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Join The Urban Rez for an exciting journey that dives into the intersections of culture, sports, and lifestyle with a fresh, global, inclusive perspective. Each 30-minute episode brings a unique blend of conversations, stories, and interviews that explore the passions and experiences that define our lives.
Wesley Knight | Marcus White 0:00
This is a KU NV studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. The urban RES is underwritten by Southwest gas. Since 1931 southwest gas has been committed to serving the communities we live in. Employees actively volunteer for and support organizations and initiatives that make our communities better places to live. For more information, SW, gas.com, you
Dr. B 1:00
welcome. Hello all Happy New Year. 2026 is here you all and boy, did 2025 go by really fast. So I'm excited to bring this new year in with happiness, joy and great energy and great vibe. And most importantly today, I'm really excited to start this year with great conversations with two amazing people who are doing great things in their communities. And so I have the pleasure of introducing first Mr. Adrian neighbors, who is from the Navajo Nation like myself. He is the founder of global elite and founder of a res ball affiliate. And the second person is Mr. Derek Stevens, former professional basketball player and current basketball coach. Welcome you both to the urban rest Show, and let's just get started. Let's just jump in. I'm going to give the floor first to Adrian. Please go ahead and further. Introduce yourself. Hello.
Adrian Nabors 2:17
Hello. Dr Lee, thank you for having me. My name is Adrian neighbors. I am from the Navajo reservation in Arizona. I am out of New York buffalo. So I am part Black, part Navajo. You know, got the best of both sides. But yeah, definitely Happy New Year's to everybody looking forward to 2026,
Dr. B 2:44
thank you, Adrian. And then second, Derek, go ahead. Please introduce yourself.
Derrick Stevens 2:51
Thank you for having me. Dr Lee, my name is Derek Stevens. I'm a native of Houston, Texas, born and raised their family is there by way of New Orleans. I went to college at Colorado State. Played there for three years. From there, went on to play overseas professionally for a good 1012, years after that, navigated into business with my business partner, Adrian, and from there, journeyed overseas the coach in China and a few places overseas, to come back to try to coach here in the NBA with the Charlotte harness for a year. Which leads me to now, so awesome.
Dr. B 3:36
So I'm just going to get a little personal here. So I was just on a recent call with you, olive, telling Adrian like, geez, I've known you for 33 years. So in case our audience does not know which I'm sure they don't me and Adrian went to high school together and played basketball for Winslow Bulldogs, right?
Adrian Nabors 3:57
Dre, yes, and they are reigning champions. To our zero. We did come close. We did come close, but no cigar.
Dr. B 4:16
So long history with basketball, Derek, you mentioned that you Andre have collaborated. Tell me about you all story. I know that you all met in college, so let's, let's kind of start there, and then how talk about your business. What business is it? And what type of work do you all do in regards to your business? For me,
Adrian Nabors 4:40
I feel like basketball has always had a connection with the people that play the sport, you know? I mean, one I was in Oregon one time for a basketball tournament, and I see my boy, Derek Stevens on TV there. In the March Madness, Colorado versus Duke. I'm sure you remember that Derek and I was just like, oh my gosh, my boy, my boy made it, you know, he's on the on the big stage, you know? And I was just so proud, you know? I think we ended up winning our tournament, and I could say I had some influence. But you know, like I said, basketball has done so much for me, even business wise, you know, it's allowed me to stay with the sport, even though I no longer play the sport. I am 45 about to be 46 but, you know, it's allowed me to stay around and to see the Youth Futures be even brighter with, you know, giving them the knowledge that I know, and especially with the people that I've that I've grown with, you know, so 2026, definitely something is the year that we want to start putting things together for our youth and seeing it, seeing it move forward.
Derrick Stevens 6:13
Yeah, I think for me, I probably tell it as as you know, me and Dre, you know, we played in college together, you know, like you mentioned at the beginning. And you know, long story short, you know, our paths went different ways and came back together in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You know, me coming from overseas. Him moving to Albuquerque, we started doing our typical thing, working out together. And you know, through our working out, you know, he had an idea for what he's doing now with the clothing business. And, you know, I had the thoughts about the basketball and then, you know, he's like, hey, you know, this could be something, you know, this would be something that we can motivate and inspire and help. So we went out and, you know, built global leagues and the rez ball brand. And you know, from there, I'd like to think that, you know, a lot of you guys have probably seen Rez ball shorts somewhere, because they everywhere. So, you know, yeah, just Yeah.
Dr. B 7:15
And Jay gear is pretty dope, too. Just to kind of backpedal Rez ball affiliate is a Native American sport fashion apparel line go and so this is how Dre got back indoctrinated into working with sports. So I just, I kind of want to talk about that, and then how this all developed into our conversation we had earlier about the sports camp. So let's please talk about that.
Adrian Nabors 7:42
Yeah, I mean, it's all spawns from an idea, you know, I'm a type of person that sees things and, you know, and I'll question myself, I'll be like, Why, why did I see that? Or, why am I still thinking about that? You know, I went to Mexico to try out with a for a team, the Tijuana dragons at the time with a good friend of mine, Jean Shipley, and I just noticed the gear that they were walking into the gym with, you know, the shorts, the jerseys, and it held a certain caliber about them. Like, Oh man, this guy's coming from Europe, or he's coming from Germany, like, and you knew you had to play some defense or, you know, show out because of what this person was wearing. And with that idea that allowed me to, you know, because, like I said, I'm part black and part native and but I've always wanted people to know that I'm Native, you know, especially playing on the on the native circuit in these basketball tournaments, which you do have to have a percentage of certain blood to be able to play in these tournaments. And without question, I felt like my clothing, my brand, allowed me to to express that, to express that I was native, and I saw that, that I wasn't the only one that was feeling this vulnerability. You know, there were others out there, just like me. You know, there were natives, and I wouldn't have guessed, you know, like most probably wouldn't guess about me, but that's what my clothing allowed for, for for it to go on and move forward. It would allow to it would allow others to go ahead and let them know that I was native, without having them to ask, okay.
Dr. B 9:30
And then Derek. And then Okay, so now kind of catching back up you were into coaching, and then you and Adrian reconnected in Albuquerque, and then, and then, what, I know, some magic happened. And then what did you all accomplish together? And then moving forward, what is your vision and working together?
Derrick Stevens 9:51
Well, I think, you know, I'll put this out. You know, me and Dre, you know, I was still playing professional at the time. So when I'm home, me and him, you know, we work out. What, five, six hours a day, probably normally just, you know, me and him by ourselves, eight hours by eight hours.
Adrian Nabors 10:10
This man, don't stop. He's a machine,
Derrick Stevens 10:14
yeah, to us, you know, like, you know, utilizing that, you know, being healthy and getting out there and still trying to be vibrant within the game and things like that. I think that spawned the idea of, you know, hey, you know, maybe we could, you know, put something together, man, you know, that could go out and inspire a lot of people, motivate a lot of people. And, of course, like with Dre being Native, you know, that ties into, you know, the Native community, and what we tried to put together on that task and everything. And me being close to him, he's allowed me to come in and help out. And, you know, I think he sees a certain drive in me as an individual and as a person. And I think, you know, he's like, hey, you know, let's use, you know, the best of both worlds, and use what we got to inspire. And I think we've just been on a mission to kind of pull the best of ourselves out through all the stuff that we're going through, to show the kids that, hey, you know, you can persevere no matter what you have going on. You know, we've had a lot of stuff take place, but to your point about the magic, we just we you know, it was kind of like I was at his house. We got up and he showed me the clothing idea. We talked about it, we talked about the basketball branding, and we just went out and and started a business. And from there, everything, just, you know, started to take shape. Of course, you're going to have moments of adversity that you got to overcome, but I think he'd done a beautiful job of continuing to persevere and keeping the business and that the res ball brand going to date and again, like you see it everywhere, and that's a testament to his work ethic. And I think it's a beautiful testimony in general that, you know, we can share with the audience, because you have adversity, you have things that you got to go through, but we found a way to kind of persevere and bring it to life. So the magic was in me and him just having a conversation like we did every morning before we go work out.
Marcus White 12:10
The urban RES is underwritten by the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nevada's premier sports venue for tickets and more information, lvms.com
Dr. B 12:19
through basketball is such a big sport in both native and black communities. When I talk about basketball, I talk about my first love and, you know, growing up on the reservation, just seeing what, especially street ball at the time, and slam magazine and Rutger Park and, you know, looking at the NBA and college I at the time, there were not native athletes who were performing at those levels, or we didn't have the visibility or platform within our community, and so just seeing now the trajectory of how our native athletes are getting the visibility we're getting, the clothing line, the access to the sport and what comes with it. I think it's a really amazing thing that has happened in our community. So I want to, like, touch on on that part. What exactly, can you all give me an example of something y'all have done together that was a success?
Derrick Stevens 13:17
Well, I mean, we, we put together the native top 50. I'll start it outreach. We put together a native top 50 camp. And obviously, you know, we combine that with the res ball brand. I say that because we both have different strengths. Dre is great at, you know, the branding with the red balls and the clothing, obviously, I bring the basketball side, you know. So we get the best of both worlds, and we put them together. And I think we've produced a product, you know, that is really, really great for the kids. I think, you know, as we put, we had put together the native top 50 camp, you know, that has been, to date, I would say, outside of, you know, what Dre is doing with the closing between he and I, the biggest thing that we've done together, and it was unfortunate that we didn't get to keep it going. And I think we're both very passionate about, you know, driving it forward, bringing it back to life for the kids, because we had so many people reaching out to us wanting us to do it again, and we weren't able to. So I think that, to date, the top 50, native top 50, I should say, is the biggest endeavor that me and him have put together, besides actually starting the global elite res ball business.
Dr. B 14:25
Okay, I don't know what the native top 50 is. I'm sure some listeners like, what's the native top 50? What exactly is that? Can you please elaborate on exactly what that is?
Adrian Nabors 14:35
It's the best players in the United States. You got 25 girls, the best of 25 girls and the best of the 25 boys coming from different reservations. I think we even had a player come from Canada, actually. And it's the best of the best. It's a combine. And. And it's an all star, and it's a camp, you know, which allows the kid to get a understanding of themselves, you know, I know a bunch of us. We like to go into these camps thinking, you know, we're d1 right out the gate. But once the kids started understanding themselves, I think some of them, it was mind blowing for some of them, and they actually saw that they had a lot of work to do if they wanted to compete at the highest level. And if some understood that they were d3 they would do the d2 which is, you know, still a great level for most athletes, but that's what the native top 50 is, and that's what I am looking forward to bringing back.
Derrick Stevens 15:44
Can I add to that? I would say, I'd sum that up by saying the native top 50 is like the McDonald's all American game for Native American kids is, is the best that we like to sum it up as, because you have the best talent from around the country under one roof, kind of reminiscent of the McDonald's all American game. And I think, you know, going forward, as we try to bring it back to life, I think people appreciate you know that we're actually trying to put something together that has great structure. It's not something that, you know, we're just trying to throw it together, you know, quickly make money off of is something that's designed to be in place like the McDonald's game. So I just throw that in there.
Dr. B 16:26
Thank you. And then also, why is this so important for this community, in particular the Native American community,
Adrian Nabors 16:34
I think it's, it's been a long time since we've since we've been to the stage. You know, it's, it's our turn, like you said earlier, you know, you see a lot more native women, Native men out there now in the NCAA. I mean, you got games coming up tomorrow. I think his name was Eagle. Eagle speaker who plays out of, I forget the name of the college, but we're out there. We should have, we've, we've needed this for so long. And thank thank God that there are platforms out there for our native athletes to get to, so that they can be seen. You know, because it was a problem for coaches to come out to the reservations and and just to see a kid, you know, play. So now that we have a lot of these outlets now and stages that are produced for our native athletes, we're starting to see more and more of us out there on the scene and and that was all we needed. We just needed the stage. And we're just, we just happened to be one of those ones, the native top 50. And that's, that's what we want to keep on influencing. You know, is bring our our top athletes, you know, and watching them grow
Dr. B 18:05
You're right. I just had the pleasure this past week of watching NCAA women's basketball and watch two native athletes compete against each other. One is Nalani Kornfield from the Seneca Nation, who now plays for university Arizona and Sydney BenAli from the Navajo Nation, who plays for BYU. So for me, it was, it was a rarity for me to see two native athletes at this level that was televised, and it brought joy to my heart. And so I just am really excited about where basketball is going in our community, and what folks like you are bringing resources to community? I did want to touch on what are some of the objectives of the camp, like the specifics, what's integrated into the camp of the combine, and what other resources are we needing to bring this camp into its entirety, talking about the development piece, bringing in coaches like, how does this all work to help our Native youth get more recognition?
Derrick Stevens 19:11
I'll start it out three I'll say, you know, it's, you know, really, really putting it together in a way that you're influencing athletes on and off the basketball court. So, you know, I want to say the difference between native top 50 and how we've designed it and other camps is that, you know, we're taking the off court piece very, very seriously. You know, by adding in different seminars such as mental health, you know different talking points when it concerns you know how to conduct yourself in school and, you know, as a young adult, and how to be aware that you've been watched at all times. And I think these bridging the gap with that essentially is going to help the kids, you know, navigate on a path more clean, I should say, than a lot of us had in. Worked on, especially like myself. You know me. You know, being kicked out of three schools and colleges, for example, and having to repair my career to get to Colorado, state. So I take seminars in those pieces very, very seriously. I think, you know, last camp, we had the strength and conditions seminar. We had a mental health part, and then we had a health seminar of them understanding, like, how to take care of their bodies, you know, how to recover from a workout, and all of these things, which a lot of the kids know. But in turn, you have to put the kids in the setting to where you have their ears, and so with the top 50, because the kids are only there to be immersed in the camp. We had their full attention. And I believe we got a lot of those talking points across it when it concerns off the court stuff. So when it comes to what we need to get it started, any and all help is is needed, you know, because we're trying to make the camp very, very big again. Think McDonald's all American game, where we have all the kids in camp under n i l deals, and now they're branded, you know, by res ball and everything to where now you know they're going on to campus and, you know, letting everybody know what we have going on with top 50 and stuff like that. So we need all the help we can get, you know, from all the people we can get it from. I'll say that.
Dr. B 21:29
And so I know you both have worked with youth Dre you live both in New York, in Arizona, on the rez, or just right off the rez. Do you what are some of the similarities and some of the differences you may see, you see between Native youth and their other non native peers?
Adrian Nabors 21:53
Good question. The similarities, you know, I think we talked earlier about our mental our mental health and sports was always an outlet, you know, for me, you know, and just growing up, you know, you having problems at home or whatnot. You know, you always, you hit the basketball court and you just, you shoot, and you know next time, next thing, you know, five hours has had went by. That was one of the things that I had, that I had an understanding with. You know, there's, there's trouble all over the world, you know, whether from New York reservations, the ghettos, you know, there's always going to be situations in people's lives. And I think if it's taught how we deal with those issues, you know, because there are drugs and alcohol that are escapes, and they do play a factor in in a lot of people's lives growing up, you know, but that was one, that was one issue that I did. I did see coming from New York to Arizona, you know, the basketball is, is? It's a language, you know that everybody can talk without speaking. You know, it let me know who the best players were, who the weakest players were, you know, who the spoiled players were, and the ones that really wanted it, you know, that was, that was something that I saw across the land, you know, playing basketball in different regions, you know. I know for Derek, you know, he's, I'm sure he's got a story. You know, we talk a lot, you know, we know each other's backgrounds and whatnot, and basketball is definitely safe, not just us, but I'm sure a lot of people out there, you know.
Dr. B 24:00
And what about yourself? Derek, I know you've helped coach youth, not only here domestically, here in the United States, in all communities, including our native communities, but also globally. Do you see any similarities and differences from your experience?
Derrick Stevens 24:15
Oh, yes, 100% you know, to the point of early conversation that we had, you know, just being able to travel the world and experience and work with the kids in different countries, and it's kind of a hands on case study, you know, and then coming back here to America, you know, to work with the youth here from different demographics and everything, you know, it is so similar, you know, I don't know if it's today's time, And you know, the kids having more at their disposal and things like that. But, you know, it seems that all the kids just like the mental fortitude to continually drive themselves forward. And it doesn't matter which demographic you speak of, you know, I've seen it in China, I've seen it in Europe. I've seen it in Africa when I was there, you know, and to come. Home to America to say, Wow. You know, even in the native community, no matter which one I'm seeing, all the kids are struggling to persevere. You know, they're struggling to understand, like, how to drive themselves forward when they hit, when they hit a down point, when they have adverse moments and things like that. For whatever reason, they tend to get to those points and just kind of stop, you know, and not really push themselves towards what they want to do. And I think given growing up in 80s, 90s, like we all did, you know, all you knew was just try to survive and push forward so trying to, like, rub a little bit of that off on the kids. Now, I think it's the goal. But it got so bad for me coaching here in Albuquerque, I kind of had to pull myself out of working with the kids, because one of the pieces that we haven't really touched on is the parents. You know, I always try to get the parents to understand, you know, you guys are major influence in what we're seeing, you know, and some parents get it. Some parents do not, you know, everybody wants their kid to be okay and have more than what they had, which is totally respectable and understandable as an adult. But sometimes I think a little struggle is necessary for the shaping and growing of an individual, you know? So I it's, it's a lot of parallels when it comes to pushing forward, persevering and developing the type of character you need to deal with to survive today's society.
Dr. B 26:26
Okay, that's a great observation that we have, because predominantly it's going to be parents or grandparents listening to our show. So with that being said, what advice would you give to the parents and or the youth to propel and be successful in in their sport and in life, any last, any, any, any long lasting advice,
Derrick Stevens 26:51
yes, with the parents, you know, I would say, you know, don't be afraid, you know, to allow the kid to fall down and fail a little bit. Because I always like to say you learn more from you or your losses than you do your wins, you know, so it's okay to lose and not make a team. It's okay to go try out for a team and understand that you're not good enough that day. But now you have, you've gained the understanding that you need to go out and you need to put some time and effort into your craft. You know, become more well rounded, understand how to listen to coaches and so forth and so on. But the first set of coaches you get is your parents, right? So the parents have to understand, like, you know, you're an extension of the coach, and vice versa. And I would have this conversation with all the parents that I work with. I'm like, Man, when you don't do the job at home, and then you give the kids over to me. Now I have to restructure everything that you've you've kind of set forth, you know. And they're, most of the parents are receptive to it, you know. So I would say, to make it short, it's okay to fail. It's okay for kids to go out and figure out that they're not good enough at that moment. Let them go through their own journey, let them go through their own process. Let them have their own time and moment. Because we're all our own individual selves. You can't live through your parent, and your parent can't live through you. And I know it's a lot of parents try to live through their kids, because maybe they wasn't successful at sport, right? So if you look around it's a lot of Daddy ball is what I call it, kids playing for their parents and so forth and so on, which is, again, it's totally okay, but in the real world, like we know, you have to go out and you have to earn your keep, you know. So I feel like balancing that part out of making sure they're okay with allowing them to have their own losses or failure is the key, because without my failure, I wouldn't be able to speak the way I speak today. And I'm so thankful you know that I went through the things that I went through to help develop my character and who I am and allow me to think the way I think, to want to be on right now and be so passionate about wanting to help all kids, because I just know how hard it is to be successful, you know? Okay.
Dr. B 29:02
Well, thank you so much, Derek, for your words and to the parents. So I just wanted to say for the segment, both of you, thank you so much. Dre you and I go way back. Thank you for all the work you do in the community and for your vision. And Derek also, thank you for being along beside this journey and supporting our communities as well. Thank you both and everyone. Have a great rest of your day. We really enjoy spending this time with you. Tune back in for our next segment. Have a good day, everyone. Thank you.
Marcus White 29:37
The urban RES is underwritten by global wave consulting international specializing in IT solutions from network penetration testing and vulnerability management to SAP basis support and web application security. Global wave helps businesses stay secure and efficient in a digital world. For more information, global wave ci.com
Transcribed by https://otter.ai