte, to the wheel print podcast.

[03:48] Paul:: Thank you, King. Thank you, King. Pablo, as much as you want, because I'm pretty sure Pablo, you calling me Pablo Cruz goes back to. I'm pretty sure 98. I mean, I feel like it went back right to the beginning.

[03:59] DK: Yeah. You know, and I've. I've explained it. And for those that don't know, Pablo Cruz is a band from back then, never to be heard of, heard from again. But I like their music then. And the Pablo and the cruise part, I thought fits you very well. But anyways. Yeah. So I'm more comfortable calling you Pablo, but. So, look, I plan to kind of dive into your faith, your family, your path from juniors to college, your history of your rise to the top of your career from the start to where you're at right now. And what is on most people's minds is all the detail and it's hot on the burner. Uh, it's. It's about your comeback at 45 years of age and being away from the game for nearly ten years. Uh, but you are headed to Paris and you are at the USoP TC, the. The training center in Colorado Springs. Hallow ground. How's that feel?

[05:27] Paul:: Amazing.

[05:27] DK: Just like it does everything every single time, right? Every time. All right, now you're. You're acting a little subdued, a little quiet.

[05:39] Paul:: I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready to lay it all on you. Can you said you.

[05:42] DK: There you go.

[05:43] Paul:: Yeah, I'm not. I'm an open book to you.

[05:47] DK: Not that we need your court voice, but, you know, I'm saying, uh. But, you know, throwing that acronym around, you know, it didn't always used to be like that. It was the OTC and it was the Olympic committee. And now we've got the acronym of us OPC for the United States Olympic Paralympic Committee. What. What does that mean to you?

[06:19] Paul:: It's tremendous. And those of us that you play the game long enough and you kind of look back and go, holy cow, look how far it's come. And the support of the US OPC Olympic and Paralympic Committee is just unprecedented. It's incredible. It's incredible. This place felt like home when I first came here, and now it really feels like home. I mean, it's just. It's just incredible. Both. Both here in the United States as well as internationally from the International Olympic Committee all the way down. You know, the. The evolved relationship that is the Olympics and Paralympics is. Has been a really, really awesome journey to. To watch progress. And it keeps going.

[07:05] DK: Yeah, it keeps going, man. And. And, you know, we always felt so good about just the facilities to train in and all the resources that surround those facilities, but now we have a museum on grounds, you know, and paralympians have a significant presence. And I know you've been inside and checked all that out, right?

[07:36] Paul:: Yep, I have. It's, it's, it's unbelievable when you're in there. I love every time I get to go, yeah, yeah. But it all started. I mean, for me, I'm, I'm obviously incredibly grateful for. I'm incredibly grateful for the memories and the training and the time that I've had with the national team, but, but certainly it didn't all start that way. You know, you referenced yourself being young and, and the late, great, one of a kind ed Owen inviting you to play wheelchair basketball. And it was similar for me. I got hurt when I was ten, as you said. And they said, you're so into sports before you got hurt. Why don't you play adaptive sports? Why don't you play wheelchair sports? And the only person I knew, only other person I knew in a wheelchair was a dear friend who's since passed away, who had a degenerative form of, um, that was muscle disease. And so he was using a power chair by the time we were ten years old. So I was like, well, how, how can he and I play a sport against each other? Just in my limited experience being young, I was like, wheelchair basketball? Well, well, that's not going to work. Like, that wouldn't be, you know, I just, I didn't know what I didn't know. And so in addition to that, I just had kind of this stereotype of what it might be like. And I was like, no, that's not for me. And the first time I ever went into a gym when I was 14 years old, um, I was in 8th grade. I remember shortly before that, you know, sorry, I'll tell a story when I got into the gym. But, but before that, my biggest goal was just to make it back on the playground. I just want to be back with my friends. That was it. As close as I can get to that. And my friends were awesome. Um, actually, a few of my closest friends live in Colorado Springs, um, right out here in Colorado now. So I get to bump into them. I come out here, it's pretty great. But those same guys, you know, they, they adapted the rules of, uh, of touch football so that I could play. And I was usually throwing the ball as a substitute quarterback or something like that, but they, they were wonderful and get me back out in the playground. But then there was a certain point where one of my buddies, uh, in 7th grade, you know, somebody has this, you know, everybody lives through this when it's like your buddy gets, you know, gets a good run going, and he launches up in the air and he grabs the rim for the first time. He pulls it down and lets it go. And the sound of a gym is boom. You know, like, holy cow, you just grabbed the rim. It was a big deal in little Manchester, Michigan, and, and I had my own epiphany moment there. When I saw him do that. I was like, man, the playground is always going to be fun, but it's only going to be fun for so long. I mean, my buddy's going to be able to be, I'm not going to dunk. I'm not going to be able to reach that rim. And I, fast as I can, push, I can't keep up with them. And so it was right around that time, and it wasn't like a sad moment for me. It was just a realization, like, this is a real thing. And then an invitation came to again from a dear friend, Kevin Wolf, who said, just come once to this adult men's wheelchair basketball practice. And I thought, all right, well, a bunch of adult men aren't going to show up for a participation mode. Theyre probably going to show up and theyre going to compete. And if theyre adults, then I would probably have no chance. And that really appealed to me. I was like, I like that. If I got no chance and these guys are competitive. Well, let me go check it out. And then I was super fortunate, incredibly fortunate. I rolled in the gym, and the first night, there were at least four future hall of famers in the gym in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And these are all products of the Detroit Sparks and other teams. I won't try to recall them all, but they told me stories of bud Rumpel. They told me stories of those that had come before, these giants that we were learning from and then playing on the shoulders of. But the guys that were in the gym the first time I went in there was number one, Mo Phillips, who became just a huge, huge mentor in my life. Uh, tree waller, um, and Joe Sudica and Wyman Davis. And, and then, oh, by the way, Chris Lenzo was there as well. So for your listeners that, you know, go back in the day, we're talking about, for those five guys to be in the gym, when you first show up as a kid, it, it may not have been like, you know, Casa and, uh, and the Condors, you know, exactly like that. Yeah.

[12:07] DK: Yeah. I mean, we were knocking heads with those five that you were talking about, and they, we were neck and neck for championships at, at the time. So it was just like that.

[12:18] Paul:: Yes. And they blocked my shot and took the ball. And I loved every second of it. I was like, yes. I don't want to be handed something. I want a challenge. I want a challenge. And they showed me this mountain to climb that was wheelchair basketball. And they taught me about the Paralympics. And Tree had just come back playing professionally from Italy. And so there was just all kinds of stories and things. And they got real excited real quick about me because I just wouldn't stop pushing for hours. I wouldn't stop. I fell in love with the game, and I still remember hitting my very first shot. And I was like, we got to come back. And by the end of the night, I couldn't move my arms. And my dad was like, we better come back next week. And so we did. And that was a 14 years old first verse getting started. And there weren't any, you know, they told me, hey, there, you can play with kids your own age. It's just, this is, this is what wheelchair basketball is like. Sometimes things are really spread out, you know, this is small and fast growing but evolving sport. And so the closest junior team where I could play, and then we didn't have the divisions back then like they do today, which are fantastic. But I was basically like, the junior division just represented, uh, to me at that time. I just remember it. It represented everybody number one. But especially this is where I went to go find high schoolers to play with and against. And the closest team was out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, coached by none other than Lee Montgomery lead. So when I was 14 years old, we were like, hey, all the guys in Ann Arbor, like, yeah, you can practice and you can potentially play with us, but you should do both. You should play against, you should be practicing with adults, and that will connect you with this guy, Lee Montgomery, who you're going to love, and, and then he'll give you a chance to, to play with, play with athletes your own age.

[14:11] DK: Yeah, well, we're going to go down the road of that path in a little more detail. But, uh, right now, in first and foremost, you know, I want to talk about, uh, faith and your faith. My faith. I've never had a, uh, or heard a single negative comment about you as a person on or off the court. And I think it has everything to do with who you are in faith. So let's, let's get deep as to what your faith means to you and, and be as bold as you have been with me. Many times with your faith, and we've shared a lot. So let's really talk about it in the position that you're in with your church, with your overall faith, what it means to your daily routines, all of it. Let's talk a little bit about that.

[15:20] Paul:: Sure. Well, I guess I'll begin with the end in mind here. And I would say first that my faith, like you said, has had a tremendous impact on me. And I think that we all strive to live up to our beliefs and to align our beliefs with what's true. And we often fall short of that. I had a close friend that said, I had a close friend that said, you know what? You become a Christian when you realize you're kind of a sucky person. And I thought. I thought that was a good, I thought that was a good quote. But my parents were. My parents were always super faithful and getting right to it, getting right to the core of it. They'll tell you as many stories as you want to hear. But I know for myself, independent of any other person, that there is a goddess. And I know that this life is part of a plan and that we're all brothers and sisters on this earth, and he loves us all and we should see each other and value each other as all children of God. And I know that he had a son. And a part of that plan was for his son, Jesus Christ, to come to the earth and to go through the worst of the worst, more than we can even imagine, in order to allow us to progress and in order to allow us to come home. I know he is my lord and savior, and I believe in everything that he ever has done, everything I believe that he does in the world today, and everything that he will. I consider myself a happy, devoted follower of Jesus Christ. And I happen to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, what some people know as Mormons, and I am, and I strive to be true blue to my faith and everything in it that points me to the savior Jesus Christ. And I like talking about it all day long because of how it shapes me, because of how it influences everything that I do at a young age. My parents were always, my parents were always faithful, but they were always real direct with the point that, hey, don't take our word for it. Do not take our word for it. In fact, you can't take our word for it. You have to, on your own, gain genuine firsthand experience. And it's as simple as prayer. Well, you know, I had some profound, I call him profound I had experiences with prayer throughout being paralyzed, the onset of the injury and then the follow up things that happened that I just had. The easiest way to describe it is I have really powerful answers to prayer, really powerful that were very personal. And it was almost, I mean, and just after they took place, I was like, well, that's it. Now he knows that I know that he knows that this is, I can't, can't deny it. That's it. And so for the rest of my life, while I, you know, oh, we all do dumb stuff growing up, and then we, as we strive to learn who we want to be and chase goals and try to gain confidence and all these things, we all make mistakes. But, but no matter where I've been, wherever I am, I know there's a God. I know he loves us all. And I know that there's a plan for a plan and a reason for our life here on earth. And so at my core, at my worst and at my best, that lives and thrives inside of me, and I feed it every day.

[19:17] DK: Yeah, yeah, what you feed will grow. So, you know, I just, you know, I wonder sometimes just how, you know, people can deal with some of their circumstance and challenges, losses, significant situations in their life without a higher power, without goddess. You know, if I, if I didn't have a go to, you know, that's always there and never changes his mind, I don't know what I do in some certain situations, you know?

[20:06] Paul:: So, unfortunately, I think that at times, the, I've heard it said before, this is a really important quote to me, that the first principle of what you could call revealed religion, where God kind of pulls back the curtain and says, I'm going to answer your prayer or I'm going to show you something. That the first principle of it is to understand the character of God. And once you for yourself kind of realize, wait, he's that loving. Wait, he's that patient. Wait, he's that concerned about these little things that I'm concerned about, then you just kind of melt and you're like, oh, you're not scary, you're not this whatever would push people away. He is the author of Love. He is the author of family. And if we think that we love our kids, just imagine how much he loves each of us. So anyway, yeah, it's a beautiful thing and one that you wish for people. When you see people in pain, you're like, wait, wait, there's, there's a reason for all these things, and it's going to look way different on the other side. But. But anyhow, so that's a bunch of what drives me. I actually, you know, Dave, you'll get a kick out of this. So I share something kind of personal. So I, like many, have a daily scripture habit and even a little fledgling sort of like, gratitude journal that I do. And it was something super cool. I was visiting with the sports psych associate that's assigned to the men's team, and we were talking about sport psychology and approaching sport, and he blew me away. After he and I talked for a while and got to know each other, and I told him about just my approach, my daily spiritual approach, and how I keep a little gratitude journal, he was like, don't change a thing. And I was like, okay, anything more? And he was like, what you're already doing said in the highest pressure situations that you can imagine facing in competitions, he said, there is a tendency in elite athletes to, in a very subtle moment, forget who they are. You're far from home. You're in different living circumstances. You've been training like crazy. Now you're in a pressurized situation, and he's like, in just an instant, your own expectations for yourself can take over and you can forget who you are. I'm kind of summarizing his points, but he said, your daily scripture habit and your daily journal habit are a complete advantage. I don't want to play you. I don't want to compete against that. If you stay grounded and you remind yourself regularly of who you really are, who you love and who loves you, he said that can be a significant advantage. Blew me away. I was like, never thought. I never would have thought of that. I was like, look, this is just the happiest way I know how to live. So you're telling me that's advantaged and great, but, but it was neat to, it was neat to feel the correlation between, between faith and basketball and, and, yeah, the saber is a big reason. He's a big reason.

[23:17] DK: And you don't necessarily expect, at least through my experience, you don't expect that coming through a sports psychologist momentous. You know.

[23:27] Paul:: It was pretty awesome. So, anyway, if somebody's like, well, you know, that's great that you're big on your faith and. But I'm more interested in your, you know, athletic accomplishments. Yeah, you've done of late. It. Listen, it all, it all traces back to heavenly father and Jesus Christ, and.

[23:44] DK: Well, I.

[23:47] Paul:: Feel grateful for the opportunity to acknowledge that faith and acknowledge ultimately my own dependence on them, really.

[23:57] DK: And I'm really grateful that this is coming out on the wheel print right now. It's the most time we've ever spent on faith, and we're not done yet. I've shared with you that I'm an alcoholic and I haven't had a drink in, in July, July 3, it'll be 13 years. But I matched my human willpower. I attached that to trying to recover. And it, the human willpower is no match for that type of beast. Only a divine, uh, you know, intervention can bring you to a place and, and, uh, of sobriety. And so, and they say, and I believe a grateful heart will not drink. And my, you know, I'm really, I'm pretty consistent. I'm not every day because some days I'm human, I get distracted. But I write out gratitude every morning as well, Paul. And in the center of that is always the blessing that I'm receiving for being in my now and trying to not project and being the future or being yesterday. So, anyways, it's good to hear about your gratitude list.

[25:43] Paul:: And, and kudos, and kudos in mad respect. We could talk about even that topic, but I'll just keep it short. Just say that some of, some of my biggest role models and some of the smartest people I've ever met have battled with alcoholism until I had more experience with these mentors and how they were overcoming it. And the very same path you're talking about and twelve step program and Alcoholics Anonymous. And you realize how, how, how faith based that path is. And then you just develop this incredible admiration for the courage of those that, that choose it, you know, choose to get help to overcome it from a higher power. And it's real.

[26:29] DK: Yeah. Yeah. And it, you know, this is the first time that I ever said it online and on this podcast. It's me and you. I've kept it close to the best and I'm still not tooting a horn. I didn't do it. God did it. You know, he did it one day at a time. And I have a beautiful life because of it, you know, and, but anyway, so God works in mysterious ways, man, but, and he never lets you down. So. Well, look, that's, we've been preaching it. There may be some listeners that are going to be rolling their eyes, but I really don't care. And, but then there's going to be others that the light shines through, you know, and.

[27:26] Paul:: Oh, I think they're not.

[27:28] DK: Go ahead king yeah, maybe they get an idea of, of how we're made up and what's in our heart, you know? And I really want them to know that about you. It's not so much about me. I'm just relating to our similarities, which are somewhat uncanny, and we'll get into more of that, but why don't we move right into family? Um, I know you're grounded in family, uh, and maybe you could speak at length, uh, about your mom and dad, your. Your siblings, your wife Megan, your son Brady. Let's. Let's give them their shine right now.

[28:19] Paul:: Happy. Happy to love the order you're approaching it with, too, because it's like, all right, faith and then family, and then these other things come. So I'm super grateful to be one of five kids to Tom and Carol Schulte. I grew up in a very small town about an hour west of Detroit in Manchester, Michigan. Both of my folks grew up in Michigan, and they didn't meet until choir of college. That's where they first methadore. And for those two, it was a love story ever since. And so I love my mom and dad, and it's full of faith every step of the way. They are prayer warriors, both of them, and they did. They've done their best to carry on the greatest things about each of their families and also be brave and break the chain of some things about family tradition, or heritage that they're like, no, I don't want to pass that on. We want to. We want to create. We want to create a different life. We want to pursue it this way. So, anyway, my mom and dad are amazing. They live in Utah now with my oldest sister, so I'm one of five kids. My oldest sister was the. I think all of us boys would agree she's the angel of the family. She had four younger brothers growing up, and nothing was sacred. And somehow she was just always this angel older sister who played the piano, and she got really good at piano, and now she works for university. Older brother Mark was the artist who became the insanely patient artist. Mark could just keep whittle away on something for hours and hours and hours and create something stunning and beautiful, and I'm like, yeah, I don't have the patience for that. And so Mark was the artist, became an industrial designer and lives with his family in Utah. And then two younger brothers became wildly talented in computers. One lives and works out of Germany, became fluent in German, and is probably the smartest of all of us. And then youngest brother works in computers. He works for Microsoft. That was his dream growing up and went to college and then got his dream job with Microsoft. So we're kind of all over the place. He's in Seattle, one in Germany, the others in Utah, and then my family in. In Florida. So that's my. That's my immediate family. They're all. They're all super. They've always been super supportive and were an incredible safety net for me coming home after my injury and. And then very quickly pointing out, like, hey, you're the same person you were after your injury as you were before. And that means that we love you, and that means that you've got chores. So, you know, let's get to work. So.

[31:09] DK: I want to just interject, because before we move on to maybe Megan and Brady, you know, I've known your. Your mom and dad for a long time, but particularly your dad. Your dad was at everything, you know, related to you in competitions, and I saw him everywhere. And I really was a little bit jealous because I had kind of an absent father, and he was a good man with a bad disease. But yet what was really cool is with the coastal clash that just happened here in Charlotte, and I got the opportunity and the blessing to do livestream of all four games with Australia. I looked up in the stands and here's this tall man smiling at me, and I'm going, who is that? You know, is that one of these european classifiers? Who. And then, you know, I had to go back to live streaming, whatever. But then soon as we had a break, he stood up and started walking down the stairs. I go, oh, my God, that is Tom Schulte. You know, and, you know, we had an opportunity to kind of engage and reminisce and. But that's how I remember your dad. He was always present with you, always supportive, and so it was really a touchstone moment at the clash and to see him there and the circle of life, right? I mean, he was much younger when he started with you, and now the. The two of us are much older, Tom, and I am speaking. But anyway, I want to throw that out. It was really a pleasure to see your dad once again.

[33:34] Paul:: Dad flew out, had a real close family friend that I knew growing up that is in that area. And my dad is like, when's the continental clash? And actually, I was surprised on how many fans flew in to watch that competition in person. It was unbelievable. Supposed to happen time and, you know, able body sports, but. But for us, it just caught me off guard. So, anyway, yeah, dad flew in for that, and it was. It was great for him to be able to watch us play and watch me play. And you're right. Dad was always super, super supportive and as supported as dad was, you know, up front and in public and in person, you know, mom and my siblings, you know, I'll never be able to thank them or the quiet support that came from, you know, letting him go or letting, you know, letting me go and then letting him go to support me. So I definitely had family support to make it to these. Make to these different things.

[34:29] DK: Right on.

[34:30] Paul:: Yeah. I told the team on the bus there, I was like, all right, listen. If a guy in the stands start getting real loud all on his own, either cheering or saying, oh, come on, that's just my dad. He grew up playing hockey. He's a vocal guy. He's super passionate. They're like, your dad's going to be in the continental clash. Yes. Yes, he is. So it was awesome. I know he loved it. I know. I know he loved seeing you.

[34:54] DK: Yeah, right on. Right on. So, uh, now we got, uh, your immediate Florida based family, uh, that you could go on for a whole podcast and longer. But let's talk a little bit about those two.

[35:13] Paul:: Sure, sure. So Megan and Brady, so our families, Megan and I, our families knew each other. So the funny part is, I grew up in this town of like, 2000 people, and Megan and I, I don't remember Megan and I really speaking to each other. I mean, our graduating classes were like 75 to 100 kids, right? Like, this is a yemenite place, and I don't really even remember. We didn't start dating until the last three months of my senior year of high school. And she was a junior, and I really don't even remember speaking before that. I know we had like one class together, but we were like, opposite sides of the class, whatever, you know? And in high school, you know, you're a junior and someone else is a sophomore. Yeah, you acknowledge them, but, you know, your circle of friends is elsewhere, so you don't even pay attention. So anyway, point is that we grew up in this tiny town not far apart, only 5 miles apart, and didn't even really talk to each other until the very end of high school. And, uh, and my brother was dating her best friend at the time. And, uh, and I'd be. I'd be driving, I'd be the one that's driving home, and I'd be like, where's my brother? Oh, yeah, by his girlfriend's locker. I went down and Megan was near that locker, obviously. So after a period of time, I didn't go. I didn't mind as much going and looking for my brother because she was around and I. She was just. She just became. And she just is just about the coolest thing I've ever experienced in this world and in this life. And I tease her all the time. I'm like, you're the world's greatest wife. And I suppose all of us feel that way about our sweethearts, but I.

[36:49] DK: Don'T know that everybody does. But I would hope they could experience that.

[36:54] Paul:: We hope it's for everybody. So right off the bat, she only ever knew me as a basketball player. And funny part was, she went, after we'd been dating a while, she went to go watch me play, and I was like, okay, well, this is going to be cool. And I played awful, awful, awful. And after the experience, she was like, that was nice. I was like, don't even try. That was awful. And she's like, you are, like, kind of good, right? And I was like, no, I'm not good at all. I'm just gonna set the bar real low. And then, you know, over time. Over time, I got more acclimated to her watching me play. And she's. She's since been to, you know, just amazing moments of Megan and I that, you know, probably nobody knows that. Well, shoot, I mean, in 1998 and then in year 2000, we're competing overseas in Australia, and Meg is online in the middle of the night. I mean, like, middle of the night. Flipped hours, four in the morning, listening to our games. And when I hit that shot that you talk about in the bronze medal game in Sydney, she was jumping up and down. She was like, I gotta call somebody. She's like, there's no one to call. It's three in the morning. You know, so she's just. She's been there at every single. Every single moment, every single high, every single low. She, uh. She went in person to Beijing in 2008, and then went with Brady when he was two years old to London in 2012. And so she's just. She's. She's behind the scenes what every athlete wishes they had as far as a partner, a spouse, a fan, a supporter.

[38:38] DK: Yeah. Yeah. You know, and I've often said, for every hero in the spotlight, there's. There's a Megan, or there's a sandy in the shadows. Right? And that level of support that comes freely given and never gets. Never, never gets the. The attention to that support, that.

[39:08] Paul:: And they don't want it.

[39:10] DK: Yeah. No, it comes so natural and freely given. So.

[39:21] Paul:: I think that you're young. You're a young teenager with a disability. And this gets on sensitive ground because it is for so many people. And for me, it was, well, who's ever going to love me? You know, I'm disabled and there's many things that I can't, there's so many things I can't do in this life. You know, I'm never going to be able to take her ice skating. And I grew up in Michigan, obviously, we live in Florida now, so ice skating isn't that big a deal. But I didn't know that at the time. And all the things that I thought for sure were going to be the biggest hurdles and the biggest problems of had to do with my disability turned out to be nothing, absolutely nothing compared to, you know, the things that all couples grow through, to grow through and grow over and grow toward together. So, you know, as a young teenager, it was like, well, who could ever love me? And then it was like, good heavens, how did I get so lucky to be, you know, born near this girl? Yeah.

[40:23] DK: And this is so, so important because we know that there, there's young or newly injured folks out there that have the same exact fear projection. I know I had it. It was my number one, would I ever be able to have children?

[40:47] Paul:: Sure.

[40:48] DK: My number one, would I ever be able to be a grandfather? I thought that as a really young kid.

[40:56] Paul:: Yeah.

[40:57] DK: So some of the ballers out there might be going, man, this is going in some crazy directions. Well, yeah. But there is a balance needed in our lives. And particularly if you're going to be a road warrior basketball player and you have a relationship, a spouse, you better know how to take care of it because our goodie basket as an athlete is getting filled up all day long while the other is in full sacrifice. And, and that's where a lot of relationships go awry when things get skewed. So just in case you wonder why we're going where we're going, listeners, this is the inside story and hopefully you can appreciate it.

[41:52] Paul:: Yeah, well, we started right. You know, they say, hey, life gets real stressful when you feel imbalanced. And sometimes you feel imbalanced because you spending so much, so much emotional energy on areas of life that aren't the number one thing. And so for us, starting with faith and then talking about family, that's a, that's right. Unfortunately, we have to, you know, in life, you find yourself be like, wow. Well, I work most of the hours of the day to support my family, and you don't always spend your time on the thing. You know, the majority of your time on the things that matter most. But it's important to start that way.

[42:33] DK: Yeah, but when you do.

[42:35] Paul:: Yeah.

[42:36] DK: You know, when you do spend time, it's the quality of those moments, you know, and recognizing the little things that would be easily distracted because I got a to do list that's a mile long and my head wants to go there. So anyway, it's. It's what I've learned sometimes the hard way.

[43:03] Paul:: Yeah, exactly. And so through experience you're kind of like, wow. When the storms of work or the storms of elite sports or the storms of life hit and it's really start to drag you down, it's starting your days focused on faith and those key relationships in your life that can kind of like, they can kind of waterproof your heart over time. If you, if you start each day and you continually go back to those things, it's like, okay, storms are going to come. But those things are, those things are things that matter most. So, yeah.

[43:34] DK: Yo, just a quick break here. I want to talk to you about a company that I want you, you all to check out. Umed is the official medical supply company of the Wheelprint podcast and it's the best way for you to get your supplies. This company was founded by my very good friend Yasmin Bamber, who has used a wheelchair for over 24 years and has real on the street experience. His team knows exactly what you need and how to get it to you. All products are delivered accurately and on time. Time. And I can easily attest to this as I am a happy customer myself. They also know how to handle your insurance company and will fight for your coverage. Their customer service is simply elite. There is always a person to answer your calls and questions. Worry free Umed is the way to go. Contact Yaz at u dash medinc.com to jump on board. Mention a wheel to print podcast or my name DK and help ensure the future of this podcast while getting top shelf service from Umed. All right man. Hey, we're talking Brady. Let I see him. I see all the social stuff that exciting and I gotta imagine, you know, you're the proudest dad ever and Megan the proudest mom. But sing his song, man. What's going on with Brady?

[45:06] Paul:: For everybody out there, I have a. I have a 14 year old son, Brady. And we are. We are your typical proud, proud, proud, proud parents. You know, a kid is. Kid is awesome at school, kid is awesome at sports, he's awesome at church. I'm just. I suppose every dad feels this way in one way or another, but I'm just a crazy, through the roof, proud dad. I'd love to see how hard he works on his athletics. He's straight a's, and he brings home his report guard, and he's like, dad, what were your grades like in 7th and 8th grade?

[45:41] DK: I'm like, well, you know, I tried hard.

[45:45] Paul:: Yeah, I wish I could even say that. I know, doing what you're doing. So, you know, Meg is obviously an amazing influence on him. We're just super proud of. So he competes in, uh. He competes in BMX bikes. Um, so, um, not. Not, you know, often it looks like motocross, but bicycles, it's all pedaling. And so, uh, racing BMX bikes is one of the olympic sports, and. And Florida is one of the hotbeds, one of the meccas for that. And so, from a young, young age, he went to a birthday party when. Really real young, uh, when he's four, four or five years old, I always get this wrong, but we were there for a couple hours, just like my dad with me, and we're like, you ready to go? And he's like, no. Like, okay, I guess we better come back. And so he's, uh. He's Sarasota BMX. He's. He's been growing up, getting to experience, literally, Olympians, men and women Olympians of BMX come through and train on that track. And he's got to. He's got to meet them. And his own coaches are of their own, uh, decorated and passed. So he wants to. He wants to be as good as he can possibly be. So, this year, he competed in. He competed in the worlds for bmX. It was the very first time as a 14 year old for. For USA. So it's definitely a. It's a special year for us in our house, for sure. So. Couldn't be. Couldn't be more proud than my boy Brady.

[47:07] DK: Yeah. Right on, brother. Right on. I knew. I knew. I knew it was like that. You can just see it and feel it. Um, so, yeah, Brady, we all got an eye on you, man. And keep it right side up. No more broken bones, you know, that kind of thing. But, you know, you got to let it rip. You got to let it rip. So there's a fine line, you know, good bmxers don't fall. I always heard that as a downhillere, good downhillers don't fall because the price is too heavy. It's just too heavy, you know? Well, look, you got a degree from UTA, and you played ball there, and you had a tremendous career there, or experience. I spoke to Opie today, and I think you began building. Did you begin building robots back in those days in your engineer background?

[48:19] Paul:: Let's see here. When did I start working for. I worked for a small automation company that was building custom robots in Dallas Fort Worth. And it was, it was Willie Hernandez that got me that job. I had. Thanks.

[48:32] DK: Oh, Willie.

[48:34] Paul:: I had, I had gained some cad experience working for Invicare, and so I could draw stuff on the computer. And Willie was like, hey, how good are you at that? And I was like, I like it a lot. And he knew this company, and he said, well, they could use some drawing. They could use some drawing help. And so before I graduated college, I had started working, and even to the point of working full time for that small company. So, yeah, DFW was a great place for me to start out. Love my time at UTA.

[49:02] DK: Yeah, right on. And I mentioned Opie. That's his name, known to the world of sport, but it's Jeremy latte. And anyway, we're going to talk a little bit more about him in a second, but, yeah, you're the only guy I know that ever that's got his name associated with robots, especially in the wheelchair sport world. And go figure that you and Willie, two extraordinary examples of engineering, you know, really, really uncanny. Really cool. All right, so 1997, you make your first team. Let's just go back. What did it, what did that mean when you heard your name?

[49:54] Paul:: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Trying to think of whether or not to usually, like, somebody asks me a question, I'll start telling a long story to get to the answer. But I. I did not expect to make it. I did not expect to make it. You know, just before, just before that point, I mean, even leading to. So we kind of talked about me getting started with these. Yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to tell a long story in order to get there. So I talked about going to the gym and Mo and tree and all those guys teaching me how to play. And then through high school every year, I was coached by Lee Montgomery, hall of Famer coach. If I don't call him coach, he lets me know about it.

[50:43] DK: By the way, he just called me as I'm talking to you. Um, I'm like, okay.

[50:50] Paul:: It's fantastic. Fantastic. Anyway, Lee Montgomery, everybody that knows, has the same, same reaction. One of the great all timers, uh, every, every time we made it to a championship game, we were playing in juniors. I don't care where we were. He'd show up championship Sunday in a suit, looking clean with matching everything, a couple extra chains. And, uh, and I grew up in a cow town of Michigan. I knew nothing about talking smack, but I never needed to because Lee had that totally covered, no matter what opposing fans, players, whatever. He's like, yeah, you just, you just, you just keep pushing hard and leave that up to me. So it was amazing, you know, getting coached by Lee and, and all of these guys. And they said, hey, if you want it in your future, if you work hard enough, you could, you can earn an invite to the national team. And then that same year, I played for Lou Shaver for under 23, for the under 23 world championships in Toronto. Um, and if I'm not mistaken, that was the first one. So talk about one where the young guys kind of eyebrows go up a little bit. Like, you played in the first under 23 championship. Yes, I did. And we, we made it to the final against what would be in the next, you know, for the next decade. We played against who was basically the canadian men's national team, Pat Anderson and Joe Johnson and a bunch of other guys. So we took silver. And at that competition, Trooper Johnson showed up. I can't remember if you were at under 23s or not, Dave. I don't think you were. No, no. Trooper was there, obviously, Lou and his coaching staff. And it was at that time that I was getting right around then was when I got my first official invite, hey, come try out for the men's national team. And I remember my dad asking Lou shaver, is this worth doing? Hes going to be in college. I was going in my freshman semester, first semester at UTA, and I was just wrapping up the under 23 championships, and I was going straight to school. Like, I had my books with me, my first college books I had with me in Toronto. And I was terrified of missing class. I learned through sad experience that I'm not somebody that can miss class. So I was like, man, USA travel outs competition. Like, I, I don't know if I can miss that much school. Like, I'm Gen, like, and I was genuinely worried about it. So anyway, my dad asked Luke Shaver, hey, is this worth doing? Like, does he even have a chance? Like, and Lou Shaver said, well, listen, there's two, there's three other guys that are planning to try out for that national team. And their names were Will Waller, Reggie Colton, and Dave Kiley. And he said, son, I think it would be a terrific experience for you. You should go and experience that level of ball, because it's just, I think it could be in your future if you keep working hard and you'll never regret a tryout and being around those players. But. But if all three of those guys show up, you don't have a chance. And he was right. And Reggie Colton, some people don't know what an absolute, in the best sense of the word, what a freak. What a greek freak he was. Richard Colton was incredible. I could talk about him for an hour. I got a chance to play with him, but, but long story short, I'm in that tryout, and Reggie Colton didn't come. He couldn't come. I think. I think family, career, like, he was a different part of his, different part of his life. And so he didn't try out. So it was Will Waller, yourself and me. And I thought, all right, Will's huge. His booming voice. Six. Whatever Will is 6667 U of I guy. And then you're the king. You've got, you've got everything that comes with your name. And so I knew. I knew I was third, but what I didn't know is that they were going to take me. And I. And so I just. I was 18. I ran around with the chicken, chicken head cut off and just as fast as I could possibly push. And, um. And thanks to the buddies that live here in Colorado Springs, that every summer, we were just. I was running. I was pushing my chair after them on a basketball court, playing outdoors. And, uh, that's. That's where I got my speed from playing against real good wheelchair basketball players, for sure. But then just chasing my able body friends day after day after day, I got pretty quick by the time I was 18, so. So I tried for the national team, and I couldn't believe they took all three of us. I just couldn't believe it. And I think. I think I jumped a little bit when they said my name. I couldn't believe it. And for anybody that's ever been in a tryout situation before, the tension is so thick. It's such a tense room. There's so much is on the line, and they read your name and, you know, roll through this one door and. And life was changed forever after that.

[55:45] DK: Well, you, I go back. You just spurred a memory, you know, when you talked about your unbridled speed, it was just. You were full throttle. One of my first words or what? One of my ditties that I laid on you. I was like, paulie, sometimes, whoa, whoa.

[56:09] Paul:: Some. Sometimes you've got to go slow in order to go fast.

[56:14] DK: Yeah, there you go, man.

[56:16] Paul:: Like this comes. I remember it and I have said it to myself upon occasion.

[56:22] DK: Yeah.

[56:23] Paul:: Yes, Steve, I remember that very well.

[56:25] DK: Yeah. Yeah. Well, anyways, so be that, that moment, it etched in our memories for sure. So we're getting to the point where I got to get, I got to get going here in the outline of, you know, things that need to cover. But 2022. Well, first of all, all the names you've been dropping are either hall of famers or future hall of Famers. I'm, I'm just paying attention to that. And, and I hope the listeners, the listeners may not know hall of Fame is starting to engage more, more people, but I hope you can. You know, everyone in our organization continues to understand our past. But anyways, you were inducted 1st, 1st time first ballot in 2022. Just give us a clip note. You gave a unbelievable acceptance speech. But just tell us briefly what your, how you feel about being in the hall of Fame.

[57:40] Paul:: Well, it was a huge honor. And I suppose that I kind of did what people do when you contact them. You're like, wait, sure, I'd love that honor, but I'm pretty sure there's a couple other people that should be going in before me. And that's, that's your initial reaction? It's just like, man, do I belong here. But then it was incredible. It was incredible. And the job that, you know, the support that the hall of Fame has received and then your efforts, I mean, it was, look, Matt Scott was in a, Matt Scott was in a red suit. There was a, there was a red carpet. All the trimmings were there. We were up on stage. It was, it was an incredible, incredible night. And so it's fun to be able to be there and experience all that was really special. And then, and then the people that showed up, it was great. We're all such beneficiaries. You know, you don't get involved in wheelchair basketball without coming away with a mentor, end of story. And it doesn't matter whether or not you play for a national team or you make it in the hall of Fame. You meet, you meet people with hall of Fame hearts and personalities and their effect on you over the years. You and I could go on and on about people that have huge impacts on both of us, and they're just wonderful people. And you have your own light bulb moments in adaptive sports of meeting somebody that you perceive to have things worse than you and you have to do even more with it. And you have your own silent little light bulb moment of going, what's my problem? Why can't I do more? And also, they encourage you when you mess up. So my acceptance speech had to do with Dan Burns and that 1st, 1st experience of playing at the world championships and being terrified, being terrified to make a mistake when he was going to start me again. And he said, it's your reaction to your mistakes that are going to be the key of how this goes down, not your absence of mistakes. He just infused me with a bunch of belief and we went out and took down the world that year. Pretty, it's pretty awesome. Pretty awesome way to start.

[59:49] DK: Yeah, man. You know that real quick. The inroads that are being made are really amazing. You know, we had three women go in this year and I just want to put it out there that they will be recognized at the Naismith hall of Fame enshrinement coming up in October with all the NBA guys and women go, you know, really, really exciting. And, and I'm going to leave it. Leave it at that. But we are making tremendous strides with the hall of Fame and the NWBA. Wally, we got to talk. Comeback, baby. We got to talk right now. What out. Comeback. All right. You're, you're away from the sport nearly ten years. I can relate because I went from 92 to 2000. That's another similarity between us. And when I'm, when I was on that team with you in 98 and 2000, I was the oldest, you were the youngest. We had a transfer of communication, knowledge, experience. And now we've gone full circle and you're in that role. But before we get to, you know, what you're passing on to and AJ Fitzpatrick or some of the other younger guys, let's talk about what. What? Like why, how you know and what you know first, let's talk why.

[01:01:40] Paul:: Sure. Well, it's fitting that we started out the podcast the way we did because the why has everything to do with faith, family and mentors, and history has a way of repeating itself. So, you know, when I first made my team, I was. I didn't realize how much I didn't real how much realize how much the savior would help me towards athletic goals. I always kind of assumed that he would prefer I'd be doing other things. But as time's gone on, I've gotten older, I've realized that he'll help me more and more. So, number one, I gotta just acknowledge my complete dependence on Jesus Christ. I mean, anytime I come to him with a serious dream about my life, regardless of whether or not I just got paralyzed or whether or not the odds are really against me, I'm always like, listen, I don't pray for anybody else's failure, but I do pray to reach my own potential. And wherever that leads, it's okay with me. And so my faith, number one, then my family. My son was two years old when I competed in London in 2012. And so he doesn't remember any of it. And so my wife and I, over time, talked about it, and it was like, you know what? All right, he's 14 now. He's 1314. Let me show him what it looks like for dad to chase a dream every day and to be a disciplined approach and to what this looked like back then and what it looks like now. And so Brady was a huge, huge reason why it was a happy day two years ago. And Brady's like, in 7th grade, beginning of 7th grade. And he's like, dad, I think I want to start lifting. And I was like, yeah. He's like, yeah, like, every day. And I'm like, this is awesome. Well, thankfully, you know, in our house, Megan turned our dining room into a weight room with a Smith cage and all kinds of. All kinds of good stuff to be able to do good workouts in. And so, really, it was after Covid that I started. I started really, you know, always after Covid, I started lifting weights with Brady. And that added to what's my third? Why is mentors. So, after I stepped away from the national team, I was super fortunate to stay involved with doing color commentary for NBC, et cetera. But then one of the things that I love about working at working at top end sports is the wide variety of products we billed. And so we build basketball chairs and we built day chairs, and we build racing chairs and build hand cycles. And I always thought, like, hand cycling, I think I'd like to get into that a little bit. So, the long story short is I started competing in hand cycling. And Dave, I met. I met three role models that blew my mind. Carlos, Melita, Krieger, Chaboort, and Heinz Frye. And these three guys, um, these three guys were incredible for me. Just my interactions with them, just their little bit of mentor. Mentorship. And why they were cool is that they were. They were in their fifties and sixties. And for Hines, I don't even know how old Hines is now, but Heinz might be. Heinz might be getting close to 70. And these guys, these. These hand cyclists are hooked. They are cut, they're ripped, and they're strong and they're light and they've got energy and they just, I started to interact with them and they're like, how old are you? And I was like 40. They're like, you're a baby.

[01:05:19] DK: You know, before, before age, before hand cycles. Huge names on the track.

[01:05:27] Paul:: Oh, yeah, racing, wheelchairs, huge iron man, triathlon. Yeah, wheelchairs that eventually like became world contenders, you know, world contenders for, for hand cycling as well. And these guys are like 40 years old. You're a baby. I'm like, I can't think of the last time anybody called me a baby. They said, you have no idea what your body's capable of. And Dave, I'm telling you, they are skinny, but they are incredibly strong. It didnt matter. I was lifting weights. I was strong. I was younger than them by 20 years. And it didnt matter. They were so strong. They just exploded past me. And I was like, how is this possible? And theyre like discipline. Theyre like, and also ive been building this up over the course of ten years. So you dont just lift weights for a year and then contend like, this is endurance sports. Its just a whole world that I didnt know that much about. So anyway, so the why has to do with my faith, my family and these mentors. Thats the why. And so I started getting in better and better shape after Covid started cycling more, lifting weights with Brady, et cetera. And I start shedding pounds, I start competing in hand cycling. And im like, well, nothing helps you about being heavy in hand cycling. Zero. I mean, maybe, I dont know, you get to keep some momentum, but when youre climbing, thats, it's just brutal. You just want to throw weight off. And so I'm like, well, I'll just, I don't like the way I feel physically. After Covid, I didn't like how I felt physically. I'm like, start losing weight just to compete in hand cycling and have fun with it. And that continued on and on until, until I had some pivotal moments of realizing, holy cow, maybe, just maybe if I kept on this path, I could do a tryout again. I could try out for the national team again and didn't tell anybody about it. Nobody. The only people that knew were me and Megan and Brady. And then a couple months later when things continue to progress, and then Rob Taylor, I told Rob, the head coach of the US team, this is my intention, but there's no point in telling anybody unless I actually end up at tryouts. So.

[01:07:36] DK: And when you talk about progress, what does that mean in terms of how much, how much weight you threw off of that hand cycle. How, how much did you lose in preparation for that moment?

[01:07:53] Paul:: A lot. So you know how much we weigh in wheelchairs is kind of different, right? Because I mean our legs are pretty skinny to begin with. So it's like weighing if you had, you know, but uh, but you look, you can look at photos. You can look at photos. I was, I was enjoying my grub, I was enjoying my barbecue for sure. I was bigger but I had specific goals for kind of a fighting weight. I knew that I wanted to make it down to like somewhere. I knew I had to be faster than before in order to make a team when you're older. Like I knew I had to be faster than before, stronger than before with a much more disciplined approach than before. And so I had goals for speed, I had goals for strength, I had goals for shooting that I would, that I kind of laid out a plan for myself and just said okay, month over month I got to be hitting these things. Then I have to reach it to a certain point. Otherwise I'm not trying to, you know, I'm not trying to draw attention to myself. I'm trying to see where this road leads and if it leads to a national team tryout, then I'll go try out. And it did, it did. And uh, and Steve serial was, was, he had a, he had just a, such a subtle comment when he saw me, you know, getting in shape. He was like hey you want to give this a go? You just, you just, you just say the word. And I'm like easy there, easy there. Like why he put it on a good word for me and then trained all summer and got that invite. And I still remember Megan waking me up in the middle of the night. She noticed, she noticed an email come in on her phone. I said middle of the night we go to bed at like 08:00 Dave. So this could have been like 11:00 that she's like, like wakes me up. She's like the email came, the email came. You got the, you got the invite. And just in a daze I just hugged her and was like holy cow, here we go. And uh, and history repeats so going to tryouts again. First time was, was a thrill. And uh, they had a number 14 reversible jersey waiting there for me. Practice jersey, uh, which was a number I loved growing up. And anytime I had the chance to.

[01:09:58] DK: Man Trooper Johnson would fight you for that number.

[01:10:01] Paul:: Oh yeah, I knew better too. And I told trooper was done like I'm going to try to carry on the legacy of this number.

[01:10:09] DK: Hey, 97. You heard your name all that time later, 27 years. You heard your name in 2024. What that sound and feel like?

[01:10:26] Paul:: Well, I didn't cry until after I made it out of the room. Tell you that.

[01:10:31] DK: Yeah.

[01:10:31] Paul:: But I, you know, the trial went on by the very end. The last day, I felt like I had a particularly good day, and I felt like I had it. So going into that room, I was, I was trying to keep from shaking out of just like, I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe I'm living this. And then they read my name and I rolled out and. Yep. Then I cried and then Steve hugged me.

[01:10:58] DK: Memories.

[01:11:00] Paul:: Yep. Yep. And that's, it's such a, you know, it's a bitter, it's such a bittersweet thing because there's guys tried year after year to make this team, and so all respect and all love to the guys that were involved in this, this, this trial, this go around and, and hats off to ones like Brian Bell where it's like, you can't, you can't cut me forever. I'm just going to keep coming and keep coming until I, until I make a national team. So.

[01:11:27] DK: Well, congratulations and thanks for being that, that og example of and listening to those monsters that you were training with in hand cycles. And, you know, we, we're excited for you and, you know, words can't describe what we know your, how you feel.

[01:11:58] Paul:: So, yeah, it's, it's a thrill. I'm approaching it. You'd like to know, David, I approach my training and I approach my time here like a rookie. You know, you have an incredible, you have an incredible core here that's done amazing things. The leadership's through the roof, the athleticism is through the roof, and the bond that the players have is really, really impressive. So what Jake Williams can do with the basketball and what Brian Bell can do with the basketball and what Trayvon Jennifer just seems to teleport different places on the court and get his hands on things. Steve just says he's the best defender in the world, and five he is. So, teams, the team's incredible. And it's, you know, I told them right from the jump, I was like, I will do everything I can to contribute, and if I can contribute in whatever that means, just like that 97 team Dan Burns picked me, and I was like, you want me to hand out water? That's what I'll do. And, and that's how I, how I approach this team is, is with respect, like a rookie and if I can serve them, and if I can contribute, then I'll do my job.

[01:13:07] DK: Performax, the sweet ride is our lead sponsor of the Wheelprint podcast. Performx has supported all that I do and has been so innovative to serving our community of wheelchair users. From the elite USA national team player to the rank and file wheelchair user, performax delivers. Don't think twice about who to choose for your ride. Performax is the only choice when it comes to weight function and a great looking design. It's the right choice. Trust me. With 25 years of experience, you won't regret making performax your sweet ride. Let them know that the wheel brand sent you. We're glad you're back. We're glad you're back. And I want to give some props to the fact that you are president and chief engineer at top end. You're doing. You have been doing, for a long time, incredible stuff with technology. You have the goat chair that's out there now, and. And that doesn't. People may think that's describing you, but I heard on a video that's not the case, and you're not that way. But the piece of equipment is being described, so.

[01:14:39] Paul:: That's right. People are used to. Yeah. Yes. People are used to, you know, my name being on. Being on the chair. Uh, but this one's not about me. This is not been all of its technology and all of its. All of its skills, trying to build the best chair that's ever been.

[01:14:55] DK: Yeah.

[01:14:56] Paul:: And I know I put. Man, it flies.

[01:14:59] DK: Yeah.

[01:15:00] Paul:: Well, and thanks for. Thanks for saying what you did about, you know, top end sports, because here, too well.

[01:15:09] DK: And, you know, you gotta. You gotta do it. I'm a performax guy, and I believe in them and their. Their stuff, but, man, in the end of the day, we're all brothers, no matter what we ride. So, uh, I also want to give some props that, uh, Jeremy Opelotti is, uh, filling in for you or not. Maybe not filling in that you passed the torch to CNBC. So let's all look out for, uh, Jeremy when. When he's the guy and during the paralympic games. And, you know, I know there's a whole story how you came to be part of CNBC and. But we are running out of time, my brother, and trying to throw it in. Do you have any plans for after Paris?

[01:16:05] Paul:: Immediately after? Or are you talking about, like, basketball after? Oh, well, you know, a couple extra days.

[01:16:13] DK: What's going on with polls? Paul shows the after Paris. Or do you. Or do you. Are you just playing that by ear.

[01:16:20] Paul:: Right now, as far as basketball, you mean? Yeah, man.

[01:16:24] DK: Whatever comes into your mind, man.

[01:16:27] Paul:: Well, your life, not, I'm not kidding that I am super grateful for how fun this journey has been and living the kind of lifestyle that these guys taught me to live and combining that with everything I've learned before. So, you know, top end sports is incredibly supportive. Chris Horner has told me, hey, look, top end sports is going to continue to be about the athlete like it used to be and like it. I'm like, it still is. And he's like, don't come to work each day until you've worked out. All right? That has to be. We have to be authentic to the sports and to the brand. And so that's his approach, and I'm just thrilled to tears over that. And he's always stuck by it. So. So for me, I want to continue to live this, this daily lifestyle, you know?

[01:17:22] DK: Yeah.

[01:17:23] Paul:: What a gift. What a gift to reconnect with the grindenne, honestly, to reconnect with the grind, to reconnect with the guys. And so I'm going to continue to live a healthy lifestyle and to compete. And if that qualifies me for tryouts for teams or for whatever, if I can contribute and I have a chance to push myself to my potential, whenever that is, wherever that is, I'll be doing it.

[01:17:52] DK: Right on. Pablo Cruz. I'm telling you what a great time this has been. Time has flown by.

[01:18:01] Paul:: I hope it was. Hope it was what you're after, king. I hope it was hopefully what I.

[01:18:04] DK: Didn'T know what I was after. I wanted it to be different. I wanted it to be organic, and I wanted to lead the way it was with, with faith, family, and. And I mentors or heroes or hall of famers. So, uh, anyways, in closing, uh, Pablo, do you want to say anything real quick?

[01:18:30] Paul:: Just, uh, just, just have fun. I've had fun. Thanks for all you're doing, Dave, with hall of Fame and podcasts and everything that everything you influence for good. Uh, thanks for being a mentor to me when I first was assigned to play you on defense when I was 18 years old.

[01:18:46] DK: And I remember well.

[01:18:52] Paul:: And we'll have to do it. We'll have to do it again sometime. So from here, you'll be happy to know that I'm headed into the gym, and it's right back to the grind and.

[01:19:02] DK: All right, man, you're on hallowed ground, so make every moment count. All right? On behalf of the Wheel print podcast and on behalf of our tremendous guest, Paul Schulte. I want to say thank you for all of you that are, that have tuned in, be a good human being, do the next right thing, and most of all, keep it out of the ditch. Anyways, peace. Pablo Cruz, I hope you enjoyed today's show on the wheel podcasts as much as I did. I invite you to check out our other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our YouTube channel. Thank you to our lead sponsor, performax wheelchairs the sweet ride. They are the leaders of wheelchair design worldwide. And to our new sponsor, Umed. Special thanks to Ishtag of Droma, our lead producer of this show.