Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news Now.
Speaker 2: The intersection of hip hop and basketball a pivotal part
Speaker 2: of the sports past forty years. You fast forward to
Speaker 2: the present and a growing number of NBA players are
Speaker 2: adding wine to the mix. Romaine and I sat down
Speaker 2: with NBA also Donovan Mitchell and Wakala and Ekundaio, the
Speaker 2: vice president and general manager of the Prisoner Wine Company,
Speaker 2: and we discussed how the industry is branching out to
Speaker 2: include more diverse voices.
Speaker 3: And we've always been known to have really disruptive design
Speaker 3: forward labels and to be frankly, just a very provocative brand.
Speaker 3: In recent years, we've made a transition to just being
Speaker 3: provocative but with a purpose. And one of the core
Speaker 3: ways in which we live out that value is through
Speaker 3: our commitment to social justice and specifically prison reform, in
Speaker 3: which our main focus is around changing the narrative around
Speaker 3: mass incarceration and shedding a more humane late light to
Speaker 3: those that have been impacted by the justice system.
Speaker 1: So, how much of the money Bucky that you make
Speaker 1: goes to that initiative, Like what percentage of the sales
Speaker 1: goes towards set?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we make donations about five percent of revenue that
Speaker 3: from sales that are made online directly off our website
Speaker 3: goes to a variety of different organizations that are committed
Speaker 3: to the cause of social justice as it relates to
Speaker 3: prison reform. We also make a number of donations to
Speaker 3: a variety of organizations throughout the year.
Speaker 4: For me, seeing Bucky, really getting to meet Bucking, seeing
Speaker 4: how she's in the position of power and leadership, and
Speaker 4: I think that's really been my main focus, whether it's
Speaker 4: in the wine industry and the NBA in my life,
Speaker 4: like you know, just finding ways to have people of color,
Speaker 4: black people in positions of power in that room, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean.
Speaker 5: I think that's something that's always been important to me.
Speaker 4: I've always wanted to introduce myself to the wine space
Speaker 4: kind of I feel like my teammates have, you know,
Speaker 4: kind of told me about wine for years, and now
Speaker 4: that I'm kind of in that space, I was like, man,
Speaker 4: if I really partner with the wine company, I want
Speaker 4: to be able to go somewhere where I see people
Speaker 4: who you know, look like me.
Speaker 2: The NBI Star Wine Apprenticeship that you participated in, it's
Speaker 2: a one day crash course in branding, blending, and pir
Speaker 2: pairing wine with food. Clearly NBA stars like yourself know
Speaker 2: a thing or two about branding and can bring your
Speaker 2: expertise to that experience. How did the apprenticeship widen your
Speaker 2: understanding your appreciation of branding.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 4: First and foremost, I didn't understand how much work really
Speaker 4: went into you know, branding the wine, making the wine.
Speaker 4: You know, I'm thinking, man, this is a six month thing.
Speaker 4: You know, you're two years out, you know, And I
Speaker 4: made my own little blend you know that won't be
Speaker 4: for sale unfortunately, but I make sure I get you
Speaker 4: guys a bottle, and it was really good.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I think there were certain things I learned about, you know,
Speaker 4: whether it's red, it's white, the grapes, different things, the
Speaker 4: process being able to you know, take your time with
Speaker 4: what you're making and really put the time into it.
Speaker 5: So I really taught me a lot about it. And
Speaker 5: then also Mike you.
Speaker 4: Said, bringing you know, the branding myself, using my own
Speaker 4: brand to kind of bring light to the wine industry, bringing.
Speaker 5: My you know, fellow co workers in the NBA.
Speaker 4: Bringing them along, using our platforms to kind of really
Speaker 4: you know, expand viewership and people who really get to
Speaker 4: know more about the wine industry.
Speaker 2: And Buck y'all put the same question to you, how
Speaker 2: do these NBA stars is experience with branding inform how
Speaker 2: prisoner positions is products?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the NBA as an organization led by Frankly,
Speaker 3: just the thought leadership of many stars in the organization,
Speaker 3: like don have really pushed forward to the need for representation,
Speaker 3: the need for equity, and just being a values based organization.
Speaker 3: And I think they're a really great, Frankly aspirational organization
Speaker 3: of what it means to be both corporate minded but
Speaker 3: also social minded.
Speaker 1: And we talk about the NBA, I mean, I mean,
Speaker 1: how cool is this? Is this stuff in the locker room.
Speaker 1: And we had to interview sometime in twenty twenty four
Speaker 1: with Carmelo Anthony who kind of talked about when he
Speaker 1: first came into the league and he was a big
Speaker 1: wine drinker, and he said, you know, he was kind
Speaker 1: of looked down upon by a lot of his teammates
Speaker 1: and then eventually they all kind of, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: found religion and realized that you know, there was you know,
Speaker 1: more to life than you know, you know, hard alcohol
Speaker 1: or whatever they were drinking at the time. I mean,
Speaker 1: is it popular in the line. I mean, can you
Speaker 1: walk into the locker room with a bottle and people
Speaker 1: are actually gonna be like, Hey, what's that? You know,
Speaker 1: where's that? Where'd you get that? Where the grapes come from?
Speaker 3: You?
Speaker 5: How is this made?
Speaker 1: Are they that interested in it?
Speaker 5: One percent?
Speaker 4: I think for myself, we had a team dinner with
Speaker 4: prisoner I want to say around September and it was
Speaker 4: just prisoner wine, you know, red whites and are guys
Speaker 4: are interested. Guys are really especially in the NBA, My
Speaker 4: teammates especially guys are really interested intrigued on you know,
Speaker 4: the wine space.
Speaker 5: You know, I don't think we have a team dinner
Speaker 5: without you know, bottles of wine.
Speaker 4: And that's coaches, that's players, that staff, that's that's whoever.
Speaker 4: I think it's really had, you know, a hold has
Speaker 4: a hold on you know, you know, the NBA. And
Speaker 4: I think that's something that you know, when I first
Speaker 4: got into the league, it wasn't necessarily always the case,
Speaker 4: and I think now you're starting to see that really,
Speaker 4: you know, really grow and develop the NBA players develop
Speaker 4: a relationship with wine. Why companies all right?
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell from the Cleveland Cavlo Lawyers and Bikalaendeo over
Speaker 1: at the Prisoner Wine Company, A great interview