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Speaker 1: Hey, welcome in.

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Speaker 2: I'm Doug Gottlieb and you're listening to All the Ball

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Speaker 2: and we're actually in Las Vegas, and this podcast was

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Speaker 2: recorded live at NBA Con. And you know, it's amazing

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Speaker 2: how my job works. And there are times in which

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Speaker 2: you get into the daily radio show, the Doug Gottlieb Show,

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Speaker 2: which is broadcast live every day from five eastern two Pacific,

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Speaker 2: two hour show that we do an hour podcast that's

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Speaker 2: called in the Bonus All. It's doing well, but you know,

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Speaker 2: you get in the summer and you're kinda you know,

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Speaker 2: you're kind of shuffling all wrong. How can I talk

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Speaker 2: about sports? Make it interesting? And then you come to

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Speaker 2: NBA Con and I was excited. We have we'll drop

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Speaker 2: a pod in a day or two with Josh Childress.

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Speaker 2: We have other great pods coming for you from Vegas.

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Speaker 2: I think you'll really enjoy. But Joey Graziano sat down

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Speaker 2: next to me. He is the SVP of Global Marketing

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Speaker 2: for the NBA, and I wanted to get into his

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Speaker 2: personal story in an effort to you know, he's a

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Speaker 2: college baseball player and one of the things I love

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Speaker 2: about college basketball, college baseball, college football, and it's not

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Speaker 2: that I pushed back on Yeah, I pushed back on anil,

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Speaker 2: But it's like, the real value is in the people

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Speaker 2: you meet, the things you have to do, and how

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Speaker 2: you get to have a great job in real life,

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Speaker 2: using not just the connections you make in your sport,

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Speaker 2: but also a lot of the little fundamentals of what

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Speaker 2: it takes to make it in sports, it takes to

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Speaker 2: make it in life. What you're about to hear is

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Speaker 2: not planned a completely organic conversation. Oh yeah, by the way,

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Speaker 2: the NBA's new NBA Cup is also his baby. It'll

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Speaker 2: also be in Las Vegas. We talked about it as well.

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Speaker 2: We kind of had to get it back to basketball

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Speaker 2: at some point. But I would love to tell you

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Speaker 2: that I had this planned out, that I knew his

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Speaker 2: person story, and that's what most of the pod would

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Speaker 2: be about. I cannot tell you how riveting this is,

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Speaker 2: how in many ways gut wrenching it is. And I'm

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Speaker 2: gonna promise I don't promise many things on this podcast.

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Speaker 2: I like to sometimes cut them up. You know, we

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Speaker 2: get the way it really works, Hey, it really works

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Speaker 2: is sometimes we get these and this is a really

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Speaker 2: long one. The way it really works is we cut

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Speaker 2: them up. We have an our hour and a half

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Speaker 2: long sashion. We cut them up, and if we get

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Speaker 2: three out of them, it's great. The numbers are great.

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Speaker 2: Numbers are great. You like it more, we make more money.

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Speaker 2: Everything is good. This is too good. And I would

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Speaker 2: just settle in and listen to this pod and maybe

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Speaker 2: grab a tissue. It's definitely going to make you think

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Speaker 2: some strong thoughts of your own. But I want to start,

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Speaker 2: like by thanking Joey because I mean, we just got

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Speaker 2: him to put down his cell phone because he's putting

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Speaker 2: out fires. This is a massive conference hall. We're in

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Speaker 2: at the Mendola Bay, which is going to be the

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Speaker 2: radio road site for the upcoming Super Bowl as well

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Speaker 2: as for the upcoming NBA Cup. It's it's gigantic. There's

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Speaker 2: a concert kind of going on. There's DJs, there's a

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Speaker 2: basketball court, there's drills, there's shoe shoe con is going

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Speaker 2: on as well down the hall. A lot of stuff

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Speaker 2: going on. And I think he thought we all thought

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Speaker 2: he's just going to promote the event and tell us

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Speaker 2: about the NBA Cup. We talked about that. But if

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Speaker 2: you want to hear personal stories and how your life

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Speaker 2: can change in a couple hours as a high school senior.

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Speaker 2: I think you'll I think you'll enjoy this pot without

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Speaker 2: further ado, here's our live pod from NBA Con. We're

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Speaker 2: live here at NBA Con. One who can say they

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Speaker 2: were at the first one. It's like the guy who's like,

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Speaker 2: I we sent to first. Remember that commercial with the

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Speaker 2: guys that have been to every super Bowl? They went

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Speaker 2: to the first super Bowl? Yeah, right, and the Super

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Speaker 2: Bowl started and they had like a marching band at

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Speaker 2: halftime right now performing at halftime. Hew Chris Stapleton's national

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Speaker 2: anthem is like the iconic national anthem of all time.

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Speaker 2: And that was this past super Bowl. By the way,

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Speaker 2: Vegas the site of I think this year's super Bowl, right,

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Speaker 2: that is so, And we're at the super Bowl, the

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Speaker 2: super Bowl of the NBA and the Super Bowl the NBA.

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Speaker 1: I think it's going to be here in December as well.

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Speaker 2: The guy to help us kind of break it down

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Speaker 2: for us is Joey Garciano, who is a senior vice

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Speaker 2: president of Global Events. Yeah, okay, and okay, so you're

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Speaker 2: a baseball player in college. Yep, you get done at Georgetown. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: what'd you do so I kept playing for a little while.

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Speaker 2: I moved to the Dominican Republic. Had a nonprofit there

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Speaker 2: called Baseball a Libros. The idea was to be able

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Speaker 2: to grow up in your city was playing ball.

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Speaker 3: My dad was in New York City fireman, so I spent

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Speaker 3: a bunch of time in Spanish Harlem, and the thought

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Speaker 3: was I wanted to be able to sort of reconnect

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Speaker 3: with that.

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Speaker 1: And we built a school there to be able.

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Speaker 3: To incentivize literacy mathematics. Convinced kids that you could be

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Speaker 3: able to play baseball at a high level without having

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Speaker 3: to forego the academic side.

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Speaker 1: From there, went to Georgetown Law School.

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Speaker 2: But hold on, wait, you opened some doors there was Yeah,

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Speaker 2: because Georgetown was two thousand and two to two thousand

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Speaker 2: and five. Dad was a New York City firefighter. Yes,

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Speaker 2: so that means two thousand and one. Yes, you're in

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Speaker 2: high school.

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Speaker 3: I was.

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Speaker 1: You said I could ask you anything, You could ask

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Speaker 1: me anything. Where were you at nine to eleven? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: I was.

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Speaker 3: I was a senior in high school. My father was

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Speaker 3: a fireman, an engine twenty two latter thirteen, Upper East

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Speaker 3: Side of Manhattan. My father is the last person to

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Speaker 3: leave any Twin Tower alive. My dad's entire firehouse passed away.

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Speaker 3: I lost incredible incredible men were in great, very close.

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Speaker 3: I spent my early years at Randalls Island in New York.

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Speaker 3: You know, we were playing softball every Thursdays and not

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Speaker 3: to not go to school. That was the one rule

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Speaker 3: in our house was you don't have to go to

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Speaker 3: school on Thursdays if you wanted to go watch dad

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Speaker 3: play softball.

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Speaker 1: So my heroes, you know, growing up, we're not.

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Speaker 3: We're not, you know, Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly, but

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Speaker 3: they were. They were these giants you can name them, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: they're I mean, incredible names. You know, Greg stay Jack

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Speaker 3: who was a pitcher at Saint John's who you know,

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Speaker 3: taught me how to play ball and then you know,

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Speaker 3: ended up being somebody I can remember watching one of

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Speaker 3: my high school games when I was a junior in

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Speaker 3: the state championship. Was there at that game? Last game

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Speaker 3: you ever saw me play? The following the following fall. Obviously,

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Speaker 3: things change. So names like that that, you know, mean

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Speaker 3: a lot to me. The guys of the guys of

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Speaker 3: Engine twenty two, latter thirteen and their families are you know,

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Speaker 3: a driving force in in my everyday reality.

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Speaker 1: It's incredible, you know.

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Speaker 2: I I I was, actually I was a professional basketball player.

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Speaker 1: I played a year in Russia.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I came back and I played with the

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Speaker 2: Lakers in the Summer league.

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Speaker 1: Summer league was at Olympic State back then.

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Speaker 2: And then I came back to Oklahoma and I trained

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Speaker 2: at Oklahoma State.

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Speaker 1: And what I would do is I would go and

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Speaker 1: do fill in radio.

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Speaker 2: And the guy who was the big afternoon drive host

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Speaker 2: theres a guy named Jim Traper, and he had been

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Speaker 2: he played for the Orioles and he was like a

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Speaker 2: local legend and he was the color guy for the Diamondbacks.

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Speaker 2: So the Diamonbacks won the World Series, right, They were

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Speaker 2: really good back then, and so it was they broke

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Speaker 2: Yankee fan's heart that year. They mean they Louise Gonzales.

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Speaker 3: Like, yeah, I mean my dad, my dad threw out

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Speaker 3: the first pitch of that ALCS. My dad's a baseball guy.

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Speaker 3: That was That was the That was the Jeter you know,

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Speaker 3: saved the series. One of the greatest plays of all time. Yes,

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Speaker 3: that was that series. My dad throughout the first pitch

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Speaker 3: at Yankee Stadium on I'm that serious.

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Speaker 2: Well, then that makes it that the greatest first pitch

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Speaker 2: in Yankee Stand because I was thinking I was gonna

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Speaker 2: ask about the George Bush first pitch Yankee Stad, which

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Speaker 2: is a very icon iconic as well. But I mean,

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Speaker 2: I I remember, I mean, look, I remember that day

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Speaker 2: and then later obviously working ESPN, the ones at CBS.

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Speaker 2: We lived in Westport, and so many of those families

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Speaker 2: were affected. Uh by nine to eleven. Uh man, I

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Speaker 2: can't imagine, and I can imagine why you went away

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Speaker 2: from home to go to to go to Georgetown, you know,

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Speaker 2: instead of playing for for Saint John's. So you're you're

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Speaker 2: doing a nonprofit, you're playing ball, You're in the Dominican

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Speaker 2: how'd you get to the league? Uh?

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Speaker 3: So I ended up leaving, I was. I went and

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Speaker 3: went went to law school. So I was at Georgetown

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Speaker 3: Law School for a number of years. Thought that's probably

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Speaker 3: where I would spend some time. I was fortunate enough

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Speaker 3: I want a fellowship and moved to Ireland.

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Speaker 1: For a little over a year.

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Speaker 3: In the middle of my law school, I boxed professionally. Actually,

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Speaker 3: the first time I got to play hoops again was

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Speaker 3: I played. I played for the Galway Collegiate basketball teams.

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Speaker 3: You can imagine, like I've got a bunch of.

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Speaker 2: A good friend of mine, Dave Revson, works for the

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Speaker 2: Big Ten network. He went and he studied abroad and

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Speaker 2: he played basketball in Ireland too, and that was where

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Speaker 2: he told me. And I don't know if this is true.

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Speaker 2: He said, you know they say in Ireland, and it's

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Speaker 2: that the closer you are to the gain where they

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Speaker 2: make the guinness, the better the beer is.

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Speaker 1: I think that's right? Is it true?

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Speaker 3: I think I mean I was drinking more of the whiskey,

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Speaker 3: but uh, you know, but but yeah, I think that.

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Speaker 1: I think that's a hundred pcent. So you got a fellow.

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Speaker 1: Should you go to Ireland? Yeah, go to Ireland.

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Speaker 3: I come back and then I'm now a practicing attorney

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Speaker 3: and I practiced at Jones today. I expected to probably

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Speaker 3: spend a big portion of my career there. It was

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Speaker 3: a great firm. I learned a bunch I had, I

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Speaker 3: had great law. So I was white collar criminal defense work. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: saving saving kids, and uh, and I thought, I you know,

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Speaker 3: I thought I would be there for a while. And

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Speaker 3: there was a family who was very instrumental to my

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Speaker 3: family during nine to eleven. They're the reason I got

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Speaker 3: to go to college, and that family they happened to

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Speaker 3: own a small business in d C. And guy asked

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Speaker 3: me to have coffee with him. He said he was

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Speaker 3: going through a bet the company litigation. There was a

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Speaker 3: fraud issue with the CEO, and he was like, I

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Speaker 3: need you to leave the law firm and come work

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Speaker 3: for me, and we're gonna have to rebuild this entire thing.

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Speaker 3: And so my dad's rule in our house growing up

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Speaker 3: was if your neighbor's house is on fire, you run

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Speaker 3: towards the fire. It's the only rule he ever gave us.

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Speaker 3: He didn't believe in anything else. Simple man, simple rules.

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Speaker 3: And so I left. I went to the managing partner's

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Speaker 3: office that afternoon and gave my two weeks notice, walked

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Speaker 3: out of a law firm in a big pang job

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Speaker 3: and ended up at a company that had twenty employees

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Speaker 3: and nowherel office with a beta company litigation that was

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Speaker 3: on the front page of the Washington Post on my

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Speaker 3: first day. It was a small business that was taking

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Speaker 3: care of kids, and so allegations of fraud in a

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Speaker 3: very popular small town become a very very big deal,

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Speaker 3: and we rebuilt that company. I became their chief operating officer,

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Speaker 3: went from twenty employees down to one, took it back

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Speaker 3: up to one thousand, wild successful creating immersive versions of Disney,

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Speaker 3: hyperlocalized versions of Disney World around sports to the Major

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Speaker 3: League Baseball IP the head First Companies, and then five

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Speaker 3: years later left and was thinking I was gonna I

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Speaker 3: was going back to New York and I was gonna

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Speaker 3: take some time. It had been a crazy run, and

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Speaker 3: I was gonna write this story about my dad's firehouse.

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Speaker 3: That's what I wanted to do. I was coming back

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Speaker 3: to do the interviews, to start taking the notes. I

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Speaker 3: wanted to write this story right. I didn't know what

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Speaker 3: I was going to do with the story, but I

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Speaker 3: wanted to write it. And while I was there, someone

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Speaker 3: asked me, would you go having an interview with my

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Speaker 3: boss at the NBA, Kelly Flato, And about ten minutes

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Speaker 3: into the interview, she said, can I bring hr in?

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Speaker 3: And next thing you know, I'm talking about a job

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Speaker 3: with the NBA. In a way I was never years.

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Speaker 3: This was five years ago.

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Speaker 1: That's amazing. Yeah. So and at the NBA, I've had

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Speaker 1: I mean.

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Speaker 2: I don't want to dwell on the nine to eleven

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Speaker 2: because I know it's so emotional.

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Speaker 1: Have you have you ever asked your dad about the day.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So I've gotten into one fight with my fot.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate this, by the way, I truly do. I've

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Speaker 2: gotten into one fight with my dad. It happened to

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Speaker 2: be on September ten. As you know, as a senior,

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Speaker 2: you were an athlete. I was an athlete. I was

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Speaker 2: at that point thought I was I was good. I

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Speaker 2: wasn't good at anything, but I thought I was good.

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Speaker 2: And my my father.

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Speaker 3: Said that the coach from Haverford was one of the

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Speaker 3: all Dave Beckeria, one of the all time great human

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Speaker 3: beings on earth, had been reaching out, reaching out, reaching

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Speaker 3: out and trying to recruit me. And I was like,

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Speaker 3: Haverford a vision based Yeah, and I didn't and I

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Speaker 3: and I wasn't being respectful in my responses back.

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Speaker 1: I was just letting him reach out and not respond.

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Speaker 3: And my father told me that you know in this house,

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Speaker 3: like if somebody offers you like you call him back

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Speaker 3: and you say no.

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Speaker 1: And you could say no, but you say no as

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Speaker 1: a man when you call him.

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Speaker 3: And I refused to and I told him that he

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Speaker 3: never went to college.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't know what the heck he's talking about.

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Speaker 3: And and that's how I slammed the door. I said

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Speaker 3: a bunch of other expletive words as I walked up

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Speaker 3: the door, and my father went to work before I

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Speaker 3: saw him again. So I I thought my father had

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Speaker 3: passed away until the next into the twelfth was when

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Speaker 3: we figured finally found out my dad was alive.

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Speaker 1: So, so.

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Speaker 2: Where are you on the eleventh year in high I'm

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Speaker 2: a senior in high school. Yeah, and then how did

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Speaker 2: how did you guys find out? Because I was I

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Speaker 2: was driving in a car from Stillwater, Oklahoma to Oklahoma

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Speaker 2: City and I heard it on the radio and I

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Speaker 2: thought it was like a spoof of War of the

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Speaker 2: World's Yeah, and I walked upstairs at the radio station

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Speaker 2: and that's when the towers run fire and I saw

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Speaker 2: them both come down.

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Speaker 1: Paint the picture for me for that day.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I was in I was in I

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Speaker 3: was in school. We were in a sign. I mean,

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Speaker 3: I can remember taking a biology test, took a test.

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Speaker 3: We like we get noticed that something had happened and

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Speaker 3: that if your parents were or in the World Trade Center,

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Speaker 3: you could come down to the library for the guidance counselor,

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Speaker 3: and my dad had been at the ninety six World

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Speaker 3: Trade Center bombing. I knew my dad was working that day,

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Speaker 3: but I didn't think anything of it. I just was like,

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Speaker 3: keep going to school, kept going to school. At lunch,

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Speaker 3: I saw the first video the news of the of

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Speaker 3: the towers and things like, and I was like, this

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Speaker 3: is not good good, But I again didn't recognize how

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Speaker 3: bad it was. My best friend, his mom worked in

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Speaker 3: one of the other smaller towers, and I was more

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Speaker 3: worried about her. So we went. He picked me up

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Speaker 3: like we went to school together. He drove me home.

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Speaker 3: We first went to check on to check on his father.

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Speaker 3: He went to his father, who's a Garden City High

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Speaker 3: school guidance counsel We stopped over there was like, is

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Speaker 3: everything okay with the mom?

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Speaker 1: She was fine.

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Speaker 3: But then we get home to my house and I

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Speaker 3: knew things were wrong the minute I got home, because

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Speaker 3: the cars were lined up in my driveway.

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Speaker 1: This is before cell phones, Like, I didn't know on

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Speaker 1: a cell phone, so there's no way.

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Speaker 3: To me to get ahold of anybody. And I knew

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Speaker 3: and my mother was cooking. My mom does not cook

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Speaker 3: small irishwoman like, we don't we do takeout, we don't cook,

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Speaker 3: and she was cooking. And when I walked in and

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Speaker 3: my aunts were in the kitchen, and I knew immediately

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Speaker 3: stuff was things were not good. My mom had heard

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Speaker 3: from my dad early in the morning and then that

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Speaker 3: was that was the end, and we ended up now

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Speaker 3: finding out for hours later when somebody said they thought

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Speaker 3: they saw my father and then it wasn't until he

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Speaker 3: came home after, you know, about two thirty in the morning.

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Speaker 3: So my dad had been carrying somebody out from the

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Speaker 3: twenty fourth floor. He had met the rest of his

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Speaker 3: firehouse in the lobby, and he was carrying somebody who

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Speaker 3: had a heart condition. He kept carrying that man. He

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Speaker 3: jumped on top of the man building came down. My

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Speaker 3: dad was outside. My dad's fireman and fellow firemen were

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Speaker 3: inside the tower in the lobby. So my dad, I've

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Speaker 3: seen the video. My dad was my dad was buried

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Speaker 3: alive and then ended up and ended up being able

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Speaker 3: to get out. And and you know, his fell a fireman,

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Speaker 3: were not.

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Speaker 1: Two thirty in the morning. He still have like soot

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Speaker 1: and dirt. I'll like, I'm yeah over, yeah.

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Speaker 3: He came home, and I can remember the first thing

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Speaker 3: he said to me was they're all gone. That was

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Speaker 3: That was the first words I've had. My father and

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Speaker 3: I have had one real protracted, very long conversation about it,

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Speaker 3: which I sat with him. Was a night we were together,

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Speaker 3: just the two of us in Florida and talked for

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Speaker 3: a very long period of time about it. But that's

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Speaker 3: probably the extent we've ever talked about all the details.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for sharing that. No, I don't know how I

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Speaker 1: transitioned to the NBA, but I'm gonna have to a

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Speaker 1: second A You're good, now, I'm good? Okay, So you

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Speaker 1: get so they offer you a job? They did? Did

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Speaker 1: they tell you what you're gonna do?

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Speaker 3: I mean, I think as much as any place like

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Speaker 3: they referenced. It was in our global events we were

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Speaker 3: talking about how do you how we were making larger

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Speaker 3: direct to consumer transition at the NBA, identifying more ways

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Speaker 3: to be fan first because our teams have always been

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Speaker 3: incredibly fanned first, but the league has been different. And

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Speaker 3: as we're making that transition, we've talked a lot about it.

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Speaker 1: Can it be more than just content?

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Speaker 3: You got to get fans experiential opportunities and That's obviously

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Speaker 3: what I had spent the last couple of years at

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Speaker 3: Headfirst doing was building this very big experiential business and

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Speaker 3: that was exciting, and the ability to be able to

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Speaker 3: do it globally was the thing that probably hooked me in.

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Speaker 3: And you know, on day four at the NBA, I

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Speaker 3: was on a flight to move by India. You know,

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Speaker 3: we put on the first first ever North American Professional

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Speaker 3: Sports League games in India.

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Speaker 1: So is those kinds of opportunities. I was in.

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Speaker 3: China, you know, when when our business opportunities changed and

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Speaker 3: we had to react there, I was, you know, on

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Speaker 3: the ground ground, first person to tender Florida for the bubble,

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Speaker 3: the last person to leave.

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Speaker 1: So I think it's been these kinds of incredible opportunities.

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Speaker 3: And now we're at another one launching a brand new business,

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Speaker 3: our second big experiential business of the year. We launch

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Speaker 3: a business called NBA Experiences, which is our premium experiential business,

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Speaker 3: giving fans from around the world the opportunity to be

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Speaker 3: able to come to NBA events and interact with our

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Speaker 3: fans and our players in unique ways.

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Speaker 4: And now NBA conor Fox Sports Radio has the best

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Speaker 4: sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our

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00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,880
Speaker 4: shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app.

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Speaker 4: Search FSR to listen live.

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Speaker 1: How challenging is it?

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Speaker 2: Because I think it's all tied together, right, I want

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Speaker 2: to talk about the basketball tournament that you guys got

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Speaker 2: to have. How challenging is it to build out this

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Speaker 2: business of experiences? People paying thousands of dollars and you're

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Speaker 2: in this wave of load management in the NBA? Like wait, sorry, dude,

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Speaker 2: we got these people come in and you got play tonight?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, what is that like?

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Speaker 3: From where you sit, I think a lot of it is.

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Speaker 3: We're really excited about all the facets of the NBA, right,

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Speaker 3: Like I mean, there's so many ways for our fans

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Speaker 3: to be able to connect, and we know from my side,

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Speaker 3: our fans are as interested for all the dynamic reasons

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Speaker 3: of our players. I think of our players as investors,

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Speaker 3: as entrepreneurs, as social justice advocates, and when we build experiences,

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Speaker 3: I want to target all of those things. So I

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Speaker 3: love I love our on the court product. Nothing is

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Speaker 3: more important than the on the court product and everything

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Speaker 3: that we can do to ensure it is at the

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Speaker 3: highest levels, which DNC's and TERMO, which were announcing is

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Speaker 3: another way we're trying to do that add more competition

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Speaker 3: and at every level. But I also think it's it's

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Speaker 3: as important to recognize the complex humanity of our of

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Speaker 3: our players and to give our fans an opportunity to

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Speaker 3: be able to get close to that. And so when

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Speaker 3: we think about building a experiences, you know, you get

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00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,240
Speaker 3: a we're in We're in Paris and we're doing a

408
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,160
Speaker 3: shoot around on the court with Tony Parker, Like that's

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00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,639
Speaker 3: an experience that, in my opinion, this priceless. You're talking

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00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,159
Speaker 3: in his home country in that moment, being able to

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Speaker 3: give twelve fans that opportunity be able to connect to

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Speaker 3: that level. The behind the scenes access that we can

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Speaker 3: offer is you build things. I think fans are craving

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Speaker 3: that extra authenticity. They want to know the raw moments,

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Speaker 3: and I think a business like NBA experience is able

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00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,920
Speaker 3: to offer our fans a number of those raw moments

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Speaker 3: as we build things, as we as we interact, and

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Speaker 3: and so I think we rely on that entirety of

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Speaker 3: the experience.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so who was the who is the lady or

421
00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:43,119
Speaker 2: man who said I got it? NBA cun Like was

422
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,760
Speaker 2: there you guys having a you know, barnstorm is a

423
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,040
Speaker 2: brainstorming session, right, you got a whiteboard up there, and like,

424
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,280
Speaker 2: what do you think, Like, let's do NBA Island? Like no,

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00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,800
Speaker 2: let's do the Bachelor NBA. Like no, let's do NBA

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Speaker 2: cun Like.

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Speaker 1: Huh at work? Who was it?

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Speaker 3: So it's it's an interesting story. There was a couple

429
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,240
Speaker 3: over four years ago we've been working on this concept

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00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,080
Speaker 3: to try to launch this new business. So there's a

431
00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,240
Speaker 3: gentleman here and a guy named Ron Walden spent his

432
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:16,240
Speaker 3: career at Nike and at Jordan and he had before

433
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Speaker 3: I got to the NBA, flown to China to meet

434
00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:22,639
Speaker 3: my boss Kelly and convince her that this was a

435
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,400
Speaker 3: great concept. And he had, you know, an old slide

436
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 3: deck which I still have talking about. And when I

437
00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:30,000
Speaker 3: got here, one of the first things Kelly handed to

438
00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:30,560
Speaker 3: me was like a deck.

439
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,680
Speaker 1: She was like, is there anything here? And and it was.

440
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:35,159
Speaker 3: Some you know, as we were thinking about all these

441
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,479
Speaker 3: new businesses, I was like, I think there could be

442
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,000
Speaker 3: maybe there's something here and uh and NBA con was

443
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:43,360
Speaker 3: written on that deck. So it's a name that came

444
00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:45,679
Speaker 3: from Ron and he had spent some time building some

445
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,480
Speaker 3: of these other business complex con and I think he

446
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:49,040
Speaker 3: thought that.

447
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,120
Speaker 1: There was there was is comic Con the first con? Yeah,

448
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:53,680
Speaker 1: comic Con is a comic CON's.

449
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:53,800
Speaker 3: The O G.

450
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, because like like Watergate is the first scandal and

451
00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,480
Speaker 2: everybody goes gaate, So Comic Con is the o G.

452
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, yea, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it.

453
00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:02,920
Speaker 3: Like you know, you still want the old comic Con shirt.

454
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,520
Speaker 3: And I think for us, we realized from our brand

455
00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:08,120
Speaker 3: there's some things that are a little bit more culturally

456
00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:10,679
Speaker 3: relevant and authentic in ways that we can showcase. And

457
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:12,560
Speaker 3: that was sort of the desire And as you're looking around,

458
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,120
Speaker 3: this is the start and the thought, you know, as

459
00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:17,320
Speaker 3: you know now New York City kid, I believe in

460
00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,159
Speaker 3: the neighborhood and that I always felt like when I

461
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:21,639
Speaker 3: was you know, would go up to the Bronx, it

462
00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,120
Speaker 3: would feel different than when I was living in Queens, right,

463
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,919
Speaker 3: Like every neighborhood feels different. And the thought of how

464
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 3: we could create these different neighborhoods for NBA fandom and

465
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:33,000
Speaker 3: give fans a totally different vibe. Is the vision of

466
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,520
Speaker 3: where NBA Con starting right now and is going to go,

467
00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:37,760
Speaker 3: is that each of these neighborhoods across fashion or Attech

468
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:39,919
Speaker 3: or music or the park.

469
00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:41,439
Speaker 1: I want like that to feel like a New York

470
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:41,880
Speaker 1: City park.

471
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:43,600
Speaker 3: Like as I was walking around, like where's the person

472
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,480
Speaker 3: pushing the shaved ice, where's the dudes playing chess?

473
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,719
Speaker 2: Like that's a New York City park to me. And

474
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:51,920
Speaker 2: so we're trying to see. So my dad was in

475
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:53,840
Speaker 2: New Yorker, but that was from the Bronx with death

476
00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,800
Speaker 2: Long Island. He was like thirteen fourteen, and I grew

477
00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:58,960
Speaker 2: up in southern California. But he'd take me back. Did

478
00:21:58,960 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 2: he call you soft?

479
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:00,600
Speaker 1: Uh?

480
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:00,920
Speaker 2: No?

481
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 4: Uh?

482
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 2: But the only thing that he didn't get that I

483
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:06,439
Speaker 2: would bitch about was we'd go and play in New

484
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,240
Speaker 2: York City in the summers. He'd he'd get me on

485
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 2: the court at West Fourth or some of these other courts,

486
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:12,880
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I hate playing there. It's like why

487
00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:14,600
Speaker 2: It's like, you know, outside of West Fourth, nobody has

488
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,680
Speaker 2: any nets, Like I hate no nets.

489
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:18,960
Speaker 3: You know, that's a great point. I can't take you

490
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,600
Speaker 3: in the chain. I missed the chain.

491
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,959
Speaker 2: I actually I hated the chain because when you're like

492
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,560
Speaker 2: middle school, high school, before you can dunk, you know,

493
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 2: you go up and you could touch the netah, but yeah,

494
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:31,760
Speaker 2: I mean there's something cool about hitting the swish for

495
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:33,440
Speaker 2: the nets, especially your jumper.

496
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:34,240
Speaker 3: I mean you could shoot.

497
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: It was no I could not.

498
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,280
Speaker 2: That was that was I was like, I honestly, I

499
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,680
Speaker 2: was a West Coast New York City point guard. You know,

500
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 2: I could dribble past all the fancy stuff, but.

501
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,600
Speaker 1: I couldn't shoot. So anyway, so I do know.

502
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 2: So that was the So from four years ago, Ron

503
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:50,000
Speaker 2: comes up to the day, Hey, please got a deck?

504
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:51,560
Speaker 1: What do you think NBA con? Yeah?

505
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:56,320
Speaker 2: Okay, So how did you decide on Summer League in Vegas?

506
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:56,800
Speaker 3: Yeah?

507
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 1: And not in New York City.

508
00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:59,959
Speaker 3: I think the desire was, like each of our are

509
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 3: events have a different vibe when you when you want

510
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,600
Speaker 3: to launch something here, it's it's the players. We've had

511
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,680
Speaker 3: over one hundred separate appearances, more than sixty players walking

512
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,800
Speaker 3: through here. I mean incredible, incredible live conversations. Later today

513
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,600
Speaker 3: we're gonna roll Victor and Kareem.

514
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,680
Speaker 2: Like, I mean, I want to sit in that room.

515
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:19,800
Speaker 2: I've never like, how'd you guys get Kareem to come?

516
00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:22,000
Speaker 2: That guy right there? Michael Levine.

517
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,760
Speaker 3: Michael Levin, who's our head of player marketing, who's an

518
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 3: incredible like built his entire career on the relationships that

519
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,679
Speaker 3: he creates. Michael. Michael's got Kareem coming. He's built an

520
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 3: incredible relationship with Victor's team. So we've got Victor Kareem,

521
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,159
Speaker 3: followed up by Carmelo and Scoop and then we're doing

522
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,040
Speaker 3: the NTAs and tournam announcement. Like that's three hours as

523
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,120
Speaker 3: a basketball fan, as a fan of the NBA, as

524
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 3: a fan of just great content.

525
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:48,400
Speaker 1: Can I can I give you a suggestion for next year?

526
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:50,479
Speaker 2: I want to hear it. I got I got a notebook,

527
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 2: I'll take No. Can you get the peach gam here?

528
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:56,240
Speaker 2: Can you get the eybl here? Because because Lebron's coaching,

529
00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,760
Speaker 2: Russell Westbrook's coaching, Yeah, Chris Paul's coaching, and Chris Paul's

530
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 2: kid will be in it next year. He's he'll be

531
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 2: a ninth grader, right, Kayane Anthony is playing in it, Like,

532
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:07,120
Speaker 2: can you imagine?

533
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:07,600
Speaker 1: No, I know.

534
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 2: I can't imagine being high school kid and these guys

535
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,520
Speaker 2: are coaching like Lebron James he is coaching an AAU team.

536
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 3: It's unbelievable, right, yes, I mean very different from when

537
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:16,400
Speaker 3: we were we were playing, no doubt.

538
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have like a dad who was coming off

539
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,480
Speaker 2: a double shift. I played for I played for Kareem

540
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 2: by the way in the usbl really yes, yes, that's

541
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,720
Speaker 2: that's crazy. Yes, that's crazy.

542
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:30,480
Speaker 1: Wow, I mean.

543
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 2: In a shocking development. But it's a lot. But we've

544
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 2: made upset. But so NBA con comes to be now.

545
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:39,680
Speaker 2: The announcement last week is okay, the ND seeds and

546
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,840
Speaker 2: tournament is the next big step.

547
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:44,640
Speaker 1: That's like the that's like the Cups.

548
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 2: And when you like I played in France, played in Europe,

549
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 2: playing in Israel, it's it's the cup format, right, So

550
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 2: I guess the idea is what to get people more?

551
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,480
Speaker 2: You guys to play, to get people more enthused in

552
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:56,440
Speaker 2: early season basketball?

553
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:58,440
Speaker 1: What's the thinking behind it? I think it's just alternate

554
00:24:58,440 --> 00:24:59,440
Speaker 1: competitive formats.

555
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 3: I think all of us believe that when we put

556
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:05,000
Speaker 3: our players in competitive in competitive environments like the game,

557
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 3: the game's amazing. And as our game has continued to grow,

558
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,239
Speaker 3: it's more and more international, and our international players are

559
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,760
Speaker 3: used to different types of competitive formats. They grew up

560
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,119
Speaker 3: watching all of the things that have happened, you know,

561
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,360
Speaker 3: in soccer and see and seeing the ways they put

562
00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:21,119
Speaker 3: it together. But I think we've also seen in the

563
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,040
Speaker 3: US right the rise of March Madness and the continued

564
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 3: growth of the collegiate game. We've looked at the way

565
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,520
Speaker 3: that college basketball has you know, built their you know,

566
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 3: all the holiday tournaments that they have. But even when

567
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,400
Speaker 3: you come here to Summer League. Why I love Summer League.

568
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,120
Speaker 3: I mean, it's ten days of really good basketball. Yeah,

569
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 3: it's not always pretty, as guys don't have you know,

570
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:39,760
Speaker 3: they're not on the team for a long period of time,

571
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 3: they don't have time to run practice in the same way.

572
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:43,320
Speaker 1: But guys play incredibly hard.

573
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 3: And that's why I I mean, I could sit and

574
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 3: watch ten hours of Summer League basketball every day of

575
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:48,360
Speaker 3: the week.

576
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:50,360
Speaker 1: We got to watch two practices.

577
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,680
Speaker 3: Here yesterday and somebody came up to me and said,

578
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,120
Speaker 3: I can't believe how hard the Cavs players are going

579
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,680
Speaker 3: on a practice to make a team. Exactly right, right,

580
00:25:58,800 --> 00:25:59,720
Speaker 3: they're trying to make a team.

581
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 1: I tried to That's why I thought.

582
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,120
Speaker 2: I thought, Webin Yama, that's a tough spot for him,

583
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,479
Speaker 2: because you're going against a bunch of guys that are

584
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,120
Speaker 2: trying to make a team, trying to make a name

585
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 2: for themselves, and he's clearly tired and doesn't know what

586
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:12,439
Speaker 2: he's doing right.

587
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,520
Speaker 3: And no better way for anybody to make the name

588
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,439
Speaker 3: themselves right than to like, Yeah, but I think so

589
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 3: when we think about the n season tournament, that's that's

590
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,480
Speaker 3: that's the desire is like can we can we create

591
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,880
Speaker 3: more competitive environments? And so I think we're thinking about

592
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 3: it was the way we thought about the playing and

593
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 3: I think that's been an incredible success for the league.

594
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,840
Speaker 3: It is like just additional layers of competitive environments are

595
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,320
Speaker 3: really good for are really good for our players, they're

596
00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 3: good for the league, and they're incredible for the fans.

597
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 2: Last thing, you're the head of global events, right, so

598
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 2: when you travel globally, what are the names that resonate

599
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:50,360
Speaker 2: the most? Like the people still is Jordan's still? I mean, yeah,

600
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 2: you threw out, you threw out the goat. I mean,

601
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 2: but is he is?

602
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 4: He?

603
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 1: Is he still that overseas? Or has?

604
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:57,640
Speaker 2: Because I know how big Kobe was in China? Yeah right,

605
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,800
Speaker 2: I know how big in Philippines as well, Giget the

606
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,000
Speaker 2: Lakers fails. Like what is the pecking order when you

607
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 2: travel globally?

608
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,119
Speaker 3: Well, I think the one thing that's really changed in

609
00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:08,880
Speaker 3: the last couple of years is people want to root

610
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 3: for their own, right, So I think where Jordan and

611
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,919
Speaker 3: Kobe were, you know, truly transcending global stars and they

612
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,159
Speaker 3: will be for forever, for you know, for all of history.

613
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,359
Speaker 3: But now you've got Luca, right, You've got Jokis and

614
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,639
Speaker 3: these are kind of names where when you're growing up,

615
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,920
Speaker 3: like there's there's now an added level of pride, real pride.

616
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 3: That's my guy. And I don't think I think that

617
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,400
Speaker 3: has been one of the real transformations over the last

618
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:32,960
Speaker 3: couple of years. And I think that's going to be

619
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,560
Speaker 3: the opportunity with Victor. You know, I'm sure at some

620
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 3: point we're going to have an incredible opportunity to take

621
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,639
Speaker 3: the spurs at some point, you know, to Europe, Like

622
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 3: the amount of pride that people will have will feel

623
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 3: really different. And I think that started with I mean,

624
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 3: yeah in China and you know the way where people

625
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:52,119
Speaker 3: feel like they you know, they want to root for

626
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:53,479
Speaker 3: one of their own. And so I think that has

627
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,480
Speaker 3: been one of the real changes that's been so exciting

628
00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 3: about the growth of the international game.

629
00:27:58,040 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 1: This is probably the longest you'll be off your cell

630
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 1: phone for the entire week.

631
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,040
Speaker 2: You got you. I gotta say, I tip my cap

632
00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,640
Speaker 2: to you. So this has been amazing. It's an amazing event.

633
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: Yeh.

634
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,320
Speaker 2: I look forward to year two. I can't wait to

635
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 2: see in the growth. I appreciate you telling your story.

636
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:13,080
Speaker 2: That means a lot to thank you.

637
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:13,480
Speaker 1: Thank you.

638
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,360
Speaker 3: Now we did we did number one, so that means

639
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,480
Speaker 3: I got you for number two. Like definitely, Yeah, you're

640
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 3: a good man. Thank you, thanks much.

641
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 1: I appreciate it.

642
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,200
Speaker 2: Well. Look, I have lots of thoughts on the NBA Cup,

643
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 2: having played in three foreign countries.

644
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:30,240
Speaker 1: The Cup format I like.

645
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,640
Speaker 2: Now. The difference in the Cup format in foreign countries

646
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:38,880
Speaker 2: is that first and second division is I usually involved, right,

647
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 2: So like when you're playing in France and in the

648
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 2: French Cup in the regular season, pro B plays against PROA.

649
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 2: Now they usually get dusted, but occasionally there's an upset.

650
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 2: And so I like the format they have, the they

651
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 2: have the pools, the pod system. It's and with the

652
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,440
Speaker 2: exception when you're play in a championship game, everybody's gonna

653
00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 2: play eighty two, so only whoever plays in the champion

654
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,600
Speaker 2: gameplay eighty three. And the idea is to bring more

655
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,360
Speaker 2: attention to the NBA regular season. I obviously don't love

656
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 2: the timing of it. You know, although December is college

657
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 2: hoops with all the holiday hoops season going on, it

658
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 2: is also you know, college bowl season and college football

659
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:23,960
Speaker 2: playoff season and I and of course the NFL is

660
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,520
Speaker 2: at its peak and the NFL is king, So I

661
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 2: don't know how it'll work.

662
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 1: But I got to commend Adam Silver. Like I'm pretty

663
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 1: hard on Adam.

664
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 2: Silver sometimes, but if you think about it, trying to

665
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 2: do something different in a season that's been eighty two games,

666
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:41,600
Speaker 2: I'm kind of mundane for our lifetime.

667
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 4: It's kind of cool.

668
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 2: So we'll talk more about it on the upcoming pods

669
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,000
Speaker 2: here from NBA Con. But my thanks to Joey Graziano.

670
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:58,360
Speaker 2: That was emotional, That was raw, that was real. That's

671
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,560
Speaker 2: as good as I've ever been forced to be a

672
00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:06,160
Speaker 2: part of. And yeah, my brain when he had told

673
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,840
Speaker 2: me at the before he when he sat down, we

674
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,600
Speaker 2: started just kind of chit chatting, and he had told

675
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 2: me that he was a baseball player at Georgetown in

676
00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:18,160
Speaker 2: two thousand and two to two thousand and five, and

677
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,400
Speaker 2: then he mentioned that his dad was a New York

678
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 2: City firefighter. My wheels were spinning and he let me in.

679
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 2: Hope you enjoyed it. I'm Doug Gottlieg. This is all ball.