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Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Jason Kelley, and I'm Mike Lynch and

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Speaker 1: I'm Michael Barr. And this is the Bloomberg Business of

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Speaker 1: Sports podcast where we explore the big money issues in

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Speaker 1: the world of sports. And you know, guys, we get

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Speaker 1: a chance to talk to some really interesting people in

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Speaker 1: the course of this show, exploring all different aspects of

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Speaker 1: the world of sports. And I think it's fair to

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Speaker 1: say we are fascinated by this nexus of athletes and

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Speaker 1: business and ownership and everything that's going on. We literally

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Speaker 1: have the perfect person to talk to us about that.

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Speaker 1: That is Aaron follow He is an NBA veteran. He

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Speaker 1: played in the league for eleven years, starting out at

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Speaker 1: your and by your, I mean Michael barrs Detroit Pistons

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Speaker 1: and then having a storied career throughout. Now he is

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Speaker 1: looking to be an owner in the NBA. He was

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Speaker 1: involved in the process that just is culminating with the

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Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves. That franchise is going to Alex Harder, you

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Speaker 1: guys in Mark Laurie. But he's got some stories to

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Speaker 1: tell us about that process, his ambitions and so much more. Aaron,

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Speaker 1: really really good to have you with us. Thank you

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Speaker 1: so much for joining us. No, I appreciate you guys.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. Good morning. So tell us about this. You

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Speaker 1: and I have gotten a chance to chat a little bit,

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Speaker 1: and I'm just fascinated with your vision in all of this.

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Speaker 1: Tell us about the transition. We can talk a little bit.

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Speaker 1: I know Michael Barr is gonna ask you about getting

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Speaker 1: drafted by the Pistons. I'm gonna leave that to him,

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Speaker 1: But I want to like fast forward a little bit

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Speaker 1: to the present and your current ambition because you are

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Speaker 1: thinking about your post playing life, I dare say, in

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Speaker 1: in a much more ambitious way than many do. Tell

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Speaker 1: me about that. Yeah, it's definitely audacious. I mean, um,

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Speaker 1: it's it's it's an exciting process and exciting time. Because

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Speaker 1: of the pandemic, I found myself with a lot of downtime,

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Speaker 1: but a lot of relationships and in certain business areas

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Speaker 1: that allow me to hopefully take advantage of an opportunity

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Speaker 1: like this when when it came about. So um no,

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Speaker 1: it's just been exciting, um all. Very thankful to Mission

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Speaker 1: Tyler for giving me the opportunity and uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: looking for the next one, and it's referring, of course

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Speaker 1: to Glenn Tyler, the current owner of the of the Timberwolves.

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Speaker 1: So tell us. But before we get even deeper into it,

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Speaker 1: why that you know why this was the one that

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Speaker 1: that you started zeroed in on because you really put

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Speaker 1: everything on hold to to sort of go after this

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Speaker 1: franchise and you made two runs at it, right, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean it was for me, it was almost NonStop.

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Speaker 1: I mean from a media perspective and may have seemed

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Speaker 1: like two runs, but you know, I was after it

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Speaker 1: every single day of my life for for about ten

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Speaker 1: straight months. And uh, some of the simplistic answers behind

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Speaker 1: you know, my initial interest was just being familiar with

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Speaker 1: some of the people there. I had a history and

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Speaker 1: um with the Pistons, and I'm pretty sure I'll get

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Speaker 1: asked about that. But with Flip Sounders being my rookie

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Speaker 1: rookie head coach, uh, that was the start of some

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Speaker 1: ties to the city and some of the people that

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Speaker 1: I knew within the within the organization, and it really

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Speaker 1: lit a fire for me to see if I could

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Speaker 1: uh put together a nice package. So Aaron, old buddy,

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Speaker 1: oh jump when you came into the league. Uh, drafted

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Speaker 1: by the Pistons, I believe, am I right? You played

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Speaker 1: at the Old Palace and yeah, there were a lot

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Speaker 1: of rocking times there and then it was the end

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Speaker 1: of the run for the Palace. What is it like

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Speaker 1: when a team moves from one venue to another? Now,

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Speaker 1: fortunately it stayed in the Detroit area, but what is

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Speaker 1: it like for a team to move from one venue

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Speaker 1: to another? Well, initially playing the Palace is definitely the startic.

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Speaker 1: I mean there's so much history there and coming into

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Speaker 1: the the Joe Dumarsa game, it was I mean it

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Speaker 1: was really a dream come true playing in the Palace.

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Speaker 1: Um I didn't get to experience is playing in in

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Speaker 1: the new Season's arena too much. That was towards the

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Speaker 1: talent in my career. But I definitely enjoyed those those

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Speaker 1: early days just going to the gym and uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: being a rocky and being a part of history in

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Speaker 1: that way. See, I'm old as dirt. I remember when

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Speaker 1: the Pistons played at the old Silver Dome and before

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Speaker 1: that at Cobo and so I I go way back

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Speaker 1: to the day being era. So don't mind me. I'm

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Speaker 1: just a happy Pistons fan. No, I used to drive

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Speaker 1: by all the time, and uh, you know I started

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Speaker 1: the site. So yeah, I'm very very familiar with This

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Speaker 1: is Mike Lynch up in Boston. I don't like to

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Speaker 1: rub in, you know, championship banners on these my two

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Speaker 1: months guy. Let me, I'm interested in this whole process

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Speaker 1: that you went through for about ten months or so.

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Speaker 1: What did you learn from this? What opened your eyes

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Speaker 1: and what wow do you from trying to try to

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Speaker 1: acquire the Timberwolves? Yeah, I mean, see where do I

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Speaker 1: start when you're trying to acquire a team. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's really an experience based situation. You can read a

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Speaker 1: lot of books, you can hear a lot of stories,

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Speaker 1: but if you're not into big business for a lengthy

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Speaker 1: period of time in your life, you've got a lot

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Speaker 1: to learn in terms of, you know, how to deal

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Speaker 1: with people, how to make these very very large financial relationships,

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Speaker 1: the true essays of what it takes to put together

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Speaker 1: a complex deal like this. So I got a real

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Speaker 1: crash course of managing with people and dealing with sensitive

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Speaker 1: information and uh, really building strong relationships to give you know,

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Speaker 1: an owner confidence in the future that you can you

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Speaker 1: can be a closer in such a transaction like this. Um,

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Speaker 1: it's definitely not built for the for the so the

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Speaker 1: weak hearted. UM. A lot of ups and downs and

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Speaker 1: a lot of nose UM, A lot of twist and turns. UM.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean I try to keep it very

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Speaker 1: vague so I don't have to, you know, the bost

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Speaker 1: too much details. But you know it was it was

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Speaker 1: a very very tough process. And so Aaron, how do

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Speaker 1: you put together the money for for something like this?

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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously you are very successful as a player,

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Speaker 1: but you know, these are franchises that are now kind

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Speaker 1: of unbelievably going for you know, a billion, a billion,

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Speaker 1: five two billion dollars, Like, you know, access to that

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Speaker 1: sort of capital is not something that that most people have.

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Speaker 1: This is an area that I know you've been developing

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Speaker 1: over the course of your post playing career. How do

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Speaker 1: you break into the world of essentially even bigger money. Well,

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Speaker 1: the first thing you have to have is something desirable,

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Speaker 1: right you know. Uh, you can't even begin to have

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Speaker 1: these conversations um from a from a new relationship unless

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Speaker 1: you've got a particular desired asset. And uh, as we

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Speaker 1: all know, the NBA is a is as a platform

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Speaker 1: that we all love and a game that we all love,

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Speaker 1: and it's continuing to grow, and so is the business. Um.

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Speaker 1: So my resume as a former player with the ambitions

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Speaker 1: to try to take advantage of a situation um in

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Speaker 1: which a team could be available, Uh, did give me

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Speaker 1: a distinct advantage and made things easier for me to

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Speaker 1: build these relationships. Um. But you have to get to

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Speaker 1: get committed capital partners at six hundred million and three

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Speaker 1: hundred million, and you know, four million. I mean, these

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Speaker 1: these are astronomical numbers, and you're dealing with very seasoned

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Speaker 1: business people where they have to trust you, they have

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Speaker 1: to know that you know what you're doing, um, and

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Speaker 1: then they have to be as passionate about the game

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Speaker 1: as you are. So I was very fortunate to get

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Speaker 1: all of those things combined at this at this point

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Speaker 1: in time, and those same folks, for the most part,

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Speaker 1: are still committed to a to an NBA platform with

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Speaker 1: me at some point. So, uh, it's only going to

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Speaker 1: get better for me from here. I'm gonna leads into

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Speaker 1: the next question I was going to ask. Because you

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Speaker 1: played in the game, is it easier to deal with

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Speaker 1: the general manager of the team and the players of

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Speaker 1: the team win. As an owner, you are also you

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Speaker 1: were out there on the court. Is it easier. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's a that's a great question. And that was one

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Speaker 1: of the distinct advantages I said I had in terms of,

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Speaker 1: um getting capital committees for something like this and which

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Speaker 1: I was kind of leading the show. Is that experience

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Speaker 1: that you talk about As a player, I kind of

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Speaker 1: played a whole multitude of roles from my days in

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Speaker 1: Detroit as a defensive guy, uh, some more of a

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Speaker 1: three and D guy in Denver, and then I had

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Speaker 1: some leading score uh, some prominent roles in Orlando. So

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Speaker 1: I really experienced what each of these players are going

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Speaker 1: through on the court, but some of their desires are

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Speaker 1: uh financially and accolade wise. And then also what they're

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Speaker 1: going through off the court, um, in terms of you know,

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Speaker 1: how they're dealing with family or money or or or

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Speaker 1: problems that arise that most people don't know about. And um,

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Speaker 1: So from an ownership perspective, knowing your business and knowing

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Speaker 1: the guys that you're trying to motivate, uh is a

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Speaker 1: very distinct advantage I have from life experience. So I'm

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Speaker 1: looking forward to adding that value to a franchise one day, Aaron,

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Speaker 1: when when you're cultivating relationships with investors for an NBA team,

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Speaker 1: what what do you sell yourself as? Uh? What is

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Speaker 1: your value to a group like that? How do you

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Speaker 1: how do you pitch yourself? Yeah? I mean I think

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Speaker 1: it's the entry point, you know, it's it's it's the

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Speaker 1: calming entry point that they're They're getting into business with

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Speaker 1: a guy that, like like I just explained, has lived

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Speaker 1: the life, that knows the business, that has the relationships

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Speaker 1: that he can lean on. Uh in areas that I'm

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Speaker 1: not familiar with. Um, just because I played the game

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean I know everything about the business and the

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Speaker 1: camp structure and the organization. But I feel some really

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Speaker 1: really healthy relationships over twenty five years, and I felt

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Speaker 1: I could put something really good together. So for the

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Speaker 1: folks that are in this type of money, UM, they

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Speaker 1: gotta trust you, they gotta believe in you. They have

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Speaker 1: to share your vision, but they have to know that

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Speaker 1: there's other good people behind you and unfortunate to have

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Speaker 1: that as well. Aaron, I want to talk about something

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Speaker 1: that you know, maybe a little bit sensitive, that I

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Speaker 1: think is important to to put out on the table,

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Speaker 1: which is you know, we have seen a lot of

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Speaker 1: conversation over this last year about roles and responsibilities and power,

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Speaker 1: both executive and ownership. There is still a dearth of

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Speaker 1: people of color who own teams, even in the very

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Speaker 1: progressive NBA, how relatively progressive I guess I should say,

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Speaker 1: versus other professional leagues. How do you see that? How

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Speaker 1: does that start to change? How much of that is

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Speaker 1: part of the conversation that ultimately it's going to be

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Speaker 1: important for not just former players, but black men and

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Speaker 1: women to to have ownership positions and not just executive

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Speaker 1: Is this yeah, I mean it's the social climate is

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Speaker 1: obviously uh speaking to that at this moment around the world. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think it's very vital. I mean from

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Speaker 1: an economic perspective. Uh, if you don't see inclusion, um,

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Speaker 1: you know that that could lead to two revenue issues

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Speaker 1: because you can get you protests and you don't get

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Speaker 1: enough of the type of support from sponsorships that you know,

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Speaker 1: when people start feeling inequality, Um, you know, it could

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Speaker 1: have for your ability to conduct business. So I think

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Speaker 1: it's really an advantage to be inclusive of all people.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we have a vast world Um, we have

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Speaker 1: a vast interest in the game. I know the NBA

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Speaker 1: is constantly trying to grow globally, so you want to

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Speaker 1: be inclusive of all people. But it's in particular I

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Speaker 1: would say African Americans just because of the uh amount

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Speaker 1: of sweat equity that we've put into building the game. Um,

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Speaker 1: it's the current. You know, from my understanding, we've got

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Speaker 1: the highest ratio players in the league. UM, so you

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Speaker 1: want you want your ownership to be reflective of that.

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Speaker 1: And UM, you know, from from our economic standing, it's

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Speaker 1: been hard. Other than Michael Jordan's, you know, it's been

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Speaker 1: hard to get a person of this high net worth

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Speaker 1: or the ability to uh put a group together. Uh.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I've been I've been looking forward to taking

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Speaker 1: that challenge on and hopefully breaking some barriers. UM at

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Speaker 1: this time, which I feel is is just good. I

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Speaker 1: know You've been asked this many times. But in our

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Speaker 1: COVID world and when you were starting to think about

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Speaker 1: trying to buy and be a part of this team

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Speaker 1: as a co owner, Uh, did you ever stop to think,

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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness and COVID hit, what in the world

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Speaker 1: am I doing? Can I pull this off? Um? You

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Speaker 1: know Honestly, it was a little bit of the reverse

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Speaker 1: because of the COVID world. Um, there was a lot

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Speaker 1: of teams that were a little bit of financial stress,

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Speaker 1: just like everybody else in the world. And some of

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Speaker 1: that capital capital has circulated to some wealthy individuals and

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Speaker 1: some some big businesses. So I believe it or not,

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Speaker 1: the COVID world actually opened up more opportunity. UM. So

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Speaker 1: you know, it kind of kind of was a you know,

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Speaker 1: a bad thing for for people, of course, but uh,

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Speaker 1: it did kind of reach at the table a little

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Speaker 1: bit in terms of having a chance in India ownership

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Speaker 1: because of some of the financial needs of these owners.

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Speaker 1: In addition to your goal of being an NBA owner,

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Speaker 1: what other businesses, what other sectors really attract you as

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Speaker 1: an investor? Um. You know, it peamed off a little

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Speaker 1: bit of the NBA ownership platform, but um, you know,

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Speaker 1: real estate and tech and gaming. Um. Right before I

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Speaker 1: saw the the NBA opportunity available to me, I was

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Speaker 1: actually working in the hospitality business, UM, trying to develop

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Speaker 1: a brand of hotels in which celebrated sports and African

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Speaker 1: American culture. Um. You know, I live in Vegas for

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Speaker 1: a portion of the year. I look up and down

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Speaker 1: the strips and we've got you know, Asian theme stuff

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Speaker 1: and European themed and uh for a highly touristic place. Um,

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Speaker 1: you never really had this concentrated place of sports and

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Speaker 1: that celebrated African American culture. So I had garnered a

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Speaker 1: lot of interest from from people who who shared that

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Speaker 1: vision and then, um, you know, if I was able

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Speaker 1: to successfully get to an NBA platform only would enhance

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Speaker 1: that vision. So my main thing was being in the

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Speaker 1: hospitality space looking for real estatement which I could bring

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Speaker 1: some capital there and share this vision and in a

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Speaker 1: lot of high touristic places. You know. It's it's interesting Aaron,

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Speaker 1: as I've come to learn a little bit more about you.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're sort of entrepreneurial, zest and ambition you

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Speaker 1: know actually preceded your time um in the NBA. I

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Speaker 1: mean you had a certain hustle about you, like back

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Speaker 1: to when you were in high school. I mean this

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Speaker 1: is to some extent has been documented, you know, not

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Speaker 1: just journalistically, but le really as well. Um, many people listening,

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Speaker 1: you know may not know you have a longtime friendship

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Speaker 1: with Kendrick lamar Um who name checked you in a song.

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Speaker 1: But you know part of I think what he was

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Speaker 1: calling you out for and keep me honest, here was

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Speaker 1: your ambition, you know, not just on the court, but

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Speaker 1: off tell us about sort of growing up in Compton

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Speaker 1: and sort of how that shaped you as as a

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Speaker 1: business person and not just a player. Yeah it's a

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Speaker 1: lot different than behind an NBA team. But yeah, I

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Speaker 1: start selling selling donuts, right and uh, selling CDs. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're the entrepreneur of myset was there and I would

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Speaker 1: get up six in the morning and I had to

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Speaker 1: earn the trust of the kids the day before again

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Speaker 1: to give me a dollar so I can sell him

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Speaker 1: a sixty cents donut. And uh, you know, I just

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Speaker 1: love the map of it, and I love the hustle

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Speaker 1: um I and I love dealing with my peers, and

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Speaker 1: I think that's reflective of how, you know, I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to operate obviously in a much bigger space. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: I've been like, this is all the little kid, you

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Speaker 1: know from Compton. I mean, you got to figure it out,

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Speaker 1: you know. I don't want to give the uh, the

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Speaker 1: horror story about the city because it's just pretty you know,

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Speaker 1: globally known that it's a tough place to grow up. Um,

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Speaker 1: but yeah, I'm I'm proud of that. I navigated it. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, I did well in basketball, I did well

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Speaker 1: and business, and um, it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy.

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Speaker 1: And I'm always thankful to Kindred for recognizing that even

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Speaker 1: though we weren't like best of friends. I'm a couple

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Speaker 1: of years older than him, but we did go to school,

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Speaker 1: and just to know that there was somebody like that watching, uh,

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Speaker 1: you just never know. You never know who's watching your success,

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Speaker 1: even at the high school level, and how it can

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Speaker 1: inspire them. And obviously he's gone on to be an

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Speaker 1: amazing person. He's done okay for himself and his own right,

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Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, right pretty good. Yeah, you've

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Speaker 1: definitely got some kids watching him now, and you know,

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Speaker 1: if you can inspire one, he's probably inspiring a million.

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Speaker 1: So uh, you know, I'm still proud of that. Jason

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Speaker 1: had mentioned preceding your India career, and I remember vividly

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Speaker 1: when you're playing in the n C Double A Tournament

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Speaker 1: and this happened. In the two thousand six n C

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Speaker 1: Double A Tournament. You advanced the national title game with

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Speaker 1: U C l A, and what happened was you were

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Speaker 1: playing Gonzaga and you won, and right after you won,

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Speaker 1: you saw the Gonzaga Adam Morrison. He was on the

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Speaker 1: floor of tiers and as great sportsmanship, you went over

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Speaker 1: to him and you know, you tried to console him.

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Speaker 1: And I remember that vividly, and I always thought, if

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Speaker 1: you can expand more on that, what that tells kids

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Speaker 1: about sportsmanship in sports in general. Yeah, And it was

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Speaker 1: a it was an instinctual thing. Um. You know, Adam

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Speaker 1: that year was a highly talented player, um, and he

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Speaker 1: was the best in the game for that for that season,

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Speaker 1: and we had this miraculous comeback in uh, in the

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Speaker 1: midst of celebration. Yeah, I've seen the guys, you know,

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Speaker 1: distraught on the floor and yeah, I mean you you

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Speaker 1: always want to see people happy, you know. All I

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Speaker 1: could think at that time was that man, he's he's

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Speaker 1: a competitor. He brought the best out of our team,

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Speaker 1: he brought the best out of me. And at that point,

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Speaker 1: you know, I thought he was on his way to

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Speaker 1: a prominent NBA career, so um, you know, it just

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Speaker 1: it was just instinctial for me to stop and help. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, in the midst of celebration, and that and

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Speaker 1: that that is sportsmanship. That's that's my character. That's how

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Speaker 1: I was raised to be. To be a fighter, but

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Speaker 1: to always be carrying to others. And um, you know

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Speaker 1: it just came out at that moment, Aaron. There's one

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Speaker 1: word to use three times and giving answers to our questions,

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Speaker 1: and that word is trust. So when you're developing financial

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Speaker 1: relationships with potential investors, how do you build that trust

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Speaker 1: with them? Yeah? It's hard. Um, yeah, it's really hard

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Speaker 1: to build trust. Um. You know, M the business world

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Speaker 1: isn't isn't always sunshine and rainbows, right. You can go

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Speaker 1: through some tough circumstances, some some untrustworthy people, um, and

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Speaker 1: you just got to navigate it. You have to learn

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Speaker 1: to experience unfortunately. Uh you know, I wish I could

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Speaker 1: say that. Um there's something to say or something to do,

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Speaker 1: but in all honesty, you just have to be a

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Speaker 1: genuine person, uh pregent a genuine business that you have

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Speaker 1: good intent with and hope that you share that with

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Speaker 1: the right people. Um. It's really hard to navigate the

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Speaker 1: money world without running into some malicious people sometimes. But um,

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Speaker 1: you know, just be trustworthy yourself, develop a good product,

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Speaker 1: share a good product for somebody to invest in and hopefully, um,

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Speaker 1: you guys kick it off. That kind of would be

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Speaker 1: my advice. So Aaron, I want to dig a little

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Speaker 1: bit more if we can into you know why you

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Speaker 1: want to own a team candidly. I mean it obviously

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Speaker 1: is a is a good investment, and um, by all accounts,

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Speaker 1: I mean we've seen the trades just go up and

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Speaker 1: up and up, especially across the NBA and across all

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Speaker 1: of pro sports. And yet I want to push you

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Speaker 1: on that a little bit to understand what it is

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Speaker 1: about owning a franchise that appeals to you, you know,

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Speaker 1: from a business perspective, from a social perspective, from from

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Speaker 1: a leadership perspective, like, you know what, what's the case

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Speaker 1: that you would make that that this is a good

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Speaker 1: business for you? Yeah, I mean it all starts with

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Speaker 1: what you're passionate about. Um, you know, ownership is the

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Speaker 1: the top level of the game in terms of business,

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Speaker 1: but it's also what I gave my whole life to

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Speaker 1: and I'm very passionate about been playing basketball since I

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Speaker 1: was two years old. So you know, from a personal standpoint,

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Speaker 1: if you've ever gone to aspire to do something we

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Speaker 1: probably you know, want to do it with something that

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Speaker 1: you love and can give your life to. Um. But

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Speaker 1: I just saw myself adding a lot of value, not

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Speaker 1: to any particular team or my own investment group, but

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Speaker 1: to league. Um, you know, hitting some of their initiatives

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Speaker 1: and trying to diversify ownership. UM, you know, building these

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Speaker 1: global relationships. You know, loving the game so much that

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Speaker 1: you want to help the entire league expand itself. UM.

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Speaker 1: I mean being introduced into the gaming world and the

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Speaker 1: tech world, in the e gaming world and being somebody

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Speaker 1: who's only thirty five years old having that relatability and

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Speaker 1: to be a liaison between the players and the ownership

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Speaker 1: and at a young age. UM, I just saw myself

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Speaker 1: being able to take advantage of the social times, my age,

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Speaker 1: my passion, and uh you know, being of value. UM.

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Speaker 1: So you know it was pretty simple for me. Um.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's almost one of those questions like why

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Speaker 1: not you know, um, But but yeah, I'm I'm inspired.

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Speaker 1: I'm inspired, and going through the timber Wolves process has

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Speaker 1: only made me more hungry for the next opportunity. And

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Speaker 1: how I expressed myself and my togetherness with my big

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Speaker 1: this package and all that I feel like I can

401
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Speaker 1: playing to the league. You alluded to something that you

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Speaker 1: and I talked about a little bit and and I'm

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Speaker 1: hoping you can expand on it, which is and again

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Speaker 1: I say this with a huge amount of respect for

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Speaker 1: someone who you know, played at the highest level of

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Speaker 1: this game, but you don't have And I think this

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Speaker 1: is part of your thesis too, if you will indulge me,

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Speaker 1: that you don't have the name recognition of Jordan's or

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Speaker 1: Lebron or Magic. And it feels like that's part of

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Speaker 1: what is motivating you here too, is that there are

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Speaker 1: you know, hundreds, if not thousands of former players you

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Speaker 1: know who who might you know, look to this sort

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Speaker 1: of example in their own you know, current or or

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Speaker 1: post playing days. Yeah, I mean that's you know, that's

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Speaker 1: a very healthy point that um, I'm also very proud

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Speaker 1: of that I feel could be inspiration not just per

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Speaker 1: former athletes in their own field, but it's a business

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Speaker 1: in general that you don't necessarily have to be the

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Speaker 1: anointed one or the one that has the easiest path

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Speaker 1: that you know, it is still accomplishable. Um. You know,

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Speaker 1: if you work hard and you take your working like

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Speaker 1: mentality and you build relationships over time and you add value.

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Speaker 1: So now that's a that's a great point. And that's

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Speaker 1: also something I'm very proud of. Um. You know that

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Speaker 1: I wasn't a superstar or a perennial All star, but

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Speaker 1: I had the respect. I had the respect amongst people

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Speaker 1: in business and at the executive level and hopefully the

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Speaker 1: ownership level, uh to the point where they still see

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00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,960
Speaker 1: value in what I bring. UM. So that that's that's

430
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,440
Speaker 1: very exciting for me and further motivating. You hit the

431
00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,640
Speaker 1: magic phrase that I heard, E sports. Are you surprised

432
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 1: how E sports has exploded in this world? Even even

433
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,200
Speaker 1: my sixteen year old son, he was on the varsity

434
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,080
Speaker 1: sports team. I've said this story many times, and I mean,

435
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,400
Speaker 1: he is into it and it's and I find myself

436
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,479
Speaker 1: rooting on the couch watching him that excitement. I never

437
00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 1: thought that would happen. But I'm seeing the sports explode. Yeah.

438
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:03,800
Speaker 1: You know, we all know the Michael Jordan's story about

439
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:05,960
Speaker 1: how he was hurt he got cut from the varsity team.

440
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,359
Speaker 1: Right now, these kids are getting cut from their electy electrinic.

441
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 1: So I you know, my competitive spears a little different.

442
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:18,320
Speaker 1: I never was a gamer, but man, boys, in big business.

443
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:20,920
Speaker 1: And uh, there's a lot of kids you know that

444
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 1: can sit on their couch and be competitive than it

445
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,040
Speaker 1: is to make the NBA right go out there and

446
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:27,920
Speaker 1: put in you know, sweat equity, so to speak. So,

447
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,439
Speaker 1: but it's there's no disrespect towards the gamers. I mean,

448
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,760
Speaker 1: it's it's a passion. It's huge business. Um it's relatable

449
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: to to far more many people and kids as they

450
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,320
Speaker 1: get introduced to the game of basketball. This is their

451
00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 1: way to feel competitive and being involved, um or anything

452
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,760
Speaker 1: other than you know, just being a fan. Uh. So

453
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:52,159
Speaker 1: I definitely learned a lot about that sector um of

454
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,680
Speaker 1: of the NBA brand as it tries to expand globally

455
00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:59,399
Speaker 1: because these kids are now playing against each other, you know,

456
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 1: oversea eat um. So it's bringing a lot of connectivity

457
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 1: and a lot of love and a lot of passion

458
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, it's definitely something that you can

459
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 1: capitalize off of. Aaron, the sale of NBA franchises. That

460
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,520
Speaker 1: doesn't happen every other week or every other month. It

461
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 1: could be quite a while before another one becomes available.

462
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,440
Speaker 1: In the meantime, what's that what's next for you? Well,

463
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,560
Speaker 1: one is staying ready. One is just staying ready hopefully, Uh,

464
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,640
Speaker 1: you know, there's some awareness out there that I'm introduced

465
00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 1: to this and maybe it's not a public situation, but

466
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:29,760
Speaker 1: I'm definitely staying ready to see if I coul add

467
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,040
Speaker 1: value to another team or or see if there's another

468
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:36,040
Speaker 1: ownership opportunity. But I'll go back to what I was

469
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 1: doing when I first started. Um, you know, I was.

470
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 1: I was into this hospitality situation, and I still have

471
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:47,080
Speaker 1: all those relationships, uh in hospitality and gaming, and I've

472
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 1: got some other some other fresh ideas I want to

473
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 1: keep to myself. Um, but uh, you know, just trying

474
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,440
Speaker 1: to be an entrepreneur at the highest level and stay

475
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 1: passionate about what I do, but also staying ready, staying

476
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,119
Speaker 1: ready for the next opportunity. All right, Aaron, before we

477
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,399
Speaker 1: let you go, we're talking to you, you know, just

478
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 1: as to play in is starting the postseason for the NBA?

479
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,359
Speaker 1: Who do you like here? Like? What? What? What? How

480
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,760
Speaker 1: are you? How are the playoffs gonna play out? Given

481
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:18,320
Speaker 1: we've got this new format. Uh, it's a somewhat normal year,

482
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,280
Speaker 1: certainly more normal than you know playing in a bubble

483
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,680
Speaker 1: in Orlando. What do you see? What do you see?

484
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 1: Playing out here. Boy. Um, obviously I know the Lakers

485
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,280
Speaker 1: and the Warriors is probably the most exciting one. Um.

486
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,480
Speaker 1: I still see both of those teams getting into the

487
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,120
Speaker 1: playoffs right at the lower seeds. Um, but it will

488
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: be fun to Washington match up to to to buy

489
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:43,440
Speaker 1: for seeding. Um. I'm excited about this year's playoffs. I mean,

490
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:48,359
Speaker 1: this element of the play in has really added something,

491
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,399
Speaker 1: a lot of value, a lot of excitement. So um,

492
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 1: I'm not really a fan of any one team in particular,

493
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,720
Speaker 1: you know, the fan of the Timberwolves for about ten months,

494
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,840
Speaker 1: but uh, you know, I guess you know, business aren't there,

495
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 1: so trying to figure out who I can identify with

496
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 1: the most at this point. But I'm just excited to

497
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,400
Speaker 1: watch the overall platform. And this is gonna be another

498
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 1: tough championship for somebody, So I want to see who's

499
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,359
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see who prevails. Yeah, it would be

500
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,120
Speaker 1: interesting to see. I mean that I'm sort of going

501
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:19,240
Speaker 1: off an attention here, but I mean interesting to see,

502
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,960
Speaker 1: and and other guys can weigh in here too, But

503
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,840
Speaker 1: you know, I feel like this is the in many

504
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,880
Speaker 1: ways belatedly the manifestation of that crazy summer we saw

505
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:33,199
Speaker 1: two years ago with all the movement, you know, I mean,

506
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,119
Speaker 1: now you have the Net, the East is much is

507
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,879
Speaker 1: much different than it was when you think about the

508
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,440
Speaker 1: Sixers in the process and the Nets obviously and everything

509
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,080
Speaker 1: um that they've done. You know, the Bucks felt like

510
00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,040
Speaker 1: a foregone conclusion there um for a couple of years.

511
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,680
Speaker 1: But but now you know what's coming out of the East.

512
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: You know, I'm from Atlanta, you know, seeing what the

513
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,879
Speaker 1: Hawks have been able to put together, like, it's it's

514
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,200
Speaker 1: gonna be a very different vibe for lots of different reasons.

515
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 1: It feels like, Yeah, i mean the competitiveness is by

516
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,680
Speaker 1: far seems like it's had a it's been equalized a

517
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah, that's creating more and more exciting. I mean,

518
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,080
Speaker 1: you know, I'm actually looking forward to it. You know,

519
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 1: there doesn't seem to be anybody that's clear cut that

520
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:17,320
Speaker 1: that's just the runaway, even though the Nets and the

521
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: Lakers and certain people have talent, you know, with the

522
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,160
Speaker 1: injuries and everything going on, I mean, this is gonna

523
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,760
Speaker 1: be one exciting playoffs. So I'll be sitting back watching

524
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 1: and uh, trying to enjoy. Yeah, trying to enjoy, but

525
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,719
Speaker 1: also you know, like maybe taking some notes about if

526
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:34,840
Speaker 1: this team came up, you know, maybe this is what

527
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,359
Speaker 1: I would do there. I love the idea of you,

528
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,760
Speaker 1: you know, kind of long term scheming to to own

529
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,480
Speaker 1: a team someday. We really appreciate you spending some time

530
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 1: with this great to sort of get inside your head

531
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: candidly a little bit understand this process. Understand Uh, you

532
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 1: know what a guy like you is thinking about, you know,

533
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 1: a young guy clearly with a lot of ambition, as

534
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 1: you say, a little bit of audacity, maybe a little

535
00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,360
Speaker 1: bit more than a little audacity to do this. So

536
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 1: it's really great and we're looking forward to keeping in

537
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,120
Speaker 1: touch with you. Thank you, no, thank you, guys. I

538
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 1: appreciate you having me all right. Is an eleven year

539
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 1: NBA veteran and an aspiring NBA owner clearly part of

540
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,200
Speaker 1: the process there. Uh, that looks like it will result

541
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:22,320
Speaker 1: in Alexandriguez and Mark Laurie owning the Minnesota Timberwolves. But

542
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 1: we're seeing some trades come on when it comes to

543
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,840
Speaker 1: NBA teams and other proteins. So looking forward to see

544
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:33,600
Speaker 1: what happens next. Aaron A Flower, that's right, I did it.

545
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,720
Speaker 1: I wanted to be at the Old Palace. This is

546
00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:41,360
Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast. Michael bar You can

547
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at Big Bar Sports and now

548
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,440
Speaker 1: Mike Lynch you can follow me at Lynch e w

549
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:50,560
Speaker 1: cbb Celtic, and I'm Jason Kelly at Jason Kelly News

550
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 1: or here each and every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with

551
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 1: you exploring the World Cup Money in Sports. Come's wrong

552
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,040
Speaker 1: with my headset? You're listening to Bloomberg Business with Sports

553
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Ready up around the world, at All Online,

554
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast.