Gary Chivichyan (00:01):
Second. Let make sure I could hear you guys. One second.
Sevan Matossian (00:04):
Bam. We’re live.
Gary Chivichyan (00:04):
Oh, now I can hear you guys.
Sevan Matossian (00:06):
<laugh>
Gary Chivichyan (00:07):
Beautiful,
Sevan Matossian (00:09):
Gary. What’s up? Cotton, cotton
Gary Chivichyan (00:12):
Co KA and Gary Traian,
Sevan Matossian (00:14):
Cotton, cotton, cotton, Gary Chak, Chak,
Gary Chivichyan (00:20):
Traian. You almost got it.
Sevan Matossian (00:22):
Chian Chian
Gary Chivichyan (00:24):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (00:25):
And, and I, and I claim to be Armenian. What a joke.
Gary Chivichyan (00:28):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (00:28):
What a joke. I am. We did it.
Gary Chivichyan (00:33):
Oh, we did it. We’re here. We’re here. I know, I know it took a couple tries, couple extra texts, but a as long as we’re here, uh, I see you, you see me? Uh, it looks like we’re ready to go.
Sevan Matossian (00:48):
So many places to start this. You know how I came across you? I was, I was interviewing, I don’t know if it was Brian Battle or so, but it was a UFC fighter mm-hmm <affirmative> and I was looking at a picture and, and he was on my podcast and I was talking to him and I pulled up a picture of him and he said he went to, uh, he trained his, his, the best place he ever trained. And he said the word. Right. And he was trying to say highest on academy.
Gary Chivichyan (01:15):
Okay. And already could’ve. And it, I already could imagine it.
Sevan Matossian (01:18):
And it’s some gym on the east coast and he starts telling me about how the guy who owns the place has now moved to LA. But he’s like one of the greatest martial arch legends who ever lived, but you’ve never heard of him. You can’t even imagine this dude. And I was like, okay. So I look him up and, and his name’s, uh, GOCO. Right? Is that his name?
Gary Chivichyan (01:36):
Yeah. Yep. Yep. That’s my dad.
Sevan Matossian (01:38):
<laugh>. And then from there I’m like this fucking, guy’s got a Armenian son that’s going to, they could be going to the NBA. I’m like what? This is crazy. And, and I reached out to your dad. Does how’s your dad’s English is your dad’s English. Good.
Gary Chivichyan (01:53):
It’s okay. It’s he speaks it pretty fluently. I mean, he has that Armenian accent though, you
Sevan Matossian (01:58):
Know? Yeah. Hey, you even got that from doing eight years of Armenian school.
Gary Chivichyan (02:01):
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I went to Armenian school all the way till the eighth grade. So I, I, I read it, I write it, you know, I might have a little bit of an accent if I do. That’s great. Um,
Sevan Matossian (02:11):
I mean, you don’t sound like you’re, you don’t sound like, uh, you’re American born. I mean, you sound, you sound like you’ve been in the country for like 40 years and you’re not even 40 years old, but you still got a little hint of that Armenian accent. You got that. Oh,
Gary Chivichyan (02:21):
I love it. I love it. Yeah. I love it. I love it. That, that, that, that shows my real, my true colors. <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (02:27):
You know, I I’m, uh, they, I, at home, my mom and dad spoke Armenian and I don’t know, maybe it was around four or five English really started dominating. And then by six, when I was in kindergarten, I started almost exclusively speaking English and my Armenian has gone to shit, but, but I know it shaped who I was for it to be my first language, how I see the world, how I treat people.
Gary Chivichyan (02:53):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, no, I mean, it’s huge. I mean, even for me, just, just, just going the day and, and, uh, growing up here in Los Angeles, you know, everything was a lot of Armenian for me, a lot of, a lot of Armenian people, a lot, uh, a huge Armenian surrounding it wasn’t really until about my, until I, I moved out of Armenian school for high school, started in ninth grade at NY when I started really being around, um, all types of people,
Sevan Matossian (03:21):
Some blonde haired, blue eye people
Gary Chivichyan (03:24):
To say that, yeah, some blonde haired, blue, white, you know, all different kinds. And, uh, I think that was, uh, actually a big step for me in propelling. My career was, you know, uh, entering and, and, and, um, seeing, uh, the world really, you know, all colors, all races, all, you know, um, all types of people from different backgrounds. It really, really opened my eyes because all I saw for my whole life was just Armenians, Armenians, Armenians, all the way until I was like 14, 15, everything I did sports related school related family related. It was just Armenians. And, and, and then in the ninth grade, it was just like, boom, I’m in this different world now. And these different people. And, you know, I started adapting there and, you know, that was one of the biggest steps of my career.
Sevan Matossian (04:16):
I wanna go way back. I wanna talk about how your mom and dad, um, ended up coming to this country and how they met each other. But before we do that, can you tell me what the G league is?
Gary Chivichyan (04:26):
So, yeah, so the, uh, NBA G league is it’s the second division of the NBA. Um, every, um, every team, every NBA team also has their NBA G league roster. So, um, they are, they work intertwined, you know, we practice in the same facilities. Um, and we have guys that go up and down sometimes on a night and night basis. So, um, you know, a guy could come in and play, uh, uh, you know, the, the, the G league game and then fly out the next day and be playing with the NBA team. Um, you know, the it’s, it’s basically, um, the second best basketball, professional basketball league in the world. Um, you know, it pretty much everybody who’s in the G league already has MBA experience, or they’re literally going back and forth already. So coming in this year, you know, I learned just what a level, you know, the MBA as a whole is. I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s serious.
Sevan Matossian (05:25):
So, so are you attached to a specific team and is that team the Clippers?
Gary Chivichyan (05:29):
Yes, exactly. So I’m signed with the Los Angeles Clippers and I’ve been assigned to their G league roster.
Sevan Matossian (05:36):
So it’s really like a super deep bench.
Gary Chivichyan (05:39):
Yeah. You could say that. Yeah. Yeah. It basically is. I mean, if a guy goes down, you know, guess who’s coming up, you know, so, um, or if a guy hasn’t performed well for two to three weeks, that guy on that GE league roster is busting his ass to, to, to, to move up, you know, so it’s, it’s, it’s competitive and it’s, it’s, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s an unbelievable, um, leak, to be honest with you.
Sevan Matossian (06:06):
Um, can, can another team draw from the Clippers G team?
Gary Chivichyan (06:13):
Yes, they can. Yes, they can.
Sevan Matossian (06:14):
They can. Okay.
Gary Chivichyan (06:15):
Yeah. So we actually had, uh, this year we had two players, um, be pulled from another team. So,
Sevan Matossian (06:23):
Um, why wouldn’t they get pulled from their team? Why don’t they pull from their G league team?
Gary Chivichyan (06:26):
Well, it matters what the, what, what each team’s looking for. Right. So, so Dallas pulled Moses Wright from the, our, our, our Clippers G league team because Dallas needed, um, a five man who needs to be on a two-way contract. Boom he’s in there. Uh, Chris Dunn, former NBA player, first round draft pick. Um, he was, he was on our, he was on our roster this year on the Clippers G league. And two months in, he was pulled right up, uh, to the Portland trailblazers. He, he signed a 10 day contract. The 10 day contract turned to more than what it was there. He is now Simon, Portland trailblazers, again, back into the NBA.
Sevan Matossian (07:04):
Um, uh, do you go by Gary or cotton?
Gary Chivichyan (07:06):
Yeah. So my first name is Karen. Uh, my middle name is Gary. And, um, since I started playing basketball at AMA, I’ve been known as Gary worldwide. Okay. Um, so, uh, everybody calls me, Gary, but I really, really do like my first name, Karin, you know, sometimes I wish that stuck, but
Sevan Matossian (07:25):
You say, Karen, you say Karin is, but how did your parents say it? Do they say CA
Gary Chivichyan (07:30):
Lawyers will say Godin
Sevan Matossian (07:31):
Gotin
Gary Chivichyan (07:32):
Yeah. Yeah. So when I talk to, you know, general public and they ask me though, I don’t say God, cuz then they’re gonna ask me how to pronounce it 30 times. So I just say Karen and it flows nice and easy, you know, Karen, Gary Traian, but in Armenian or if an Armenian, like a close friend or my family would, would call my name, it would be God,
Sevan Matossian (07:51):
If you got a nose that’s made to be broken, then it’s caught,
Gary Chivichyan (07:54):
There you go. That’s a hundred percent
Sevan Matossian (07:56):
<laugh>. And, um, cuz cuz my, my Whitey friends I’m Matian but to my Armenian friends, I’m matosian
Gary Chivichyan (08:03):
<laugh> see. There you go. That’s how, that’s how it usually happens,
Sevan Matossian (08:07):
Man. Um, when I, when I, when I look at professional sports up close, pretty much, regardless of what they are, there’s a danger factor in all of them, like big men moving really fast, putting a shit ton of demand on their joints and their, and their ligaments and collisions. And um, absolutely. And, and you, you alluded that there’s a huge step up when you go into the G league, when you start, when you start playing with NBA players, is there a component of, um, wow. All of a sudden you’re on a freeway with like car, the slowest car is doing 120, like there’s just this kind of almost element of danger to it.
Gary Chivichyan (08:48):
Oh, I mean, yeah. There’s danger involved in, in, in any professional sport I would say for sure. Uh, at the MBA level, um, you know, we see, um, a ton, a ton of, um, specific training and physical therapy to, to kind of decrease your chances of injury. Um, you know, luckily, uh, we have, you know, new technology and new science and, and a lot of things that are, that are assisting players, but you know, um, sports, you can’t go out there with a thought of, oh man, it’s this dangerous. Or if I stop like this, what may happen, cuz then you’re not playing the game. Um, you just gotta go out there. You gotta, you gotta let your body flow and take what you get. You know, you might have some aches and pains, but you really just gotta manage your body, manage yourself. And man, basketball’s a, a safe game, man. I, I grew up here watching my dad and my brother, you know, fight and, and, and get bruised and get kicked in the face. And, and really they did all the kicking and beating, but uh, <laugh>, I mean, you know, just watching some of the MMA guys, even at our gym, at my dad’s gym, uh, you know, going in there and watching their training and then thinking about, you know, what trainings we do with, uh, at the corporate facility, uh, you know, I’ll take, I’ll take that any day. <laugh> yeah. Any day
Sevan Matossian (10:12):
There, um, you said in an interview, I’m going to keep going forward until God stops me.
Gary Chivichyan (10:18):
Mm-hmm
Sevan Matossian (10:19):
<affirmative> and a few days ago, I don’t know what I was doing. I was like in the shower or something and I realized, man, my life has, oh no, I was in the backyard and I was hearing some wind blow from a couple blocks away through some eucalyptus trees. And then like 10 seconds later, the wind blew through my yard and I was like, nothing’s that wind has no plan B. Yeah. And I have no plan B. Yeah. And then I’m watching Gary. He has no plan B. Yep. He’s like, it’s just going, I’m just going like forest Gump, put my head down and really, I I’m going to kind of die in this or got, yeah. I’m just going like the win. Absolutely.
Gary Chivichyan (10:57):
Yeah. So, so, so you know what, uh, I was, I was in high school. I was a ninth grader. Uh, I was an Al Mani, um, just first year being around, um, you know, high level basketball players, to be honest with you. And I put my head down in all four years, they said, no chance. This kid gets a division, one basketball scholarship. It’s just not possible. He’s too skinny. He’s not athletic. Um, you know, it’s not gonna happen senior year. I had a really, really good year and a really, really good high school, got no scholarship, went to prep school one year, busted my ass off. Finally got a division one scholarship to Idaho state. They said that was impossible. They said, there’s no chance. The chances of getting a division one scholarship already are under 1% for anybody. I’m not even talking about Armenian.
Gary Chivichyan (11:44):
You know? So, so there’s that I did. I got to, I, Idaho state had a really, really good experience there a brutal experience, but a really good experience in terms of development graduated. I, Idaho state was the fourth lead. Um, fourth in history and three point field goals made at that school. Um, graduated, went to university of Pacific, who was coached by current Celtics assistant coach Damon. STMI had a really good year there. We had a record year 23 wins. Um, I was a second leading scorer on that team drawing a lot of attention, a lot of buzz, right? And the year ended, I signed with an MBA agent. His name is R of <inaudible>. You know, the, the media’s going wild. The press is going wild. The community’s going wild. And you know, there’s all this, can he, can he not right. Because my first dream was to be a division I basketball player. Now, when I signed with my agent, my agent said, Hey, he said, we could get you into the NBA G league and you have to go in there and you gotta kill and you could have an NBA career. And they said, there’s no way he could get into the NBA G league. They said, first of all, they said, there’s a 0.1% chance that he could get into the G league. It’s not happening. Just take him overseas, just go play professional and basketball go.
Sevan Matossian (13:05):
So that was an opportunity at that point just to go overseas. Absolutely,
Gary Chivichyan (13:08):
Absolutely. Absolutely. I could have, I could have gone and signed some contracts and made a ton of money, but this isn’t about the money and that’s what people didn’t get at the time. And, you know, they told my agent it’s not possible. And they, they told me it’s not possible. Just like they said, division one was not possible, but sure enough, 2020 comes by. COVID hits right after my season. Um, and my all my MBA workouts were canceled my meetings, um, my training camps, it was all canceled, everything and sure enough, you know, the, the, the talk was, we were right, man. He, he, you know, he, he, he, he messed up his career and everything was downhill in terms of the notion. And guess what I did in 2020, I pulled my head down. I didn’t go to a single party. I didn’t see a single family. I didn’t see a single friend. You could ask them if nobody believes me, I was in the gym every single day. And I knew that my day would come, that I will be drafted, um, into the NBA G league. And sure enough, 20, 21 rolls around first Armen ever nominated for an ESP SP’s award. First Armenian drafted into the NBA G league. Um, and here we are today. So Mike, going back, the reason I’m telling you all that is going to your code. Um, read the code out
Sevan Matossian (14:28):
Again. No plan B.
Gary Chivichyan (14:30):
Yeah, no
Sevan Matossian (14:31):
Plan B. I’ll keep, I’ll keep going until God stop you. This was your, I thought a few days ago. Fuck. I do no plan B and fuck a plan B. And then I heard you say in an interview, I’m going to keep going forward until God stops me. And I said, yeah, me too. Me
Gary Chivichyan (14:44):
Too. <laugh> yeah, no, I say that because that’s the truth. Um, I feel like I’m on a spiritual, um, upbringing. Um, I’m doing things that never were even thought were possible. And this is just the beginning of the story. Yeah. And you know, it’s all related to God and you know, I’m, I’m, I’m the glory must always go to him because when you, when you beat the odds of the 0.1%, you know, there’s something bigger there than, than, than just hard work and just consistency. You know, there must be something going on here. That’s going to be so big and so worldwide. Um, and you know, I, I, I know it’s coming and I’m working towards it. There’s gonna be bumps on the road, but I’m gonna go until God stops me.
Sevan Matossian (15:30):
I, I, I, I know cotton, can’t say this, but I’ll say this for him. Not only did he, um, achieve all those accolades that he mentioned at, uh, Pacific and at, uh, uh, at, at Boise state, Idaho state, sorry, Idaho state, but both of the coaches when he was there receive coach of the year awards and you don’t get those unless you have good players. And so call it a coincidence or not that he was at one school and the coach got coach of the year, and then he switched to another school and that got coach of the year. But you gotta give the players a lot of credit for that too. It’s pretty, it’s pretty amazing. Um, I know I wanted to ask about your dad, but you opened up this door, but why, why was Idaho? You said it was brutal. Why was it brutal?
Gary Chivichyan (16:10):
It was brutal because I was an 18 year old who moved out of the house. Who was baby? His whole
Sevan Matossian (16:17):
Life. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yeah. You had good Armenian mom. You had a good mom, huh?
Gary Chivichyan (16:21):
Oh, oh great mom. The best. Yeah. She do everything for me. Yeah. And now, now I land in this third old country looking place, you know, coming to LA, you know, uh, and, uh, I’m on my own, you know, I got, I got no friends, no family, nobody that I know. And I’m 18 years old. I came off that plane and I’m like, Hmm, what do I do now? I think I gotta get an apartment. You know, <laugh>, I’m like, you know, and, and, and I had to figure it out. And of course my parents and my family were behind me in anything that I needed. Um, but you know, it was just the journey of getting, there has a little kid and going through those brutal growing pains year after year after year. Um, and, and, and slowly getting better every year at it, you know, just being an adult, living on your own, taking care of your things the right way, you know, being on time, being responsible.
Gary Chivichyan (17:17):
And, you know, it was difficult for me at first, but as the years went on, you know, I started figuring it out. Um, I really had it figured out at Pacific already when I got to Pacific, I felt like a, I felt real mature and in control of what I needed, you know, what I needed it to do. But Idaho man, negative degrees weather. Um, my head coach, bill Evans, he was in my face 5:00 AM yelling at me, cursing me out, you know, all love to bill Evans, by the way, I love that type of <inaudible>. You know, I’m not sensitive. I, I, I appreciated his, his brutal energy every morning, but, you know, as a young kid, you know, that’s tough, man, tough. And, and I had to go through it and, you know, that’s where family, good family comes in support. You know, my brother, who’s been such a pivotal part of everything that’s happened. You know, he’s been on the phone with me, mentoring me, um, do this, do that. Uh, don’t be down on yourself. Um, he’s really giving me the elite mindset to be able to, to withstand all of this, because if it wasn’t for my brother and, and, and, and my family who supported me, you know, there were some brutal, brutal times that I just couldn’t personally take, but because of their strength, their support, their mental push for me, you know, I was like, you know what? I got this.
Sevan Matossian (18:39):
When you say brutal, you mean just lo was it loneliness?
Gary Chivichyan (18:42):
No, it wasn’t loneliness. It was, it was, it was just figuring out, um, how to do things, you know, on your own, because that, that’s what was so tough. Like I had a ton of friends over there. Um, my teammates were great, you know, I met them throughout the years, but you gotta schedule every day. You got school on top of it. You got therapy on top of it. It’s negative degrees. It’s snowing. I’ve never driven into snow. I, I was sliding and almost crashing almost every day. You know, everything was just so like, I don’t brutal is not the word for it because it was such a great experience in total. And there was a lot of fun times. It was just brutal because you’re a young kid and you gotta figure everything out. You know what I mean?
Sevan Matossian (19:29):
Yeah. Um, why didn’t you get into, um, when, when I, when I read, got out of the nest, I started chasing girls and smoking weed and drinking. How, how come that didn’t happen to, you
Gary Chivichyan (19:40):
Know, um, I’m just, I’m so focused on, on the planet
Sevan Matossian (19:45):
Planet. I was focused. I was focused on weed and girls and beer <laugh> I was super focused.
Gary Chivichyan (19:51):
Oh man, Hey, at least you had your fun, man.
Sevan Matossian (19:53):
I did have fun, but, but I, I just, I don’t understand how you at 18, that you didn’t fall into that trap.
Gary Chivichyan (20:00):
Yeah. You know, look, uh, as a young kid, you, you leave the house and, and you go out to college, you know, you’re gonna have some outings events and things that you want to go out and have fun with, but the goal was one thing. And that was to be the best basketball player that I can be. That that’s why I’m in Idaho. I didn’t come here to Idaho to meet girls and party. I came to Idaho because I want to be the best basketball player that I can be. Yeah. And, you know, I, I was figuring out how to, how to do that. And, you know, God willing week after week and month after month and year after year slowly, you know, got a good hand. Good. Got my hands around it.
Sevan Matossian (20:44):
Yeah. I didn’t, I guess I didn’t know what I wanted. I, I was following, I was just following the playbook at the time, graduate from high school, go to college. Like I, I just was just following the playbook.
Gary Chivichyan (20:54):
Absolutely. And I think that’s why it brings in a very key point to younger kids growing up, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s having that goal and purpose. So you don’t just kinda flow, um, into, um, the world. You just kind of do what you need to do.
Sevan Matossian (21:11):
Um, how did your parents end up here? How did, how, how did your dad and your mom and dad end up in Los Angeles?
Gary Chivichyan (21:17):
So my dad was actually invited here from the, uh, uh, USA Olympic team to come here and do, um, trainings and workouts and things of that sort.
Sevan Matossian (21:26):
Where was he living? Was he living in Armenia?
Gary Chivichyan (21:28):
Yeah, he was in Armenia. Yeah. Yeah. He was in Armenia. Um, he was a young kid. He was 16 years old when they moved in over here, you know? So it’s been
Sevan Matossian (21:38):
Us Olympic team invited him when he was 16.
Gary Chivichyan (21:40):
Yeah. To the junior Olympics. Absolutely. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (21:44):
And, and, and was your mom, uh, so he met your mom in the United States.
Gary Chivichyan (21:47):
So I think they knew, knew each other over there, but they just kind of got kept things going over here and got married really, really, you know, shortly after they got here. So,
Sevan Matossian (21:58):
Uh, what’s your mom’s name caught in
Gary Chivichyan (22:00):
My mom’s name is nare
Sevan Matossian (22:02):
Nare nare Nareen. And your dad’s name is go GOCO. So did they marry before they were 18?
Gary Chivichyan (22:12):
Uh, I think they were married before 21.
Sevan Matossian (22:14):
Okay. So they’ve and, and are they still together?
Gary Chivichyan (22:16):
They’re still together. Dang. I know. <laugh> dang crazy, right?
Sevan Matossian (22:22):
Yeah.
Gary Chivichyan (22:23):
That must tough. Right.
Sevan Matossian (22:24):
I mean you’re yeah, it’s um, it’s, uh, but it, but it’s worth, it’s, it’s worth it. I, I, when I think of the crowning achievement of my life, and I’ve done a lot of amazing things, uh, my relationship with my wife as like my crowning achievement, I’ve been with her over 20 years and I’m like, I’m like, I’m so proud of it.
Gary Chivichyan (22:40):
<laugh> that’s amazing. No, yeah, no, I, I value that as well. I mean, I’m definitely, you know, hopefully God willing looking forward to get married and, and do what you did Seon.
Sevan Matossian (22:50):
Yeah.
Gary Chivichyan (22:50):
<laugh>
Sevan Matossian (22:52):
So sitting back and watching great ki great kids like you, man, you’re fucking killing it. Okay. So, so your dad comes here at 16 and do they want him to be on the, the us Olympic team and, and for what sport?
Gary Chivichyan (23:03):
So it was for judo mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, he came in here a young kid, and I think because of, um, some citizen stuff that occurred here, he actually wasn’t able to compete in the Olympics, but he went on a spree and, um, you know, went world tours, championship after champ championship, European championship, um, multiple national championships and judo wrestling, Sambo boxing, kickboxing, um, even as he got older, um, he was going and doing what was called at the time. No holds BARR. Have you heard of that?
Sevan Matossian (23:42):
I have heard of it. Yep.
Gary Chivichyan (23:43):
No gloves, no rules, their team bets money, our team bets money. So he would go in constant, in as hell, be in whatever amount of money anybody wanted and he would finish fights and under a minute, no matter who was in front of him. So he was a bad, bad man. Um, even until this day, he’s almost 60 years old. We got young professional fighters at our gym that he’s tossing around left and right. You know, 10, uh, six years ago he went and won another national championship. Five years ago, he put the G on and said, Hey, uh, sign me up. I’m ready. Everybody was like, go car. Are you sure? You’re like 56 years old. It is like, sign me up. And sure enough, he, he won another championship. He’s never lost.
Sevan Matossian (24:29):
Um, is it intense being around that? Do, do you think that that’s, that’s basically your work ethic is just straight off your dad?
Gary Chivichyan (24:36):
You know, I wouldn’t say it’s straight off my dad. I, I mean, it has to, I definitely do have that, you know, legend blood in me. I know that for sure, because he was one, you know, he was, he was a special fighter and still is till this day. But you know, my, I think my work ethic comes from, I’m not sure what it comes from. Maybe, maybe, maybe it comes from God because, um, you know, as, as hardworking as my family is, and I’m sure that rubs off on me, but you know, my, my will, my will comes, you know, from God, because it’s, for me, it’s all about him. You know, look, our time on this earth is short. Okay. Um, you could have all the money you want. You could have all the girls you want. Um, everyone’s life is short. You know, everybody, because this thing goes by like this, you know, ask people who are six years old, ask them if it was quick till 60, they’ll say very quick.
Gary Chivichyan (25:31):
Um, you know, someone that asked me, I graduated high school almost nine years ago. I’m thinking man, nine years really isn’t much time. So, you know, for me, you know, I work hard because, you know, I gotta, I gotta do what my purpose here on earth is before my time comes, you know? And, um, I, I gotta, I gotta go hard and I’m gonna go hard. I’m going hard every day. And, um, I’m gonna have some fun along the way as well. You know, it’s not just work, work, work, work, work. Um, anybody who knows me on a personal level knows that I am a very, very, uh, social and outgoing guy. I like to go to parties. I like to sit with Armenian people and do hobos. Um, you know, I’m a, I’m a true Armenian, so I’m gonna have fun, but no fun, no person, no nothing could get in front of the path.
Gary Chivichyan (26:24):
That is to become the best version of myself. That’s what it is. You know, you could talk about MBA, you could talk about money business or whatever, but for me, it’s the best version of myself. I gotta be the best version of myself. That’s, that’s, that’s, what’s key. And, you know, relaying that energy onto the kids and to parents and families to really just focus on that, just focus on being the best version of yourself and see what happens. See what happens instead of focus on all these other factors, oh, I need this, oh, I need that. Oh, I’m trying to do this. I’m trying just become the best version of yourself. And now you’re gonna get the things that truly belong to you.
Sevan Matossian (27:09):
This, this spiritual component, this God component, this sort of like life path. Um, did, did something happen that put you on that? Did you have like some sort of near death experience or, or where did this, where did you cultivate this? Well,
Gary Chivichyan (27:23):
So, so nothing at all, no trauma in my life. Um, I lived a very healthy life and, um, you know, had supportive family and, you know, I have this, uh, spiritual guidance in me and you know, that, that’s just, that’s just what it’s, um, that’s what I’m kind of who I am. Um, as a person, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m dedicated, you know, I’m dedicated to, um, to fulfilling my purpose as, as a basketball player, as a son, as a brother, as a friend I’m dedicated to that. And, um, you know, I, I got to, I got to do what I have to do every day to, to, to be that good son and good basketball player and that good friend and that, you know, so on and
Sevan Matossian (28:17):
So on. And maybe father one day
Gary Chivichyan (28:18):
And maybe father God willing. Absolutely.
Sevan Matossian (28:22):
Um, I have three little boys, two, five year olds and a seven year old.
Gary Chivichyan (28:26):
That’s amazing, man.
Sevan Matossian (28:27):
And I saw you in it being interviewed with your brother, sitting next to you and they asked your brother a question and he’s this big strong man. And, and it rocked him to his core. Like I could tell, like it made him really emotional about you for a second. And he started crying. Um, what, what do you think it is? How your parents raised you? What advice do you have for me? My, my sons are really close now and I’d like to see them continue that along that path. Yeah. What, uh, what did your parents do that kept you and your brother close?
Gary Chivichyan (28:57):
Oh, man. Uh, I mean, you know, there is no mine or his or yours or our it’s, it’s just, what’s yours is his, what’s, his is mine. Um, we, we love to see each other succeed. You know, we thrive to see each other succeed and that’s always, um, something that comes from, you know, the parents who, who always kept treated us as one, you know, there’s no, oh, he’s winning and you’re losing, it’s, he’s win, we’re winning. And we’re losing, you know, it’s, we’re one unit. We’re not separate people. So with me and my brother, you know, let me tell you something. When all this stuff happened with the SVS and the draft and all this stuff, my brother was way, and I’m telling you, it would be impossible to match it way more excited than I was. And I was freaking excited. <laugh> I’m telling you, my brother’s excitement level was couldn’t be, couldn’t be matched by any.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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