WEBVTT - My Father's Basketball

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<v Speaker 1>Well, Barkley always calls it like he sees it. And

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<v Speaker 1>when he mentions the players who have won titles with

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<v Speaker 1>Houston Rockets, the three who get the most significant minutes

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<v Speaker 1>are chem Olajuan Clyde, Drexler, and Mary o Ellie. But

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<v Speaker 1>Barkley saying flat out that those players, at least one

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<v Speaker 1>of them, we don't know which one is providing a

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<v Speaker 1>lackadaisical effort.

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<v Speaker 2>That was me, Hannah Storm way back in nineteen ninety

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<v Speaker 2>seven hosting the NBA on NBC. If you've worked as

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<v Speaker 2>long as I have, you definitely have a few defining moments.

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<v Speaker 2>And little did I realize this was one of those

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<v Speaker 2>moments for me because of the response from one of

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<v Speaker 2>the NBA's biggest stars.

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<v Speaker 3>Second, I wish they would print what I said and

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<v Speaker 3>not what they think of me, because y'all got not

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<v Speaker 3>that goddamn smart.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, you got to have a sense of urgency

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<v Speaker 4>because I know I don't want this end. And you know,

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<v Speaker 4>they tried to say I was talking about the Ticlar guys.

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<v Speaker 4>I wasn't talking about the Ticlar guys.

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<v Speaker 2>Before off camera, Barkley told reporters this, and I quote,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm really upset about what NBC. Did you tell Dick eversol,

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<v Speaker 2>I don't appreciate what they did. I don't have to

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<v Speaker 2>go to work for them, even though I told them

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<v Speaker 2>I would. It doesn't surprise me though, because it was

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<v Speaker 2>Hannah Storm. Women shouldn't be announcing men's sports anyway.

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<v Speaker 3>Barkley gets called for the foul work the.

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<v Speaker 2>Art heat of the moment comments for sure, but they

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<v Speaker 2>expressed an all too common sentiment, especially at the time.

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<v Speaker 2>This particular incident happened during the Western Conference Finals. Barkley's

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<v Speaker 2>Rockets were down two games to one to the Utah Jazz.

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<v Speaker 2>This was the quote that sparked at all, which we

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<v Speaker 2>had shared on the NBA on NBC.

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<v Speaker 4>A lot of guys on our team accomplish things that

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<v Speaker 4>they want to and they kind of lack a daisical

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<v Speaker 4>at times and until you realize how it's significant and

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<v Speaker 4>important as is. And that's probably the only thing that

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<v Speaker 4>disappoints me about our team. You know, we have a

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<v Speaker 4>lot of vegan guys who have accomplished what they want

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<v Speaker 4>to accomplish, and they don't feel that since the urgency

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<v Speaker 4>that I feel.

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<v Speaker 2>In questioning who Charles was talking about, I was doing

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<v Speaker 2>my job as our NBA host. One can only imagine

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<v Speaker 2>today the headlines that would have generated on sports debate

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<v Speaker 2>shows as a broadcaster. Now, Charles would have DipEd right in,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm sure, but back then, well, his was often a

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<v Speaker 2>de facto response. Obviously Charles doesn't feel this way now.

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<v Speaker 2>But this story illustrates the type of comments that I've

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<v Speaker 2>heard throughout my career, which began back in nineteen eighty three.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to Showtime, everybody again. The final of from

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<v Speaker 1>Oakland is Portland one thirteen, Golden State ninety six.

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<v Speaker 2>I heard it when I was trying to break into

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<v Speaker 2>the business. My audience won't accept a woman doing sports,

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<v Speaker 2>My sports director won't work with a woman. I'll hire

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<v Speaker 2>a woman over my dead body.

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<v Speaker 5>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>That was a good one. And there's always the standard,

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<v Speaker 2>which I've heard many times, believe it or not, as

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<v Speaker 2>recently as when I took an NFL play by play

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<v Speaker 2>job for Amazon, and that's go back to the kitchen

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<v Speaker 2>where you belong. In terms of this incident, I was

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<v Speaker 2>already fifteen years into my career, a familiar, credible presence

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<v Speaker 2>on CNN and then NBC, and yet I had to wonder,

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<v Speaker 2>will I ever get past this. Who else truly believes

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<v Speaker 2>I don't belong here? Fortunately, this story has a pretty

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<v Speaker 2>good ending. Everybody knew Charles would make a great broadcaster

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<v Speaker 2>even back then, and he was a hot candidate to

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<v Speaker 2>join NBC after retirement. USA Today had a media column

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<v Speaker 2>at the time by Rudy Martz. It was read by

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<v Speaker 2>everyone in the business, and of course this story made headlines.

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<v Speaker 2>My boss, Dick Ebersall offered this response to USA Today,

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<v Speaker 2>and I quote, Charles is like a favorite cousin. He's

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<v Speaker 2>always off the wall, always amusing, and unfortunately occasionally sexist,

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<v Speaker 2>but will always leave the light on the door for Charles.

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<v Speaker 2>Not exactly a repudiation of what Charles said, But Ebersall

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<v Speaker 2>had another plan.

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<v Speaker 6>Is the Prutential Halftime Report brought you.

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<v Speaker 2>Game five of the NBA Finals. I was hosting from

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<v Speaker 2>Salt Lake City, the Jazz having beaten the Rockets, and

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<v Speaker 2>we were planning to announce the formation of the WNBA.

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<v Speaker 1>Halftime of Game five in Utah, with the Jazz leading

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<v Speaker 1>the ball fifty three to forty nine, Chicago trailed by

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<v Speaker 1>as much as six.

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<v Speaker 2>As it happened, Charles Barkley was the guest analyst on

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<v Speaker 2>set that day. Given the circumstances, Ebersall felt that he

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<v Speaker 2>you should apologize, and he did on air during the finals.

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, everyone had a storm back in Salt Lake City.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm joined by Charles Barkley of the Houston Rockets, and Charles,

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<v Speaker 1>let's rite off the bat here, clear something up and

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<v Speaker 1>address some sexist comments that you made during the course

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<v Speaker 1>of the Western Conference finals, one of them being that

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<v Speaker 1>women should not announce men's sporting events.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, that was something that was number one, that

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<v Speaker 4>was second and stupid, but it was something that was

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<v Speaker 4>said in Jess. Now, I want to a person apologize

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<v Speaker 4>to you and all the other women out there who

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<v Speaker 4>do men's sports, and I want you to keep up

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<v Speaker 4>the good work. But it was just some said and

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<v Speaker 4>Jeff that was taking away out of contact, but it

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<v Speaker 4>was still stupid.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, last night we both had the opportunity to attend

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<v Speaker 1>a preseason women's NBA game in Houston.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, as a.

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<v Speaker 1>Man, do you feel that you're qualified a comment on

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<v Speaker 1>the new league?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know what I'll tell you.

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<v Speaker 2>I have to admit that felt really good and better.

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<v Speaker 2>Yet Charles grew to become a supportive friend and the

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<v Speaker 2>WNBA became a very very important chapter in my career,

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<v Speaker 2>just as the NBA was and before that, the American

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<v Speaker 2>Basketball Association. One of the questions I am asked the

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<v Speaker 2>most is how did you get into this business? It

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<v Speaker 2>wasn't really a career option for women. Well, I always

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<v Speaker 2>felt that I belonged. That comes from literally growing up

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<v Speaker 2>in basketball.

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<v Speaker 6>Less than two minutes gone in the ballgame and it's

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<v Speaker 6>four to three, Kentucky has the lead, and you can

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<v Speaker 6>almost feel the incestity in this game filbo.

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<v Speaker 2>For as long as I can remember, my dad, Mike Storren,

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<v Speaker 2>was a sports executive, and we followed him around the

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<v Speaker 2>country from city to city and team to team. Today,

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<v Speaker 2>of course, the NBA is a global sports and entertainment giant.

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<v Speaker 2>Players are multi millionaires and cultural icons.

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<v Speaker 6>The rant, oh, padafoul, bing a dollar, a cry back.

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<v Speaker 7>Take a doll, oh fuck like change.

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<v Speaker 2>Where did all that come from? Well, in part because

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<v Speaker 2>of a band of entrepreneurs and visionaries who ended up

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<v Speaker 2>changing the game forever and defining the course of my career.

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<v Speaker 2>As a young girl, I fell in love with the

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<v Speaker 2>fun and excitement of basketball, making sports my dream. Even

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<v Speaker 2>though not everyone shared my vision, basketball has been central

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<v Speaker 2>to my life, and this podcast weaves through our entwined

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<v Speaker 2>history through six decades and three leagues. This is my

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<v Speaker 2>NBA DNA Episode one, My Father's Basketball.

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<v Speaker 6>It gets it back again. McDaniel's favorite good numbers Kentucky,

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<v Speaker 6>the lanes are full right wing, Lois shops and puffs.

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<v Speaker 8>He's got it.

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<v Speaker 2>The basketball of my childhood is something that few have

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<v Speaker 2>actually seen. It exists today through stories passed down through

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<v Speaker 2>the years, an oral history of a league that went

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<v Speaker 2>largely untelevised into cities like Denver, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Louisville,

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<v Speaker 2>Saint Louis and Memphis. It was high flying, wide open, flashy,

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<v Speaker 2>and to a kid, pure magic.

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<v Speaker 8>Two fires one at that time.

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<v Speaker 1>Are there?

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<v Speaker 2>My dad, Mike Storren, was right there at the epicenter

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<v Speaker 2>of the upstart league. His favorite part of his decades

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<v Speaker 2>long career. His highlight reel is pretty epic. He helped

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<v Speaker 2>found the Indiana Pacers and was general manager of three

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<v Speaker 2>professional teams, including the Atlanta Hawks. He was the fifth

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<v Speaker 2>commissioner of the American Basketball Association, which existed from nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty seven to nineteen seventy six, and Dad loved to

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<v Speaker 2>tell stories about it.

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<v Speaker 9>Just tell a lot of lies, right, Star is a

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<v Speaker 9>lot better belly. No, I'm just easy.

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<v Speaker 2>That's my dad. Sadly we lost him in twenty twenty,

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<v Speaker 2>but I'm grateful that he was interviewed extensively by the

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<v Speaker 2>folks at the NBA, so you'll hear my dad throughout

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<v Speaker 2>this series. He was super creative and I'm proud that

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<v Speaker 2>many of his ideas are part of the game today.

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<v Speaker 9>Wouldn't it be great one day if we really had

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<v Speaker 9>television and more than one game a week on Sunday afternoon.

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<v Speaker 9>Wouldn't it be great if we were able to make

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<v Speaker 9>and incorporate internationally basketball and tap into and take advantage

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<v Speaker 9>of the great players in the world. And wouldn't it

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<v Speaker 9>be great if everybody could wear San Antonio Spurs jacket?

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<v Speaker 9>And wouldn't it be great if we could acknowledge women's

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<v Speaker 9>role in basketball.

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<v Speaker 2>Now you can see where I got my ability to

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<v Speaker 2>think outside the box. Of course, back then, I was

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<v Speaker 2>just a little kid along for the wild ride that

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<v Speaker 2>was my dad's career, alongside my two younger brothers, Mark

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<v Speaker 2>and Duke Storn. Here's Duke.

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<v Speaker 7>We moved around every four years or so. We went

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<v Speaker 7>from Indianapolis to Louisville, to Memphis, to Atlanta to Houston.

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<v Speaker 7>Always had interesting people over to the house, sometimes athletes,

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<v Speaker 7>sometimes just characters from my dad's sports world.

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<v Speaker 2>Since we moved around a lot, my dad's teams were

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<v Speaker 2>more like extended families that come for Thanksgiving or Christmas parties.

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<v Speaker 6>Artist gets it again, I got you back.

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<v Speaker 2>I remember players like Bob MADELECKI Melt Daniels, Artist Gilmore,

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<v Speaker 2>dan Issel hanging out at the house.

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<v Speaker 7>That's probably my earliest memory. I mean, I've got a

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<v Speaker 7>great picture of sitting on artist Gilmore's lap. I was,

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<v Speaker 7>you know, three years old or something, and you know,

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<v Speaker 7>I like he could actually hold me in his hand.

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<v Speaker 2>Probably, Oh my gosh, I need that picture. You got

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<v Speaker 2>to send me the picture.

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<v Speaker 7>Because he was you know, seven too. But as you know,

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<v Speaker 7>the froze were so great back in the late sixties

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<v Speaker 7>early seventies.

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<v Speaker 8>Yeah, he had another He had like.

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<v Speaker 7>Another six inches, you know, going with his cool hair.

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<v Speaker 6>Feel more setting up low inside Roberts.

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<v Speaker 7>You got to go to a lot of good games

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<v Speaker 7>and felt like sports royalty, getting a sick courtside and

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<v Speaker 7>yell at the refs and do all the things that

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<v Speaker 7>my Dad would do well.

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<v Speaker 2>Actually, it was Mom who yelled at the referees because

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<v Speaker 2>Mom played basketball in college, and so she was constantly

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<v Speaker 2>yelling at the refs. And what I remember was she'd

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<v Speaker 2>be like, goshoo, he walked, blah blah blah, blah blah.

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<v Speaker 2>I remember knowing the names of all the referees almost

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<v Speaker 2>better than the players, because Mom would yell at them

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<v Speaker 2>right mark.

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<v Speaker 8>Half the fun was going there knowing we were just

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<v Speaker 8>going to scream at some adults and we could get

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<v Speaker 8>away with it, and it was It was totally acceptable.

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<v Speaker 8>I also remember sitting around the dinner table right commenting

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<v Speaker 8>on teams and players by hate say now, but probably

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<v Speaker 8>particularly by me, was like, oh, you don't know, you know, hen,

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<v Speaker 8>you just have no idea that. Of course, after a

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<v Speaker 8>few years, everyone quickly learned in the entire family never

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<v Speaker 8>to argue with Hannah when it came to anything about

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<v Speaker 8>sports again, because she always had a lot more facts,

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<v Speaker 8>you know, to back up her opinions and stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>Those dinner table debates were great for me, especially as

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<v Speaker 2>I tried to prove to my dad how much I knew.

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<v Speaker 2>I even remember when I was little sitting with him

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<v Speaker 2>at our kitchen table in Indianapolis and drawing up the

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<v Speaker 2>Pacers colors and team low go, that's so funny. What

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<v Speaker 2>sticks with you? Years later?

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<v Speaker 8>I remember dan Issel taking his teeth out, I think

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<v Speaker 8>Kentucky Colonel's right, taking his front two teeth out before

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<v Speaker 8>every game, and he would walk over and he'd scowl

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<v Speaker 8>at the bench of the opposing team, you know, missing

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<v Speaker 8>these teeth in front, and like I'm like, what's he doing?

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<v Speaker 8>And David always laughing, like it's just trying to intimidate

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<v Speaker 8>those guys, And of course he usually did on.

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<v Speaker 10>The bookles all over the place tonight twenty four point.

0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:42.480
<v Speaker 2>Something else that I remember vividly the style women dressed

0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.920
<v Speaker 2>to the nines for the games. My mom had an

0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.760
<v Speaker 2>entire closet of wigs and cool outfits like hot pants.

0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.880
<v Speaker 2>The glamorous women at the games, like C. C. Daniels

0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:57.000
<v Speaker 2>and Turquoise Irving. They were like movie stars to me.

0:13:58.640 --> 0:13:59.959
<v Speaker 6>I had a chetam taine for William.

0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:04.600
<v Speaker 2>Of course, on the court, it also was all about

0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:10.400
<v Speaker 2>stuck the playground moves, the pace of the game, the

0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:14.479
<v Speaker 2>three pointers, the slam dunks, all of it would eventually

0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.160
<v Speaker 2>become a cornerstone of basketball as we know it today,

0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.160
<v Speaker 2>and at the center of all of it was the

0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:32.400
<v Speaker 2>face of the abat doctor j It's so great to

0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.280
<v Speaker 2>talk to you and great to see you a face

0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:37.560
<v Speaker 2>that's so familiar. I've known you since I was a

0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:40.800
<v Speaker 2>little girl. I don't know, wondering how old. My dad

0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:42.680
<v Speaker 2>always said, I guess I met you, and I was

0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:43.680
<v Speaker 2>probably eight.

0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:45.760
<v Speaker 11>Yeah.

0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:51.320
<v Speaker 2>Julius Irving was the ABA long before he helped lead

0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.320
<v Speaker 2>the Sixers to an NBA title in nineteen eighty three.

0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:58.000
<v Speaker 2>He played hoops at Roosevelt High School on Long Island

0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:02.359
<v Speaker 2>and had a few early iterationations of that famous nickname.

0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:04.920
<v Speaker 6>Harry come Doctor looks.

0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:09.400
<v Speaker 7>For Daylight with me, and they took that to the.

0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.680
<v Speaker 11>I had a nickname that I had gotten like in

0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.760
<v Speaker 11>ninth grade from my friend the professor. He called me

0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:18.000
<v Speaker 11>the Doctor. So when they started calling me different names,

0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.840
<v Speaker 11>the Claude he called me, and that was pretending to

0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.600
<v Speaker 11>be in like Connie Hawkins being called the claw because

0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:25.720
<v Speaker 11>I could pick the ball up in one hand, and I.

0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:26.760
<v Speaker 5>Was like, I don't want to be clawed.

0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:28.720
<v Speaker 2>It doesn't have the same ring.

0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.920
<v Speaker 11>I don't want to be you know. I don't think

0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:37.120
<v Speaker 11>it turned out that well.

0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.320
<v Speaker 5>For me, I'm not mistaken.

0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.160
<v Speaker 2>And then doctor Julius, which truly doesn't have the same

0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:47.640
<v Speaker 2>ring as doctor J. Right, doctor J. It's just perfect.

0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:50.640
<v Speaker 11>Well, I told him the doctor because that was what

0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.040
<v Speaker 11>Leon gave me. He gave me the doctor, and I

0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.880
<v Speaker 11>gave him the professor. And so they took to the

0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:01.080
<v Speaker 11>doctor and they said doctor, the doctor. Doctor. That first year,

0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:04.080
<v Speaker 11>and when I went to training camp to the team,

0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:08.440
<v Speaker 11>positions were called doc and doctor, and our trainer said, well,

0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.720
<v Speaker 11>you got to be doctor J, because you know doctor

0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.360
<v Speaker 11>Mason is doctor M. So I became doctor J.

0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.640
<v Speaker 2>Doctor J was twenty one when he began his ABA career,

0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:26.880
<v Speaker 2>having left after his junior year at UMass. That's something

0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.560
<v Speaker 2>you could not do in the NBA at the time.

0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.640
<v Speaker 2>He played for the Virginia Squires and later the New

0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.360
<v Speaker 2>York Nets and helped take the street style of Harlem's

0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:38.520
<v Speaker 2>famed Rooker Park to the pro.

0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:42.000
<v Speaker 6>Doctor J under unbelievable Doctor J with us back to

0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:43.680
<v Speaker 6>the basket. So they get to and they moved it

0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:44.280
<v Speaker 6>with the play.

0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:47.320
<v Speaker 5>It was.

0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:49.200
<v Speaker 12>It was kind of like a coming out party for

0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.960
<v Speaker 12>me because I had played two years at UMass's varsity

0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:56.280
<v Speaker 12>player in one year as a freshman, and during that time,

0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:58.760
<v Speaker 12>you know, the dunk was taken out of the game.

0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.920
<v Speaker 11>He had limited it my sophomore year because you could

0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.239
<v Speaker 11>dunk in the warm ups, so when you're warming up

0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.720
<v Speaker 11>and you loosen it up, you can dunk basketball. And

0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:09.720
<v Speaker 11>then by junior year, they just took it out all

0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.960
<v Speaker 11>together because they were trying to slow down Blue el center.

0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:16.720
<v Speaker 11>I think they were.

0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:18.320
<v Speaker 8>I think it was aimed at him, That's what I.

0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:19.280
<v Speaker 5>Was, Okay.

0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:20.320
<v Speaker 2>I didn't realize that.

0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:22.800
<v Speaker 11>Okay, not that he dunkeed the ball a whole lot,

0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:26.960
<v Speaker 11>but it made him develop that skyhook that nobody was

0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.480
<v Speaker 11>able to taste.

0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:32.960
<v Speaker 6>What a big pressure shot.

0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:35.040
<v Speaker 11>So I think it was aimed to him.

0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.000
<v Speaker 2>And in your first season in the ABA, you averaged

0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:42.879
<v Speaker 2>twenty seven points fifteen rebounds for assists, your second team

0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.240
<v Speaker 2>All ABA, a runner up for Rookie of the Year

0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:50.960
<v Speaker 2>behind artist Gilmore. How was the top talent of the ABA, Well, I.

0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.479
<v Speaker 11>Think the cream of the crop, you know, which was

0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:58.960
<v Speaker 11>artists and Danis or George McInnis, Melo Daniels, Roger Brown,

0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:04.960
<v Speaker 11>Willie White as Zimobati. The competition was great. I had

0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.240
<v Speaker 11>a guy named Joe Calwell who was really a thought

0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.240
<v Speaker 11>on my side. I think I averaged twenty seven points

0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:13.600
<v Speaker 11>against the rest of the league in about twenty one

0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:17.199
<v Speaker 11>or twenty two against him, and I always have my

0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:21.240
<v Speaker 11>shorts turned around after the game. No, I had nothing

0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.159
<v Speaker 11>but respect for the players. There was a footloose and

0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:25.959
<v Speaker 11>fancy freeiness about it.

0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.800
<v Speaker 9>And of course the NBA position was they play a

0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:35.400
<v Speaker 9>undisciplined brand of basketball, they don't know how to play defense,

0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:40.960
<v Speaker 9>and they certainly couldn't compete against the wonderful level of

0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:44.120
<v Speaker 9>talent that we have in the NBA. On the other side,

0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.920
<v Speaker 9>we said, NBA doesn't know what they're talking about. Our

0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:51.960
<v Speaker 9>players are just as good as theirs, if not better,

0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.680
<v Speaker 9>our teams are as good as theirs, if not better,

0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.600
<v Speaker 9>And we are every bit as good and entertaining and

0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:06.960
<v Speaker 9>more entertaining in the NBA.

0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:11.359
<v Speaker 2>From day one, the ABA intended to disrupt the League's

0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:15.280
<v Speaker 2>founders had watched the American Football League merge with the NFL,

0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.240
<v Speaker 2>and in nineteen sixty seven they created the ABA in

0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:22.399
<v Speaker 2>hopes of a merger with the NBA. At the time,

0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.600
<v Speaker 2>that's where my dad was in the NBA with the

0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:29.080
<v Speaker 2>Cincinnati Royals, but he jumped at the chance to create

0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:31.840
<v Speaker 2>a team in the new League in his home state

0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.320
<v Speaker 2>of Indiana.

0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:42.160
<v Speaker 9>As a business manager for the Cincinnati Royals and as

0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:47.159
<v Speaker 9>a former Marine, I believed that I could run a

0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:51.120
<v Speaker 9>basketball team as well as anybody. All that, of course,

0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:55.040
<v Speaker 9>would be subject to question, but certainly not in my mind.

0:19:55.280 --> 0:20:01.639
<v Speaker 9>When the ABA began its formation, a contemporary and best

0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.840
<v Speaker 9>friend of mine from the Marine Corps was an attorney

0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:11.000
<v Speaker 9>in Indianapolis, Indiana. His name was Dick Tinkham, and Dick

0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:15.159
<v Speaker 9>put together a group that was interested in joining the

0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:20.920
<v Speaker 9>ABA and putting a franchise in Indianapolis, Indiana. And Dick

0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:25.080
<v Speaker 9>called me and said, as a contemporary from the Marine Corps,

0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:27.080
<v Speaker 9>we're looking for somebody to come in here and run

0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:31.680
<v Speaker 9>this thing. Are you interested? And my answer was I'll

0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.120
<v Speaker 9>be there tomorrow.

0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.840
<v Speaker 2>Dad grew up in Michigan City, Indiana, and went to

0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.280
<v Speaker 2>Notre Dame, playing one year of football there, just as

0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:44.600
<v Speaker 2>he did following college when he served in the Marine Corps.

0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:47.600
<v Speaker 2>Then he decided to try and make sports a career.

0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:50.920
<v Speaker 2>As we were living in Chicago, where I had been born.

0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:55.280
<v Speaker 9>And so I wrote every sports team in the United

0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:58.480
<v Speaker 9>States and said that I was coming out of the

0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.400
<v Speaker 9>Marine Corps and I was looking for a job, and

0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:06.760
<v Speaker 9>I received somewhere around two hundred rejection letters, and as

0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:10.040
<v Speaker 9>a result, I thought, well, let's see it doesn't work

0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:13.280
<v Speaker 9>by sending anybody a letter. So I read in the

0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:18.960
<v Speaker 9>Chicago Tribune that the then Chicago Zephyr's professional basketball team

0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:23.560
<v Speaker 9>had only sold six hundred season tickets. So I picked

0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:28.399
<v Speaker 9>up the telephone and I called the owner of the

0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:33.040
<v Speaker 9>Chicago Zephyrs and I said, this is Captain Mike Storn

0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:35.720
<v Speaker 9>of the United States Marine Corps, and I'd like to

0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:38.960
<v Speaker 9>meet you on personal business. So he had no idea

0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:43.000
<v Speaker 9>who it was or what was going on. Put it

0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.120
<v Speaker 9>on my dressed blue uniform, went down to his office

0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:49.800
<v Speaker 9>and I said, mister Trager, I personally will sell six

0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:53.199
<v Speaker 9>hundred new season tickets for your team. He hired me

0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:58.400
<v Speaker 9>and I became the promotion director for the Chicago Zephyrs,

0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:02.720
<v Speaker 9>who subsequently moved to Baltimore, where I moved with the

0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:05.440
<v Speaker 9>team and started my professional sports career.

0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.919
<v Speaker 2>My dad was unafraid to put himself out there a

0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:23.600
<v Speaker 2>trait my brothers and I would inherit.

0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:31.000
<v Speaker 13>Was it Chicago, where he would open the back door

0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:35.280
<v Speaker 13>and let in everybody, so that would look like that

0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:38.000
<v Speaker 13>the stadium was filled up for that Baltimore.

0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:41.000
<v Speaker 2>I bet he did that in numerous cities too.

0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:43.159
<v Speaker 6>Well.

0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:47.960
<v Speaker 7>I mean, I think he always looked at another way

0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:50.679
<v Speaker 7>to solve a problem. You know, he would do that.

0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:54.560
<v Speaker 7>He would extend that like to everyday life, Like he

0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.120
<v Speaker 7>always found a parking space even if it was illegal,

0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:01.320
<v Speaker 7>like right, it's an entrant, or if there was a

0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:05.159
<v Speaker 7>line for tickets, you know. I remember Mark tells a

0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:07.120
<v Speaker 7>story he was going to see I don't know, Star

0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:08.120
<v Speaker 7>Wars or something.

0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:11.680
<v Speaker 8>Non Living Dead midnight movie along.

0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:14.280
<v Speaker 7>My living dad and they were one hundred people back

0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:16.800
<v Speaker 7>and Dad would say, I'll be back in a minute,

0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:18.880
<v Speaker 7>and he would like come back with the ticket. Yeah,

0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:21.760
<v Speaker 7>the rules didn't always apply to Dad, and I think

0:23:21.760 --> 0:23:24.520
<v Speaker 7>he was really proud of that. And I think that

0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:28.800
<v Speaker 7>that type of example inspired us all to maybe think

0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:32.840
<v Speaker 7>differently and not just accept the status quo of the

0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:35.960
<v Speaker 7>way that the world worked. And you know, obviously, Hannah,

0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:40.760
<v Speaker 7>you just breaking through like every glass ceiling as a

0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:44.119
<v Speaker 7>pre eminent woman's sportscaster that led the way for all

0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:47.760
<v Speaker 7>all the others, you must have absorbed that same lesson.

0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:50.040
<v Speaker 7>It's like, just because that's the way that things are

0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:51.760
<v Speaker 7>doesn't mean this way they have to be.

0:23:52.359 --> 0:23:55.000
<v Speaker 8>I just remember that we really kind of had a

0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:58.120
<v Speaker 8>sports culture that we grew up in, right, So it's

0:23:58.320 --> 0:24:01.280
<v Speaker 8>so not surprising handed that, you know, you've broken down

0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:04.399
<v Speaker 8>a lot of those walls and stuff to be you know,

0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:07.919
<v Speaker 8>a woman broadcaster in sports, and that dad, you know,

0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:10.720
<v Speaker 8>made a career out of it. Every house we lived in,

0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:13.680
<v Speaker 8>the first thing that happened we moved to a new house.

0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:15.040
<v Speaker 8>Who gets put up right?

0:24:15.119 --> 0:24:15.359
<v Speaker 2>Yep?

0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:19.280
<v Speaker 8>In the driveway, Samannada, we always had a ping pong table. Yeah,

0:24:19.440 --> 0:24:21.840
<v Speaker 8>there was just constantly this, oh, let's go play this,

0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:24.600
<v Speaker 8>you know, where there was a game or sports doing

0:24:24.640 --> 0:24:28.720
<v Speaker 8>the football or whatever. There was just constantly this culture

0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:32.280
<v Speaker 8>of competing in sports that was going on all the time.

0:24:32.359 --> 0:24:32.520
<v Speaker 11>Right.

0:24:32.600 --> 0:24:32.800
<v Speaker 8>Yeah.

0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:34.760
<v Speaker 2>You also got rid of a bunch of my boyfriends

0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:38.280
<v Speaker 2>that way. So every time I would date somebody, oh

0:24:38.359 --> 0:24:41.080
<v Speaker 2>my god, every time I would date somebody, Mark and

0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:43.720
<v Speaker 2>Duke would take him out on the hoops court and

0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:47.880
<v Speaker 2>Dad too, egging the whole thing. And then like if

0:24:47.920 --> 0:24:50.879
<v Speaker 2>the guy like wasn't like a decent hoops player, you

0:24:50.880 --> 0:24:52.960
<v Speaker 2>can tell the story, but you can't say name's Mark.

0:24:53.240 --> 0:25:00.560
<v Speaker 8>Yes, we did get rid of several boyfriends starting to

0:25:00.800 --> 0:25:03.520
<v Speaker 8>high school, I think right like Hannah would kind of

0:25:03.520 --> 0:25:06.280
<v Speaker 8>get serious and then definitely in college and afterwards, and

0:25:06.760 --> 0:25:08.760
<v Speaker 8>when it started to you know, turn the corner hand,

0:25:08.760 --> 0:25:10.280
<v Speaker 8>it would go from you know, it was a fun

0:25:10.359 --> 0:25:12.040
<v Speaker 8>day to you know, a little twickle in her eye

0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:15.879
<v Speaker 8>to come up it was like, okay, we have to

0:25:15.920 --> 0:25:18.920
<v Speaker 8>take this person out, and it would be too unto

0:25:19.240 --> 0:25:21.919
<v Speaker 8>So often it was Dad and I against Duke and

0:25:21.920 --> 0:25:25.800
<v Speaker 8>Hannah's boyfriend, and the whole thing was we don't really

0:25:25.840 --> 0:25:28.640
<v Speaker 8>care if he shoots that well, but what's the dude

0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:30.840
<v Speaker 8>gonna do when he takes a heart foul? Like that

0:25:30.960 --> 0:25:33.520
<v Speaker 8>was Dad's things, like he's like, you know, one time

0:25:33.520 --> 0:25:35.760
<v Speaker 8>it would be you know, Duke on the opposite team,

0:25:35.760 --> 0:25:37.560
<v Speaker 8>next over your knee, but one of us would be

0:25:37.600 --> 0:25:41.880
<v Speaker 8>like you knock him on his butt or shove him

0:25:41.920 --> 0:25:45.119
<v Speaker 8>on a pit into the bushes next to the garage,

0:25:45.560 --> 0:25:48.200
<v Speaker 8>and then don't say thing like no one likes you know, no,

0:25:48.359 --> 0:25:51.240
<v Speaker 8>oh starry. If the dude gets up and he's whiny

0:25:51.920 --> 0:25:54.760
<v Speaker 8>and like this, you know, total baby and then trying

0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:57.520
<v Speaker 8>to like get up everyone's face, it's like, you know,

0:25:57.680 --> 0:25:59.520
<v Speaker 8>one of us is gonna tell hand this this person's

0:25:59.520 --> 0:26:02.959
<v Speaker 8>not gonna work out. And then, of course when we

0:26:03.000 --> 0:26:06.639
<v Speaker 8>did the same thing with Dan Hicks, Dan Hicks happens

0:26:06.680 --> 0:26:10.560
<v Speaker 8>to be not only a really good sportscaster and golfer,

0:26:11.000 --> 0:26:13.080
<v Speaker 8>but dude can shoot some hoops to my gosh, and

0:26:13.119 --> 0:26:15.399
<v Speaker 8>of course, you know, he took his fair share of

0:26:15.520 --> 0:26:18.440
<v Speaker 8>you know, elbows to the face and heart kicks.

0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:23.200
<v Speaker 2>Never complained once spoiler alert, I married Dan. But enough

0:26:23.240 --> 0:26:25.639
<v Speaker 2>of that, let's get back to the story of my dad.

0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:29.200
<v Speaker 2>He saw an opportunity with the ABA, and he wasn't

0:26:29.240 --> 0:26:30.080
<v Speaker 2>afraid to take it.

0:26:32.520 --> 0:26:37.760
<v Speaker 9>The exciting part of my going to Indiana and going

0:26:37.840 --> 0:26:42.840
<v Speaker 9>into the ABA is that I started in Indianapolis, Indiana,

0:26:42.960 --> 0:26:47.400
<v Speaker 9>with a yellow legal pad and a pencil. Starting from

0:26:47.520 --> 0:26:53.040
<v Speaker 9>scratch was a wonderful opportunity for me. That meant I

0:26:53.080 --> 0:26:57.560
<v Speaker 9>had total control and I could implement and do everything

0:26:58.119 --> 0:26:59.960
<v Speaker 9>the way that I thought it should be done.

0:27:02.000 --> 0:27:07.720
<v Speaker 2>There were no assistant GMS, scouting directors, presidents of basketball operations.

0:27:07.880 --> 0:27:10.800
<v Speaker 2>When my dad went to Indiana, he made all the

0:27:10.840 --> 0:27:14.720
<v Speaker 2>basketball decisions. He brought in three future Hall of famers,

0:27:14.920 --> 0:27:19.119
<v Speaker 2>hired Slick Leonard to coach, traded for superstar Mel Daniels

0:27:19.280 --> 0:27:21.560
<v Speaker 2>and sign the man that many have called the best

0:27:21.560 --> 0:27:25.480
<v Speaker 2>player to never play in the NBA, Roger Brown. My

0:27:25.600 --> 0:27:28.800
<v Speaker 2>dad's decisions would become the foundation of a team that

0:27:28.880 --> 0:27:41.280
<v Speaker 2>won three titles and went to five ABA finals. Of course,

0:27:41.400 --> 0:27:44.560
<v Speaker 2>not all of my dad's moves over the years were popular,

0:27:44.760 --> 0:27:48.240
<v Speaker 2>as we learned firsthand when my dad became general manager

0:27:48.280 --> 0:27:52.600
<v Speaker 2>of the Kentucky Colonels and fired its popular coach, Gene Rhodes.

0:27:53.359 --> 0:27:56.400
<v Speaker 9>One of the articles said, if you don't like what

0:27:56.640 --> 0:28:00.520
<v Speaker 9>mister Starrn has done, go to the games and boo him,

0:28:01.600 --> 0:28:04.960
<v Speaker 9>and two call him and tell them what you think. Well,

0:28:05.520 --> 0:28:10.119
<v Speaker 9>I've never had an unlisted phone, and a lot of

0:28:10.119 --> 0:28:13.199
<v Speaker 9>people called. I must say that my wife became a

0:28:13.200 --> 0:28:18.560
<v Speaker 9>little upset with the results, not particularly happy when some

0:28:18.600 --> 0:28:23.720
<v Speaker 9>people dumb garbage on my front lawn. And so, to

0:28:23.760 --> 0:28:26.320
<v Speaker 9>make a long story short, I had my wife and

0:28:26.400 --> 0:28:31.920
<v Speaker 9>kids go to Disneyland for a week while things cooled off.

0:28:33.080 --> 0:28:34.200
<v Speaker 2>Here's my brother Mark.

0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:39.040
<v Speaker 8>I know that Dad would orchestrate trades on behalf of

0:28:39.080 --> 0:28:42.120
<v Speaker 8>the team, and a lot of times people be protesting

0:28:42.200 --> 0:28:46.360
<v Speaker 8>Dan's moves. And here's one picture, this guy holding the

0:28:46.440 --> 0:28:50.920
<v Speaker 8>sign saying trade storing for schubin it. Yeah, Pacers, right,

0:28:50.960 --> 0:28:55.720
<v Speaker 8>So I remember not everyone always being happy about decisions

0:28:55.760 --> 0:28:58.239
<v Speaker 8>that might have been made that impacted the team. But

0:28:58.440 --> 0:29:02.000
<v Speaker 8>also I remember the react, you know, Dan's reaction, which is,

0:29:02.040 --> 0:29:04.360
<v Speaker 8>you know, you know what, we don't need to worry

0:29:04.400 --> 0:29:06.200
<v Speaker 8>about those people. And there's always going to be people

0:29:06.200 --> 0:29:08.320
<v Speaker 8>who love you. There's always gonna be people that hate you,

0:29:08.880 --> 0:29:11.480
<v Speaker 8>so you know, you just got to kind of kind

0:29:11.480 --> 0:29:12.120
<v Speaker 8>of carry on.

0:29:12.400 --> 0:29:16.960
<v Speaker 2>I vividly remember being in Memphis and people putting for

0:29:17.080 --> 0:29:18.160
<v Speaker 2>sale signs in our.

0:29:18.080 --> 0:29:20.240
<v Speaker 5>Yard though oh really, oh really.

0:29:20.160 --> 0:29:23.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I do remember that. And then I remember being

0:29:23.680 --> 0:29:26.920
<v Speaker 2>in high school with the Atlanta Hawks. Dad was only

0:29:26.960 --> 0:29:29.959
<v Speaker 2>with the Hawks for a couple of months before he

0:29:30.000 --> 0:29:32.120
<v Speaker 2>made a move that Ted Turner didn't like. And I

0:29:32.200 --> 0:29:35.840
<v Speaker 2>remember being in high school and dad had just gotten

0:29:35.880 --> 0:29:39.240
<v Speaker 2>the job with the Atlanta Hawks and then he was

0:29:39.280 --> 0:29:44.520
<v Speaker 2>like fired almost immediately, like months later, and I remember

0:29:44.640 --> 0:29:48.360
<v Speaker 2>that that was super embarrassing and like sad as a

0:29:48.440 --> 0:29:52.160
<v Speaker 2>high school kid, you mean, yeah, yeah, you know, you

0:29:52.200 --> 0:29:54.560
<v Speaker 2>felt bad for your dad. You felt like, oh, you're

0:29:54.600 --> 0:29:57.200
<v Speaker 2>not the new kid in town, and like, so there's

0:29:57.200 --> 0:29:59.760
<v Speaker 2>some things I remember like that, but I think mostly

0:29:59.760 --> 0:30:06.600
<v Speaker 2>our remember like the sadness of losing we love to

0:30:06.720 --> 0:30:10.000
<v Speaker 2>just yell at athletes and you know, rip on gms

0:30:10.120 --> 0:30:12.880
<v Speaker 2>and say that coaches should be fired and all of that.

0:30:13.000 --> 0:30:15.240
<v Speaker 2>And I mean, I don't know about you, guys, but

0:30:15.280 --> 0:30:18.080
<v Speaker 2>I do think about our own experience of like our

0:30:18.160 --> 0:30:21.600
<v Speaker 2>dad getting fired from jobs and you know, losing jobs

0:30:21.600 --> 0:30:23.600
<v Speaker 2>and one that does to your family and moving around,

0:30:23.680 --> 0:30:25.800
<v Speaker 2>and I don't know, I think that that gives you

0:30:25.840 --> 0:30:31.320
<v Speaker 2>a lot of empathy. Growing up with my dad gave

0:30:31.360 --> 0:30:34.760
<v Speaker 2>me an understanding of the business of sports. After his

0:30:34.960 --> 0:30:38.920
<v Speaker 2>Indiana Pacers won the ABA title in nineteen seventy, he

0:30:39.000 --> 0:30:42.920
<v Speaker 2>became president GM and part owner of the Kentucky Colonels,

0:30:43.120 --> 0:30:47.640
<v Speaker 2>quickly building the team into an ABA powerhouse. In nineteen

0:30:47.760 --> 0:30:51.080
<v Speaker 2>seventy one, he secured the draft rights for Hall of

0:30:51.120 --> 0:30:55.040
<v Speaker 2>Famer the A train artist Gilmore, who was drafted in

0:30:55.200 --> 0:30:58.400
<v Speaker 2>both leagues, but went to the Colonels on a ten year,

0:30:58.520 --> 0:31:02.400
<v Speaker 2>two point five million dollar contract, becoming both Rookie of

0:31:02.400 --> 0:31:06.360
<v Speaker 2>the Year and MVP over Julia Servia.

0:31:06.240 --> 0:31:09.000
<v Speaker 6>Or should get Blowing's side being jam Bombers command the Breen.

0:31:08.880 --> 0:31:09.480
<v Speaker 5>Going off there.

0:31:11.080 --> 0:31:14.479
<v Speaker 2>My dad was intent on proving to the NBA that

0:31:14.600 --> 0:31:16.520
<v Speaker 2>the ABA was legit.

0:31:19.600 --> 0:31:23.600
<v Speaker 9>I was able to put together the first exhibition games

0:31:23.880 --> 0:31:27.920
<v Speaker 9>between the leagues, so we were able to bring in

0:31:27.920 --> 0:31:31.160
<v Speaker 9>in one exhibition game the Milwaukee Bucks, who at the

0:31:31.240 --> 0:31:36.080
<v Speaker 9>time had a guy named Oscar Robison playing that's center,

0:31:36.760 --> 0:31:40.560
<v Speaker 9>whose name was the Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and we of

0:31:40.600 --> 0:31:44.360
<v Speaker 9>course had Dan Essel and artist Gilmore and Louis Dampier,

0:31:44.480 --> 0:31:47.480
<v Speaker 9>one of the great shooters of all time. I don't

0:31:47.480 --> 0:31:50.480
<v Speaker 9>even remember who won. I guess I would suggest we did,

0:31:50.920 --> 0:31:53.880
<v Speaker 9>but I can remember the building was sold out and

0:31:53.920 --> 0:31:59.600
<v Speaker 9>I remember artists stepping into the center against Kareem. I

0:31:59.640 --> 0:32:02.360
<v Speaker 9>think the players walked away in their own mind and said,

0:32:02.840 --> 0:32:05.800
<v Speaker 9>we really are as good as these guys. In fact,

0:32:06.040 --> 0:32:06.960
<v Speaker 9>we really are better.

0:32:08.480 --> 0:32:11.800
<v Speaker 2>Kentucky was a springboard to my dad's next gig where

0:32:11.840 --> 0:32:15.440
<v Speaker 2>he could really wield some influence as the fifth Commissioner

0:32:15.480 --> 0:32:19.320
<v Speaker 2>of the ABA in nineteen seventy three. It was really

0:32:19.400 --> 0:32:22.160
<v Speaker 2>exciting for my family. We got to fly to New

0:32:22.240 --> 0:32:25.120
<v Speaker 2>York City for the announcement. Here's Duke.

0:32:27.320 --> 0:32:31.200
<v Speaker 7>My early first limo ride I think I ever went on.

0:32:31.440 --> 0:32:34.440
<v Speaker 7>I just remember this incredible trip. I mean it was

0:32:34.480 --> 0:32:37.120
<v Speaker 7>I was young, but I still still remember it.

0:32:37.280 --> 0:32:40.040
<v Speaker 2>We went to the twenty one Club. I remember like

0:32:40.120 --> 0:32:41.800
<v Speaker 2>coming to New York and being like, oh, this is

0:32:41.840 --> 0:32:44.200
<v Speaker 2>my dream man, I want to live here one day.

0:32:44.680 --> 0:32:48.720
<v Speaker 2>And I would many years later working for NBC Sports,

0:32:48.840 --> 0:32:56.040
<v Speaker 2>which is where I first met legendary broadcaster Bob Costas.

0:32:56.360 --> 0:32:59.760
<v Speaker 10>The two craziest experiences of my life were the first

0:32:59.760 --> 0:33:02.920
<v Speaker 10>two at twenty one in the Eastern Hockey League and

0:33:02.960 --> 0:33:06.120
<v Speaker 10>then at twenty two in the ABA. And you know

0:33:06.240 --> 0:33:09.280
<v Speaker 10>from your own experience and your dad's that the ABA

0:33:09.520 --> 0:33:11.240
<v Speaker 10>was both ridiculous.

0:33:10.680 --> 0:33:14.440
<v Speaker 2>And subloc Bob also got his start in the ABA

0:33:14.800 --> 0:33:18.160
<v Speaker 2>long before he became a star with NBC. He left

0:33:18.200 --> 0:33:22.640
<v Speaker 2>Syracuse University in nineteen seventy four twelve credits shy of

0:33:22.720 --> 0:33:26.000
<v Speaker 2>graduation to become the play by play announcer for the

0:33:26.080 --> 0:33:29.280
<v Speaker 2>Saint Louis Spirits. And you were twenty two years old, right.

0:33:29.280 --> 0:33:31.240
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I was twenty two. I looked like host fifteen.

0:33:32.880 --> 0:33:35.240
<v Speaker 2>Okay, I believe that, because right now you look like

0:33:35.280 --> 0:33:39.080
<v Speaker 2>you're I don't know, forty. Maybe you know, for the

0:33:39.120 --> 0:33:41.480
<v Speaker 2>purposes this is a podcast, our audience will just have

0:33:41.560 --> 0:33:42.520
<v Speaker 2>to take my word for it.

0:33:42.640 --> 0:33:46.120
<v Speaker 6>Edel File Circle lukas Plait by Barnes looks inside for Gildore,

0:33:46.200 --> 0:33:48.480
<v Speaker 6>finds him in the lane for the hook that has gone.

0:33:48.840 --> 0:33:52.160
<v Speaker 10>You know, I think that the ABA wanted to distinguish

0:33:52.160 --> 0:33:55.240
<v Speaker 10>itself in various ways from the NBA. The Red White

0:33:55.280 --> 0:33:59.920
<v Speaker 10>and Blue ball was part of that. The encouraging of individualism,

0:34:00.080 --> 0:34:04.080
<v Speaker 10>provisational play, again which the old timers scoffed at, But

0:34:04.120 --> 0:34:06.640
<v Speaker 10>when you look at David Thompson, or you look at

0:34:06.840 --> 0:34:09.200
<v Speaker 10>Doctor j who was the greatest of all of them,

0:34:09.520 --> 0:34:14.960
<v Speaker 10>they influenced everybody. The slam dunk contests started in the ABA,

0:34:15.080 --> 0:34:17.640
<v Speaker 10>and again the NBA guys said, all want a cheap gimmick,

0:34:17.680 --> 0:34:20.920
<v Speaker 10>and then they adopted it, and with Michael Jordan and everybody,

0:34:21.120 --> 0:34:23.960
<v Speaker 10>it became a staple of the All Star Game. The

0:34:24.040 --> 0:34:27.280
<v Speaker 10>three pointer was, at least when I was in the ABA,

0:34:27.800 --> 0:34:30.399
<v Speaker 10>and I would say the first couple of decades after

0:34:30.400 --> 0:34:34.040
<v Speaker 10>its adoption by the NBA, it was a strategic punctuation.

0:34:34.840 --> 0:34:37.640
<v Speaker 10>Usually it was a pull up if the guy was

0:34:37.680 --> 0:34:41.840
<v Speaker 10>wide open and unguarded. Now it's integrated in a way

0:34:42.280 --> 0:34:44.800
<v Speaker 10>that there may be in a giving game more threes

0:34:44.840 --> 0:34:45.840
<v Speaker 10>taken than twos.

0:34:46.239 --> 0:34:50.080
<v Speaker 2>The league's free wheeling style and offensive rules were different.

0:34:50.400 --> 0:34:55.080
<v Speaker 2>The iconic Red White and Blue basketball, the concept of cheerleaders,

0:34:55.480 --> 0:34:59.799
<v Speaker 2>crazy halftime entertainment. All of it was designed to sell

0:35:00.040 --> 0:35:04.279
<v Speaker 2>tickets because there was no revenue from a national television contract.

0:35:07.000 --> 0:35:09.440
<v Speaker 10>You know, do you think of one of the best remembered

0:35:09.440 --> 0:35:14.200
<v Speaker 10>plays Doctor j in nineteen eighty against the Lakers, that

0:35:14.400 --> 0:35:17.200
<v Speaker 10>deal where he went under the basket and came back

0:35:17.280 --> 0:35:21.040
<v Speaker 10>out the other side, or the rock the Baby dunk

0:35:21.040 --> 0:35:24.320
<v Speaker 10>where he came diagonally and just went over every I think.

0:35:24.120 --> 0:35:26.960
<v Speaker 5>You might have gone over way rock the baby.

0:35:27.000 --> 0:35:29.960
<v Speaker 2>That's way when slam dunk swung that baby way.

0:35:30.560 --> 0:35:34.080
<v Speaker 10>Those moves, which were widely appreciated because they were on

0:35:34.160 --> 0:35:38.520
<v Speaker 10>national television with the NBA. I saw moves like that

0:35:38.840 --> 0:35:41.080
<v Speaker 10>in games that were not on TV, in front of

0:35:41.080 --> 0:35:41.680
<v Speaker 10>the crowds of.

0:35:41.680 --> 0:35:44.600
<v Speaker 5>Five thousand in Saint Louis and elsewhere.

0:35:44.800 --> 0:35:46.920
<v Speaker 10>And I think one of the things about the ABA,

0:35:47.000 --> 0:35:48.960
<v Speaker 10>and I'm sure you talked about this with your dad

0:35:49.000 --> 0:35:53.200
<v Speaker 10>and other people, it might be the last major American

0:35:53.280 --> 0:35:57.040
<v Speaker 10>sports enterprise that has a real element of legend, because

0:35:57.080 --> 0:35:59.879
<v Speaker 10>a lot of the stories come across as apocryphal. Well,

0:36:00.000 --> 0:36:02.239
<v Speaker 10>this is what I saw that night at Freedom Hall.

0:36:02.320 --> 0:36:03.640
<v Speaker 5>Now I don't know. I was on the other side

0:36:03.640 --> 0:36:04.840
<v Speaker 5>of the court. I saw it differently.

0:36:05.239 --> 0:36:07.360
<v Speaker 10>You know, say anything you want about Michael Jordan and

0:36:07.400 --> 0:36:09.799
<v Speaker 10>as great as he was, or Lebron or whomever you

0:36:09.840 --> 0:36:12.839
<v Speaker 10>want to name, everything they did is fully documented from

0:36:12.840 --> 0:36:13.880
<v Speaker 10>ten different angles.

0:36:13.960 --> 0:36:16.960
<v Speaker 2>What about you as a broadcaster, you know, getting that

0:36:17.000 --> 0:36:19.560
<v Speaker 2>assignment at such a young age and having that be,

0:36:20.040 --> 0:36:23.319
<v Speaker 2>as you said, just your second assignment. Ever, I don't

0:36:23.360 --> 0:36:26.080
<v Speaker 2>know what did you learn during all those crazy years

0:36:26.200 --> 0:36:30.080
<v Speaker 2>or with this renegade league. You know, all these fascinating

0:36:30.080 --> 0:36:34.120
<v Speaker 2>individuals just winging it, you know, making it up as

0:36:34.120 --> 0:36:34.920
<v Speaker 2>they went along.

0:36:35.360 --> 0:36:37.799
<v Speaker 10>There was enough absurdity that I could latch onto that

0:36:38.040 --> 0:36:40.799
<v Speaker 10>you also have to remember this. I'm a contemporary of

0:36:40.840 --> 0:36:45.840
<v Speaker 10>all the players, guys like the late wonderful Steve Snapper Jones.

0:36:46.239 --> 0:36:47.120
<v Speaker 5>He was a veteran.

0:36:47.200 --> 0:36:49.200
<v Speaker 10>He was like, you know, thirty one, thirty two years old,

0:36:49.239 --> 0:36:52.319
<v Speaker 10>so he's the wise man of the team. I was

0:36:52.400 --> 0:36:55.080
<v Speaker 10>roughly the same age as most of the other guys

0:36:55.160 --> 0:37:01.680
<v Speaker 10>on the team. We hung around together, Maurice Lucas, Marvin Barnes,

0:37:02.320 --> 0:37:05.760
<v Speaker 10>Gus Gerard Fly Williams, who was as crazy as.

0:37:05.600 --> 0:37:10.040
<v Speaker 2>It came, the famous Marvin Barnes or infamous Marvin Barnes.

0:37:10.120 --> 0:37:13.719
<v Speaker 2>So share with their audience, who exactly Marvin Barnes was.

0:37:14.000 --> 0:37:16.920
<v Speaker 10>Marvin Barnes was an All American in Providence team that

0:37:16.960 --> 0:37:19.920
<v Speaker 10>went to the Final Four. At one point, he was

0:37:19.960 --> 0:37:23.719
<v Speaker 10>selected second in both the NBA and ABA drafts, right

0:37:23.760 --> 0:37:27.080
<v Speaker 10>behind Bill Walton. So it tells you how highly regarded

0:37:27.120 --> 0:37:31.120
<v Speaker 10>he was. And he and Moses Malone were rookies at

0:37:31.120 --> 0:37:34.120
<v Speaker 10>the same time, same year in the ABA, and Marvin

0:37:34.480 --> 0:37:37.080
<v Speaker 10>was the ABA Rookie of the Year. Moses goes on

0:37:37.160 --> 0:37:40.040
<v Speaker 10>to the Hall of Fame, wins three MVPs in the NBA.

0:37:40.200 --> 0:37:43.680
<v Speaker 10>That's how good Marvin Barnes was. There were nights when

0:37:44.080 --> 0:37:46.280
<v Speaker 10>he was the best player on the floor. Not doctor

0:37:46.400 --> 0:37:50.520
<v Speaker 10>j not artist Gilmore, not dan Issel or anybody else

0:37:50.560 --> 0:37:53.360
<v Speaker 10>you wanted to mention. Marvin Barnes, if he had stayed

0:37:53.360 --> 0:37:56.400
<v Speaker 10>on the straight and narrow, would certainly have been among

0:37:56.440 --> 0:38:00.279
<v Speaker 10>the top fifty in nineteen ninety seven in Cleveland, the

0:38:00.320 --> 0:38:03.439
<v Speaker 10>top seventy five again this past year when they named

0:38:03.440 --> 0:38:06.759
<v Speaker 10>the seventy five greatest, no question about it. But he

0:38:06.960 --> 0:38:10.640
<v Speaker 10>was as crazy as he was talented. It was hard

0:38:10.680 --> 0:38:14.160
<v Speaker 10>to dislike him, though, because he was so humorous. And

0:38:14.480 --> 0:38:16.920
<v Speaker 10>there's a lot of stories. And I know that some

0:38:16.960 --> 0:38:18.880
<v Speaker 10>people have heard this one before, because I've built it

0:38:18.880 --> 0:38:21.839
<v Speaker 10>so many times, but it kind of personifies him. We

0:38:21.880 --> 0:38:24.880
<v Speaker 10>played in Kentucky against a very good Colonel's team that

0:38:24.960 --> 0:38:27.600
<v Speaker 10>won the championship that first year that I was in

0:38:27.640 --> 0:38:28.160
<v Speaker 10>the league.

0:38:28.320 --> 0:38:29.399
<v Speaker 2>That was my dad's team.

0:38:29.560 --> 0:38:33.400
<v Speaker 10>Yeah, of course, so you know, teams didn't travel by

0:38:33.480 --> 0:38:36.040
<v Speaker 10>charter then, certainly not in the AVA where everybody was on.

0:38:36.000 --> 0:38:39.080
<v Speaker 5>A shoe string budget. Louisville is four and a half

0:38:39.120 --> 0:38:41.040
<v Speaker 5>five hour drive from Saint Louis, but it's in the

0:38:41.080 --> 0:38:42.000
<v Speaker 5>Eastern time zone.

0:38:42.320 --> 0:38:45.000
<v Speaker 10>So we lose as we usually did at Freedom Hall,

0:38:45.000 --> 0:38:47.759
<v Speaker 10>and we gathered the next day at the airport and

0:38:48.200 --> 0:38:51.920
<v Speaker 10>the trainer, who double as the traveling secretary, he passes

0:38:51.960 --> 0:38:55.640
<v Speaker 10>out the itinerary and it says TWA flight three oh

0:38:55.800 --> 0:38:57.719
<v Speaker 10>five depart Louisville.

0:38:58.120 --> 0:38:58.840
<v Speaker 5>Eight am.

0:38:59.239 --> 0:39:03.280
<v Speaker 10>Arrived Saint Louis was seven fifty six and Marvin Barnes

0:39:03.320 --> 0:39:07.080
<v Speaker 10>beckons me over, drapes an arm around my shoulder, and

0:39:07.160 --> 0:39:09.160
<v Speaker 10>from more than a foot above me, he says, bro,

0:39:09.880 --> 0:39:13.680
<v Speaker 10>do you see this. I said yes. He says, well,

0:39:13.880 --> 0:39:16.319
<v Speaker 10>I don't know about you, but as for me, I

0:39:16.360 --> 0:39:21.280
<v Speaker 10>am not getting on any time machine now. Some people

0:39:21.400 --> 0:39:24.560
<v Speaker 10>thought that meant that Marvin was dumb, but he wasn't dumb.

0:39:24.680 --> 0:39:27.319
<v Speaker 10>He was smart and he knew that was funny. But

0:39:27.400 --> 0:39:29.319
<v Speaker 10>he also knew I was more likely to get it

0:39:29.400 --> 0:39:32.600
<v Speaker 10>than let's say, Fly Williams, so he decided.

0:39:32.320 --> 0:39:33.400
<v Speaker 5>To drop the line on me.

0:39:35.280 --> 0:39:39.320
<v Speaker 2>I always picture Marvin bad News Barns in his floor

0:39:39.480 --> 0:39:43.160
<v Speaker 2>length mink coat, and then there was Darnell, doctor dunk

0:39:43.239 --> 0:39:47.600
<v Speaker 2>Hillman with his massive afro. And picture this Larry Brown

0:39:47.840 --> 0:39:53.080
<v Speaker 2>sporting overalls on the sideline. Everything was looser in the ABA.

0:39:53.800 --> 0:39:57.319
<v Speaker 9>The first thing I decided was, well, I guess afros

0:39:57.360 --> 0:40:01.120
<v Speaker 9>were okay. So one of the the rules I relaxed

0:40:01.280 --> 0:40:04.320
<v Speaker 9>was you didn't have to have your hair closely trimmed,

0:40:04.640 --> 0:40:08.640
<v Speaker 9>but no facial hair. And then as we were looking

0:40:08.680 --> 0:40:13.080
<v Speaker 9>at drafting players, I looked at and I said, you know,

0:40:13.239 --> 0:40:16.360
<v Speaker 9>one of the players were really interested in as a

0:40:16.400 --> 0:40:20.000
<v Speaker 9>guy named Artist Gilmore. And Artist really has a lot

0:40:20.040 --> 0:40:25.360
<v Speaker 9>of facial hair. So in anticipation of what was to come,

0:40:25.880 --> 0:40:28.560
<v Speaker 9>one of the rules I changed was you could go

0:40:28.600 --> 0:40:29.839
<v Speaker 9>ahead and have facial hair.

0:40:30.680 --> 0:40:33.920
<v Speaker 2>The ABA didn't want any obstacles when it came to

0:40:34.040 --> 0:40:37.600
<v Speaker 2>convincing players to come to their league, and to that end,

0:40:37.880 --> 0:40:41.279
<v Speaker 2>my father also helped to craft something they called the

0:40:41.320 --> 0:40:46.160
<v Speaker 2>hardship rule that enabled players to turn professional before finishing

0:40:46.200 --> 0:40:49.319
<v Speaker 2>four years of college, something they could not do in

0:40:49.360 --> 0:40:53.760
<v Speaker 2>the NBA. Just part of my dad's legacy. He left

0:40:53.760 --> 0:40:57.359
<v Speaker 2>his post as ABA commissioner after a year to take

0:40:57.520 --> 0:41:01.320
<v Speaker 2>part ownership of the Memphis Sounds, having set the foundation

0:41:01.520 --> 0:41:09.239
<v Speaker 2>for an eventual merger with the NBA.

0:41:09.680 --> 0:41:11.719
<v Speaker 9>I mean, every player we signed could have signed in

0:41:11.760 --> 0:41:14.680
<v Speaker 9>the NBA. And so when you looked at people like

0:41:14.800 --> 0:41:18.239
<v Speaker 9>Julius Irving and the artist Gilmour and Dan Issel and

0:41:18.520 --> 0:41:22.959
<v Speaker 9>Mel Daniels and Freddie Lewis and on and on and on,

0:41:23.360 --> 0:41:29.719
<v Speaker 9>every single player cast his lot with our belief in

0:41:29.800 --> 0:41:33.480
<v Speaker 9>our vision and in what we said we're going to do.

0:41:34.320 --> 0:41:36.600
<v Speaker 9>And so as I look back, that was, you know,

0:41:36.800 --> 0:41:38.240
<v Speaker 9>a wonderful experience.

0:41:39.760 --> 0:41:43.759
<v Speaker 2>Those times are part of my family's folklore. Here's Bob

0:41:43.840 --> 0:41:45.600
<v Speaker 2>costas doctor.

0:41:45.360 --> 0:41:48.160
<v Speaker 10>J of the ABA is like factual page of the

0:41:48.239 --> 0:41:49.600
<v Speaker 10>Negro Leads or something.

0:41:49.600 --> 0:41:51.759
<v Speaker 5>You know, it's all word about pretty much.

0:41:52.239 --> 0:41:56.120
<v Speaker 10>And there was so much mystery and fascination surrounding him

0:41:56.160 --> 0:41:58.560
<v Speaker 10>when he came to the NBA with the seventy six

0:41:58.640 --> 0:42:00.839
<v Speaker 10>ers and a lot of skeptic we'll see how good

0:42:00.880 --> 0:42:01.480
<v Speaker 10>this guy is.

0:42:01.840 --> 0:42:04.400
<v Speaker 2>And then I found out how what he was described

0:42:04.440 --> 0:42:08.000
<v Speaker 2>to somebody, how special it was because you know, it

0:42:08.080 --> 0:42:09.960
<v Speaker 2>wasn't on TV. It's just one of the reasons why

0:42:10.040 --> 0:42:12.959
<v Speaker 2>they went overboard to make it so entertaining to see

0:42:12.960 --> 0:42:15.880
<v Speaker 2>in person, right, because they didn't have a television contract,

0:42:15.920 --> 0:42:18.080
<v Speaker 2>so they had to deal with the revenue that was

0:42:18.120 --> 0:42:20.440
<v Speaker 2>there in front of the fans. What would you tell

0:42:20.440 --> 0:42:22.560
<v Speaker 2>the people that they missed, just.

0:42:22.560 --> 0:42:25.680
<v Speaker 10>How much crazy fun it was and how to this

0:42:25.840 --> 0:42:29.200
<v Speaker 10>day it's a fraternity. You know, I've been lucky enough

0:42:29.239 --> 0:42:31.880
<v Speaker 10>to do a lot of things, But if I bumped

0:42:31.920 --> 0:42:35.280
<v Speaker 10>into somebody who's associated with the ABA in their mind

0:42:35.480 --> 0:42:39.239
<v Speaker 10>first and foremost, I'm an ABA guy. That's how hub

0:42:39.400 --> 0:42:42.040
<v Speaker 10>Brown remembers me. Hubie Brown's a Yeah. I looked over

0:42:42.080 --> 0:42:43.480
<v Speaker 10>and there was this kid there. I thought he was

0:42:43.520 --> 0:42:45.440
<v Speaker 10>the ball boy. He looked like he was twelve. Then

0:42:45.480 --> 0:42:47.560
<v Speaker 10>I realized he's calling the game human. He's been telling

0:42:47.560 --> 0:42:49.479
<v Speaker 10>the same story over and over, and now he's ninety,

0:42:49.520 --> 0:42:51.200
<v Speaker 10>you'll probably be telling it when he was one hundred.

0:42:51.600 --> 0:42:55.040
<v Speaker 10>So it's kind of this fraternity that only those of

0:42:55.080 --> 0:42:58.440
<v Speaker 10>us who were there fully appreciated, and it's like a

0:42:58.480 --> 0:43:02.319
<v Speaker 10>secret club. So if I bumped into artists Gilmore or

0:43:02.440 --> 0:43:05.840
<v Speaker 10>Danesel or even Rick Barry who had more years in

0:43:05.880 --> 0:43:09.960
<v Speaker 10>the NBA than the ABA, but that ABA DNA is

0:43:10.200 --> 0:43:13.680
<v Speaker 10>part of his life story as well. And even though

0:43:13.760 --> 0:43:17.200
<v Speaker 10>I think the ABA ultimately has gotten do we still

0:43:17.239 --> 0:43:19.000
<v Speaker 10>believe that you had to be.

0:43:18.960 --> 0:43:26.360
<v Speaker 8>There that DNA right of the ABA, like the energy

0:43:26.520 --> 0:43:32.479
<v Speaker 8>and the flash and district entertainment value really pursued when

0:43:32.640 --> 0:43:34.480
<v Speaker 8>the two leagues merge. Right, If you look at the

0:43:34.560 --> 0:43:37.400
<v Speaker 8>NBA today, I would say it's much more like the

0:43:37.480 --> 0:43:40.359
<v Speaker 8>ABA of those old days than how the NBA used

0:43:40.400 --> 0:43:40.560
<v Speaker 8>to be.

0:43:40.680 --> 0:43:40.839
<v Speaker 11>Right.

0:43:41.000 --> 0:43:44.560
<v Speaker 8>That DNA and the ABA really has filtered into the NBA,

0:43:44.560 --> 0:43:47.920
<v Speaker 8>and it's now a big part of how we look

0:43:47.960 --> 0:43:48.640
<v Speaker 8>at the NBA.

0:43:48.800 --> 0:43:51.920
<v Speaker 2>Right, and we're all still like huge fans. Is there

0:43:52.000 --> 0:43:56.279
<v Speaker 2>something that I didn't consider including in this conversation, or

0:43:56.440 --> 0:43:59.000
<v Speaker 2>maybe a thought or two that you that you want

0:43:59.000 --> 0:43:59.400
<v Speaker 2>to add.

0:44:00.040 --> 0:44:01.520
<v Speaker 7>Let me think about that for a minute.

0:44:01.600 --> 0:44:02.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, okay, Mark.

0:44:02.960 --> 0:44:05.200
<v Speaker 8>I think we should probably talk a little bit more

0:44:05.239 --> 0:44:09.000
<v Speaker 8>about your sports upbringing, you know, and the days of

0:44:09.239 --> 0:44:12.279
<v Speaker 8>Hannah Storm being molded into the sports cash that she

0:44:12.440 --> 0:44:16.040
<v Speaker 8>is today, because you were pretty athletic, even though you

0:44:16.120 --> 0:44:19.319
<v Speaker 8>didn't pursue it hard. I think that's a little bit.

0:44:19.400 --> 0:44:20.600
<v Speaker 8>Do you think that there's a little bit of a

0:44:20.640 --> 0:44:22.759
<v Speaker 8>mission there in terms of, you know, how Hane it

0:44:22.760 --> 0:44:23.839
<v Speaker 8>got to be where she is now.

0:44:24.120 --> 0:44:26.279
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if I was like athlet I mean

0:44:26.440 --> 0:44:29.640
<v Speaker 2>it was really before Title nine, right, so it's like

0:44:29.680 --> 0:44:33.560
<v Speaker 2>women's sports weren't huge. I tried everything, though, but I

0:44:33.600 --> 0:44:36.480
<v Speaker 2>think more it was like the singing and acting and

0:44:36.520 --> 0:44:39.839
<v Speaker 2>being on stage and just really discovering that and being

0:44:39.920 --> 0:44:43.400
<v Speaker 2>kind of a ham and then really understanding from the

0:44:43.440 --> 0:44:45.560
<v Speaker 2>way that we grow up from being a girl that

0:44:45.640 --> 0:44:48.000
<v Speaker 2>was allowed to be around sports a lot because of

0:44:48.040 --> 0:44:50.839
<v Speaker 2>our dad being exposed to it, and understanding how fun

0:44:50.880 --> 0:44:53.440
<v Speaker 2>it was, you know what I mean, So wanting to

0:44:53.440 --> 0:44:55.640
<v Speaker 2>go into TV or wanting to go into the public eye,

0:44:55.719 --> 0:44:59.640
<v Speaker 2>wanted to do something in broadcasting, but where it wasn't

0:44:59.680 --> 0:45:02.160
<v Speaker 2>a pas for girls to go into sports. I think

0:45:02.239 --> 0:45:04.799
<v Speaker 2>I was so determined to go into sports because I

0:45:04.840 --> 0:45:07.920
<v Speaker 2>knew from us growing up just how great it was.

0:45:08.480 --> 0:45:11.160
<v Speaker 7>And you know, the resiliency. I mean, let's face it,

0:45:11.280 --> 0:45:13.960
<v Speaker 7>we moved every four years, not because we are moving

0:45:14.000 --> 0:45:17.640
<v Speaker 7>to every new great opportunity, you know, we are moving

0:45:17.719 --> 0:45:20.239
<v Speaker 7>because we had to right to the next one. Maybe

0:45:20.520 --> 0:45:23.040
<v Speaker 7>maybe not the commissioner job, but all the others. But

0:45:23.120 --> 0:45:28.640
<v Speaker 7>that's resiliency, you know, and modeled resiliency. Coupling that with

0:45:28.800 --> 0:45:32.480
<v Speaker 7>enthusiasm and hard work and intelligence. You know, those are

0:45:32.520 --> 0:45:37.040
<v Speaker 7>all lessons that we absorbed growing up. And you've been

0:45:37.040 --> 0:45:40.799
<v Speaker 7>incredibly resilient, you know, your whole career, Hannah. People saying

0:45:40.800 --> 0:45:42.239
<v Speaker 7>you can't go into the locker.

0:45:42.040 --> 0:45:42.960
<v Speaker 2>Room, yeah, I remember.

0:45:43.000 --> 0:45:43.600
<v Speaker 5>That was like a lot.

0:45:43.760 --> 0:45:51.760
<v Speaker 7>Yeah, controversy and so many misogyny and the doubts about having,

0:45:51.960 --> 0:45:55.200
<v Speaker 7>you know, a woman to be a sportscaster. That's another

0:45:55.280 --> 0:45:59.040
<v Speaker 7>part of our upbringing that really is part of your DNA,

0:45:59.120 --> 0:46:01.239
<v Speaker 7>part of all of our DNAs that really helped you

0:46:01.719 --> 0:46:04.960
<v Speaker 7>succeed and break through, you know, and just having confidence

0:46:04.960 --> 0:46:07.800
<v Speaker 7>in yourself I think has been It's been really fun

0:46:08.480 --> 0:46:11.040
<v Speaker 7>for Mark and I to watch and really inspiring, you know.

0:46:11.600 --> 0:46:15.799
<v Speaker 2>So hey, it's part of our DNA. I love you

0:46:15.800 --> 0:46:22.720
<v Speaker 2>guys so much. Next time.

0:46:22.960 --> 0:46:30.080
<v Speaker 14>On NBA DNA, every year there was a competition for

0:46:30.239 --> 0:46:34.160
<v Speaker 14>players leaving college and having to make a choice between

0:46:34.200 --> 0:46:36.240
<v Speaker 14>the NBA and the ABA.

0:46:36.360 --> 0:46:38.440
<v Speaker 10>And when we look back on it and think about

0:46:38.480 --> 0:46:41.239
<v Speaker 10>what even the least the players makes now, it all

0:46:41.280 --> 0:46:43.840
<v Speaker 10>seems so trivial, but these guys had to fight for

0:46:43.920 --> 0:46:46.480
<v Speaker 10>the right to have free agency and the right to

0:46:47.160 --> 0:46:50.120
<v Speaker 10>have some sort of control over their own lives and careers.

0:46:50.520 --> 0:46:52.120
<v Speaker 11>You know, if you got a check, you ran to

0:46:52.160 --> 0:46:55.640
<v Speaker 11>the bank real quick admitted deposit just to make sure.

0:46:55.560 --> 0:46:56.359
<v Speaker 8>It held up.

0:47:06.760 --> 0:47:11.239
<v Speaker 2>NBA DNA with Hannah Storm is a production of iHeart Podcasts,

0:47:11.360 --> 0:47:15.440
<v Speaker 2>the NBA and Brainstorman Productions. The show is written and

0:47:15.600 --> 0:47:19.640
<v Speaker 2>executive produced by me Hannah Storm, along with Julia Weaver

0:47:19.880 --> 0:47:24.240
<v Speaker 2>and Alex French. Our lead producer and showrunner is Julia Weaver.

0:47:24.600 --> 0:47:29.800
<v Speaker 2>Our senior producers are Peter Kouder, Alex French, and Brandon Reese.

0:47:30.040 --> 0:47:33.880
<v Speaker 2>Editing and sound design by Kurt Garn and Julia Weaver.

0:47:34.200 --> 0:47:38.680
<v Speaker 2>The show's executive producers are Carmen Belmont, Jason English, Sean

0:47:38.760 --> 0:47:42.200
<v Speaker 2>ty Tone, Steve Weintraub, and Jason Weikelt.