If you've been following Iman Shumpert or the Kings on Twitter since last summer, you've probably seen a hashtag sprinkled throughout their tweets.
#PurpleTalk
Much like 'The Scores' nickname that Shumpert created, #PurpleTalk came about as a way to build a bond and a new identity in Sacramento.
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But how exactly did #PurpleTalk come into existence?
NBC Sports California's Kayte Hunter recently sat down with Shumpert for a lengthy interview and asked about #PurpleTalk.
Kayte Hunter: I want to talk to you about Purple Talk. Where did that stem from? Where's the origin of that?
Iman Shumpert: [Frank] Mason. So, Frank Mason. I don't know if people know, Frank Mason is very much so, he reminds me of me just form Virginia. And I say that because, he couldn't fake it if he tried. How he delivers things, you'll believe it because he doesn't care if you don't believe it. After he says it, that's just what he said and he's walking off and there's no real facial expression that's coming with it, so it becomes funny because you don't know if he's serious, if he's joking. But then he'll turn around and go 'Ha.' So you know it's funny. 'Oh, it's cool to laugh.'
NBA
Frank just says a lot of things that stick. And initially, when I was doing it, I was ... he would say 'talk' after certain things and I was like 'That's so dope.' And most times, the older guys don't usually hop onto what the young dudes say. But me having a daughter, like, when I make music, when I pick a beat, my daughter picks the beat. I play a bunch of them and the one [she likes], she stops playing with her dolls and says 'Daddy, I like that one.' And I know, 'Okay, I'm going to record on that one' because she has the ear for it, they have the ear for the energy. And what Frank says, it just sticks. He says a lot of different things, it's just that 'talk' was easy. He's like 'Okay, a little Coffee Talk, a little Coffee Talk in the morning, I get it. And everything is something 'talk.'
And then the Purple thing, I was just joking around and just said it one day and it was like 'Ah, that fits.' It's fitting for the Kings. We were trying to figure out ways when I got here, people were saying 'You're the same old Kings.' That's what hater fans from the outside are going to say. 'Y'all the same old Kings. We don't care who's on the team. Y'all not going to the playoffs. Y'all not doing this, y'all not doing that.' So, with me, to shift the culture, you have to shift the energy, you have to shift the mindset, there's gotta be something for people to grab on to.
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You can watch the clip here