WEBVTT - TOM's Talks | Kevin Johnson 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.640 This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:08.680 search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. Welcome 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:12.719 to another edition of Tom's Talks. This week's podcast takes 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:16.640 us into the training room, well sort of. The seventy 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.880 Sixers have built a world class facility for the team 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:23.560 and with that, a world class medical team to care 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:27.360 for and treat the seventy Sixers players. In the middle 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.680 of it all is athletic trainer Kevin Johnson. He's been 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:34.600 with the seventy sixers for seventeen seasons. Now here's my 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:40.479 conversation with kJ. Well, welcome to another edition of Tom's Talks, 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:42.760 and we are joining by the long time athletic trainer 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.440 of the seventy six Ers, Kevin Johnson, one of our favorites, 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.920 so popular among the staff and obviously the players. kJ. 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:53.519 How are you doing. I'm doing fine, Tom, Thanks for 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.680 having me. I really appreciate this opportunity and I hope 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.400 you and all your loved loans are staying safe. Same. 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.240 It's been three months since the season went out a hiatus. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.479 What had been doing to fill your time? I'm sure 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.640 you've had some meetings with staff and whatnot, but what 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:13.760 else aside from zoom and preparing to come back to 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:17.039 play and check it in with the players daily to 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.520 make sure that they're okay and all of their needs 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:24.679 are met, you know, physically and mentally as well. You know, 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:27.240 a lot of them have a lot of questions, so 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:30.880 you would answer questions that they might have or they 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:36.200 might have about their loved ones. So even though there's 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:39.119 been what we would consider downtime, we've been very, very 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.440 busy trying to prepare and keep a safe environment, in 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.920 a clean environment for everyone to return back into the 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.000 facility and return to play. I can imagine, and that 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:52.440 seems to be right around the corner where your thoughts 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.360 and about going back to play and eventually going down 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:59.120 to Florida. You know, the league is going to do 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.360 a great job, as they always do. They're going to 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.160 think everything out, So it's going to be well thought out. 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.760 It's going to be well staffed from a medical standpoint 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.000 with regards to everything the league has done, from a 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:17.119 testing standpoint to just everything. I mean, the league never 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.760 bears an expense and doesn't follow through on all their 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:25.360 research and details, so it's going to be as safe 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.160 as can be You've been around long enough to have 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:32.000 endured not one, but probably two lockouts, but that was 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.040 different because you weren't able to communicate with the players. 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.440 And as you say, now, with this being such an 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:41.160 unusual situation and worried about their health and safety and 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:45.520 their conditioning, it'll be interesting to see what you get 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.720 back because all the different players have been in different 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:52.440 situations with different workout apparatus or lack thereof. It'll be 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.600 interesting in that light as well. Correct, Yeah, I mean 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.960 it's definitely been an unloading period, if you will. I 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.880 mean the bone, the tendons, the muscles. It's just not 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.600 the same load you would get going up and down 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:08.760 the court. Now, our staff has done a great job preparing, 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:14.639 doing zoom workouts, giving having equipment dropped off at their house. 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.480 I mean everything from the mticals to bikes, to free weights, 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:23.480 to basketballs to bands, you name it, they got it. 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:27.799 I mean the staff and then the players attentiveness to 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:32.239 trying to stay in shape has been great as well. 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.800 So I mean kudos to the staff and the players 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:39.360 and the organization. I mean everything for meals to anything 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.560 you need. That's great. Certainly times of change with the 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.320 ability to communicate in this manner and everything that's part 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:48.960 of today's world in twenty twenty, particularly in this most 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.880 unusual of times. But let's go back. You grew up 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.320 in Indianapolis. I always laugh, I grew up in Illinois. 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.160 So when we go back to the Midwest, you always 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:59.920 joke about it being God's country. But you're very proud 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:05.320 from Indianapolis. You went to Indiana State. Basketball in Indiana 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.920 is such a huge staple of wife and the loser state. 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.320 What's it like, particularly on the high school level, of 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:17.240 being a young basketball player growing up in Indiana. In Indiana, 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:22.440 basketball just like Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio is everything. You can 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:27.240 drive down a street in the neighborhood and every other 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:31.120 house or every three houses has a basketball hoop outside, 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:33.960 and you know, you go by the parks and they're 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.719 full of people just playing, and you go there and 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.880 if you're not there first, you're waiting sometimes forty five 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.400 minutes to an hour to play. But it's just a 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:46.960 focal point and it goes without saying. In the summertime, 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:50.039 you know, after you make up your bed and brush 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:51.680 your teeth and do what you're supposed to do as 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.520 a kid, you're going down to your neighbor's house and 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:56.760 you're playing, and then when you get tired of their court, 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.000 they're coming back to your house and your plan on 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.960 your home court, so no one gets home court advantage. 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:05.440 You know, you're trying to alternate and rotate because every 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.560 who has different obstacles. You got to navigate to if 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.440 you're driving or if you're shooting and things like that. 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:15.240 But I know there's some some huge gyms there like 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:19.000 the Marians, De Andersons and whatnot. But Indiana is also 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.560 known for the field House, and Butler of course hosted 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.400 the state tournament for years. But our mutual friend Courtney Whittie, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:27.520 who grew up in Indiana, ended up playing at IU 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.479 as a staff member with the Pacers. Probably when you 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.840 were there, talked about a lot of staff members taking 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:37.159 trips during the season down to some of the smaller 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:40.320 places and to the field houses where that's kind of 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.320 what we think of too. I think maybe a little 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.640 bit from the movie Hoosiers. But when you think of 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:48.120 Indiana basketball, and I always go back, I hearken back 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:50.120 to that thing. They used to use it, but then 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.840 Consaco field House and that is when they would open 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.840 the game just about to introduce the Pacers, and they 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:01.120 would say, you know, and every forty nine others they 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.520 just basketball. But this is Indiana and that's right. Speak 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.760 to that a little bit about the small fieldhouse teams 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.479 and whatnot. I mean, it's if you think about the 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:15.800 movie Hoosiers, it sums up Indiana basketball. Up until recently, 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.200 you could have we didn't have different classes, so you'd 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.400 have a one A class playing against a five A 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.599 class high school to win the state championship. And I 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.680 think that's why it was so unique. We had one champion. 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.799 You know, some states have a class one A champ 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.680 but two, three, four, five A know, we had one 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:40.000 championship and that meant everything. And to play for that 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.720 and to work out every day with that as your 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:46.760 end all coal. I mean, you have women and old 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:51.560 three grandmothers and little girls. Everybody knows about basketball. I 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:54.440 remember going to see my sister play and she played 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:56.960 in high school and they had three on three where 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.160 it was three offensive players or three defensive players. A 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:05.040 lot of the weirdest thing. But everyone plays basketball. I'm everyone. 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.560 And in the end, that deal with the three on 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:12.000 three my professional basketball stant if you will started in 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.840 Iowa in the CBA. As I mentioned probably too often, 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.200 but Iowas still had that. And when you say that 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.640 about the three, and they were six players but only 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:23.960 run to half court, you were either an offensive player 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.320 or defensive player. So you'd get it across an bird. 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.240 You would stop at the top of money. I mean, 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:34.400 you have about antiquated basketball, but it wasn't that long ago. No, No, 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.760 I'm talking. My sister graduated in nineteen seventy nine, so 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.680 maybe they changed it after that or right before that, 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.080 right around seventy eight seventy nine. Right, little known fact. 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.400 You can still shoot the rock and we've shot over 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.320 the years. We joke about the championship belt and you've 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:54.800 had it more than I but you can fill it up. 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.280 That's been a little bit of something that's never left you, 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.800 that ability to shoot the ball, you know. And that's 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.400 the one thing I say about people from Indiana. They 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.680 don't have the crossovers and around the back and go 0:08:06.720 --> 0:08:09.200 into the basket. But the one thing we pride ourselves 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:11.600 on is being a shooter. And that's how I knew 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.120 you were from the Midwest. Top when I would sit 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:17.960 there and watch you. That was a defender. I would 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:20.840 see you shoot five, big, five, six, seven in a 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:22.400 row and it was like, yeah, he's got to be 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.880 And this was before we had been formally introduced to 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.960 seeing you on the courier. Right. I still love to 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.240 get out there and shoot. I'm fifty three now, so 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:31.880 I don't do a lot of up and down. I 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:34.559 might play a half court game every now and then, 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.400 but my game now was around the world or horse right, 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:39.240 me too, because there's a price to pay. If you 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.880 do anything more than that, that's for sure, I'll be 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.199 coming to see again. So then after high school you 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.320 went to Indiana State. It wasn't long after Larry Bird. 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:51.320 Speaking of nineteen seventy nine, that's when Burn and the 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.080 Sycamorees made it to the NCAA Championship game, still to 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:59.240 my knowledge, the most ever watch game in college basketball 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:04.240 game with Michigan State. But it wasn't idealic Indiana State 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:09.080 is in terror out Indiana. It's southern Indiana, and as 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:13.000 you've mentioned before, Indiana is one of the most conservative states. 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.920 They were one of the last states to recognize the 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:20.600 holiday for Martin Luther King's birthday in January, and you 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.600 shared with us as a staff, some of your personal experiences. 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.600 The six ers HBSc is a larger whole company has 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:30.559 been great in terms of all of us getting together 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.560 and listening to people's stories, people of color. And you 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:38.600 tell a story about in the dormitory at Indiana State 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.000 and the ku Klux Klan kJ tell us a little 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:46.360 bit more about that January on Martin Luther King Day, 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:52.120 nineteen eighty six. Now I go down and August nineteen 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.040 eighty five was my first year, so not even through 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:59.000 my first year, I saw the klu Klux clan march 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:03.480 down the street in front of my doorm there right 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.560 there on Third Street in downtown Tera Hode to Indiana 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.600 nineteen eighty six, and every year thereafter on Martin King Day, 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:17.640 and it just sent a message to how things hadn't changed, 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:20.920 even though it seemed like things really had changed. They 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:25.559 always sent that message that we're still trying to control 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.080 your minds and the situation down here in Tara Hope, 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.600 and it was just it was something you couldn't even 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.800 finish class that day. Literally you'd sit there and go, 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.599 oh my God, like you wouldn't be able to study. 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:43.040 That's crazy. It's the most and the things that they 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:48.760 would say and chant and throw business cards and flyers, 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:51.200 and you know, people would pick them up and look 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:52.680 at that and they say, hey, you want one? I 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:54.880 was like, what would I want with that for? But 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.520 it was just the reality in nineteen eighty six that 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:02.120 we had not made the changes that every that some 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:06.040 people thought we had me And now with the groundswell 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:10.480 of support and peaceful protests and so much action, it 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.760 seems like we are on the cusp of what could 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:18.880 be tangible change. You feel that way, Yes, see what happened. 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.800 The invention of the cell phone with video on it 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:27.720 has changed things for me. To tell you that story 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:32.559 is one thing. But had the portable video quarter been 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.400 out then and I took a video to show you, Tom, 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:41.160 I mean my words and adjectives can't describe that at all. 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.840 I mean, it just doesn't do with justice to see that, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.560 to hear that, to look in those people's eyes when 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:51.360 they look at you, it's just unbelievable. And they would 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:55.400 say things that, you know, my grandfather did something to 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:59.439 your grandfather. I mean, things that you would hear just 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:03.440 ripped you through to your bone. We'll have more with 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:07.720 Kevin Johnson in a moment. 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What was that like working in the 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.280 National Football League in a huge training room. I can 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.240 only imagine with all those players and working in the NFL. 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:57.360 The NFL is a whole different animal and two in itself. 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.600 I mean, you've got one hundred guys in during training camp, 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.600 so they would bring in an additional six interns to 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:08.240 help the three full time trainers that they had. I mean, 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.400 we were the first ones there, last one to leave. 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:14.760 You know, you start in July and you've got ninety 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:19.200 five degree temperatures with high humidity and You're just trying 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.400 to keep people from from cramping up, You're trying to 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.559 keep them healthy from heat stroke and then all your 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:29.120 other muscle skeletal injuries as well. I mean, it is 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.600 if you work in the National Football League, you're not 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:35.600 afraid to work. It's work, I can imagine. And then 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.600 not long after that, you get a job with your 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:43.160 hometown professional basketball team, the Indiana Pacers, and your back 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:47.200 you know, working in basketball and that it was still 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.920 a great franchise. What was that transition like to be 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.960 an assistant trainer in the India Going from an assistant 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.079 trainer in the NFL to the NBA. You're looking at 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:00.680 going from one hundred players in training camp to eighteen 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.600 maybe twenty in training camp, and it was just unbelievable. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.520 It allowed you to really see rehab through because the 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.439 numbers were small, so small, it allowed you to develop 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:16.640 relationships and learn that that's what these players really really 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.160 value when you're taking care of their bodies is to 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.200 know that you really care about them as well. So 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.080 you spend a lot of time getting to know the 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.800 athlete and their families and things like that. That's a 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.240 tremendous fund. One of the players you became close to. 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:33.520 Was the great Reggie Miller. Yes, yes, a good friend. 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:37.280 We still talk quite a bit whenever they're in whenever 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.000 he works with the networks and they cover our game, 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.440 he always comes to the locker room and training room 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.040 and says hello, and we give each other big hug 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.040 and we talk about old time stories and you know, 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.440 he was in my wedding and the whole line. So 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.480 good guy. You know, we fished together, we swimming together. 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.800 We did it all. Reggie Miller. You talk about body 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.000 types in terms of the n FELL, the NBA obviously 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:04.960 very slender six to seven. But what struck me and 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.120 it struck my dad too, because we played those teams 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:09.520 three times in a row and he was able to 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:13.880 come down to Indianapolis for those games against the Pacers, 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.560 but he was out there at four o'clock. I mean 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:19.920 you talk about my dad was a big golfer, so 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:22.760 he almost liked the range more than he liked competing 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:27.360 on the course. The practicing, execution, and boy, Reggie Miller 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.440 put in his time and he loved that and I 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.840 love that and you saw that so much. I mean 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.880 he put the working. Yes, he would call you on 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.720 an off day and say, hey, I need to go shoot, 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.680 but I want someone to stretch me out, or I 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:44.840 want someone that iced me down when I'm done. And 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.720 literally he would go down and shoot, and if he 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:51.560 wasn't satisfied with making ten in a row from a 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:55.480 spot that he struggled from the previous game, we'd be 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.680 there all day and I say, hey, Rich, you know, like, 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.800 although we're about the world is done, and we did. 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.960 I would be shagging the balls for him sometimes as well. Right, 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:09.680 his work as was incredible. He always wanted to have 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:15.000 his workout done on game days before the visiting team arrived, right, 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.680 And he was sitting in the gym and watched the 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:20.600 team as they walked through and I and he would say, 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.160 I'm already warmed up, guys. I hope you can get 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:27.600 the little swagger there, rightwag. Yeah. So then you move 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:29.960 on to the Washington Wizards. At the time, they were 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:31.840 the Bullets, but it was Chris Webber. You had some 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:35.440 pretty good teams down there with Washington. Tell us about that. 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.080 Those are some good days. Um, you know, I was young, 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:43.760 they were young. Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, George mures Son, 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:49.680 Calbert Cheney, it was. It was unbelievable. We really played, 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.280 we really played hard and well. We went to the 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.840 first round in the playoffs and played the Chicago Bulls 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:59.360 with Michael Jordan ninety eight, and back then it was 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.880 the best three out of five, and we lost those 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.120 three games by a total of I want to say 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.159 eight or nine points. That's how Cloud played them. But 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.160 you could just see his dominance. I mean, it was unbelievable. 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.600 We did everything we could, but at the end of 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.159 the day, Michael Jordan's Michael Jordan, and we just couldn't 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.399 beat him. So you must have, especially for somebody's been 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.160 in the NBA, to watch the last dances everybody did 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:26.879 a few weeks back. You had to send me a 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.320 keen interest in that because you saw that you'd seen 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:34.920 enough clothes. Oh man. One of my first games ever 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.240 in the NBA, we played in Chicago in the old 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:42.040 Chicago Stadium and Reggie Miller comes out and he hits 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:45.960 I want to say, eleven straight points and Michael hasn't scored. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.119 So Phil doesn't like to call timeouts, or whoever the 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.200 coach was didn't want to call a time out. Eventually 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:54.400 there's a dead ball, so it's the TV timeout. I'm 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.000 on the end of the bench and everyone's going crazy 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.720 and I'm like, yeah, Reggie, keep giving it to them. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.480 He doesn't want to see you tonight. And Reggie didn't 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:04.080 even go to the huddle. He runs right to me 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:06.560 and goes, don't say that. I don't want to wake 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.040 this guy up. And I learned that that that was 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:11.840 the end of my trash talking days as an athletic chairman. 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.040 Speaking of timeouts, you and I was going to get 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.560 to this, but this is pretty good point. You've always 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.040 kept the fowls and the timeouts, and then if the 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.720 shot clock got under five you yelled out red. I 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:29.000 mean it, really, you have so much to do in 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:32.160 terms of like taking care of the athletes, but you're 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:34.320 part of the game in that sense. You must enjoy 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.919 that and love that a lot. It really keeps the 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:41.000 trainers locked in. You know, you're not caught looking into 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:46.399 the stands or being distracted. You know, you really or 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.280 there to sit there and watch for injuries and monitor 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:53.600 minutes of guys that are coming back from injury. But 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:57.640 keeping the timehouse, the team fouls, the shot clock, things 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:00.320 like that really helped keep you locked in. On the 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:03.199 job and good communication with the coach. So I'm not 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.679 just telling the coach it's time for this guy to 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.960 come out. We've already had dialogue and he knows that 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.600 I'm looking out for the best interest at harm And 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:14.640 you're not going to get on the referees because there's 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.159 many times that you're in there with the team doctor 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:20.840 and you're caring for the referees as well. Yes, yes, 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:25.520 so that's that's part of our obligation. Generally, it's it's 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.040 someone on on the staff. It could be an assistant trainer, 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:33.160 a head trainer, head athletic trainer, one of our pts, anyone, 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:37.280 you know. So we do supplement the officials with care 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:40.480 as well. Now you've traveled all over certainly with the 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:44.520 six Years, recently China, in Spain and London. But when 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.919 you're with the Wizards, the Sixers and the Wizards played 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:52.360 in Mexico City preseason. You guys had Leonard Hamilton and 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:55.000 we shared it together in Mexico City. Do you remember that? 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.560 I sure do. Wow, we went to We actually went 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:03.639 to Mexico City a few times, and I do remember 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:06.919 those times and sitting down with the Sixers and having 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:09.879 team dinnis. It's funny that this is, uh, you know, 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:11.879 we're on the zoom or the internet, I don't know 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.439 what you call it now. But I did that game. 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.320 And if you remember, they probably have a new arena 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:19.720 nowtum but that used to be used for bullfighting, and 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.320 so the upper reaches of that little arena in Mexico 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:24.399 City had chicken wire on it, right, remember, so the 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:27.840 fans couldn't come down. Yes, so this was at the 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:33.240 very beginning of webcasting or whatever. So I did that. 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:35.480 I don't know what this would have been, maybe ninety eight, 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:40.120 maybe ninety nine, whenever, but so actually the NBA had 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:43.520 gone they brokered their their webcasting if you will, through 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.280 this company in Denver. The game went to I think 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.280 two overtime. So it's preseason at this stage. Everyone's like, 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:53.080 we done, and I was doing the game. I'm not 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:57.080 on the radio, as I say, and it didn't ever 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.040 get on. So I kept asking, like everybody okay, and 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:03.320 the girl who was working with him, he's like, yeah, 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:07.199 I got I'm not looking for Finally got back. We 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.400 went to Chapel Hill. We played a game up there. 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:12.440 We had to stop in Houston and refuel and then 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.800 fly to Raleigh. But and I found out the next 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:18.119 day that didn't make it. So if you go to 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.399 Mexico and you call a double overtime game in the 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:23.520 preseason and you talked the old time that it never lands, 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.600 it's like the tree, and course nobody heard it. I 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:29.920 just didn't remember the most. The one of the things 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:31.800 that stood out to me the most was when we 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:34.399 walked in and the signs of the shower said do 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:37.080 not open mouth, bile in shower, like they didn't want 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:39.199 us to drink the water. Those are some of the 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:42.920 things that people don't think about, you know, No, in 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:45.080 our eyes, we were talking about that dinner that we had. 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:47.680 We shared it, I believe the Intercontinental in Mexico City, 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:50.320 we had staff members our home game, if you will, 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:52.159 so we had staff members down there. We went to 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:56.720 the consulate. Behelipe Lopez spoke for you guys, and one 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.400 of the staff members, Patty Butler, went a great old 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:02.359 time employees and the sixers that, hey, the guys, your 0:22:02.359 --> 0:22:06.000 eyes are all blood run. It was the error pollution 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:09.240 in the city. Didn't even realize that that was affecting 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:11.120 you just by walking around. So I guess you weren't 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:14.760 supposed to open your eyes either, or had a great 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:17.720 time in Mexico did so. But you come to the 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:20.000 six Ers. You're in your seventeenth year. You've had a 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:24.080 great run here and coming to an iconic franchise like 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.560 the Sixers, you must have been stoked to come to Philadelphia. 0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:31.560 I was. It was really, to use the old cliche, 0:22:31.680 --> 0:22:34.720 a dream come true. So rich in history. I mean 0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:39.800 as a kid in Indiana on Sundays, there was the Celtics, 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:44.240