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Speaker 1: This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up,

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Speaker 1: straight Fire Fan, It's me Jason McIntyre Street Fire for Thursday,

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Speaker 1: March second. We've got an amazing podcast today featuring a

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Speaker 1: special guest. I've had him on my radio show in

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Speaker 1: the past, back when I was hosting a Saturday show

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Speaker 1: for six years on Fox Sports Radio Saturday Mornings, a

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Speaker 1: lot of fun. His name is Sonny Vaccaro. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: anyone under the age of thirty five has no idea

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Speaker 1: who he is. But if you covered high school basketball,

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Speaker 1: college basketball, you know who Ed O'Bannon is. There's a

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Speaker 1: really good chance for familiar with Sonny Vacaro's work. Just

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Speaker 1: a titan in the youth basketball industry. And oh, by

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Speaker 1: the way, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are making a

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Speaker 1: movie about him signing Michael Jordan to Nike back when

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan was entering the NBA, So kind of a

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Speaker 1: timely interview. Now, Sonny Vacaro is a little older now,

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Speaker 1: he's living in Palm Springs out here in LA outside

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Speaker 1: of LA He's about eighty three years old. But he's

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Speaker 1: got stories galore. Super nice guy, just really plugged in

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Speaker 1: and I'm happy for him. You know, guys had an

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Speaker 1: incredible career. So we'll talk to him a nice old

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Speaker 1: thirty minute chat. But before we get to Sonny Vacaro,

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Speaker 1: I know a lot of people think, oh, Jason's the

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Speaker 1: layers with the combine. Let's going no, no no, no, no, no

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Speaker 1: no no no, Jason. Hey, how about the Lakers getting

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Speaker 1: to win without Anthony Davis? No no, no, no no no, Jason.

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Speaker 1: How about your crappy night on the college basketball front? Note,

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Speaker 1: we're definitely not talking about that two games lost in overtime.

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Speaker 1: Don't want to go there. Not talking about the Bucks

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Speaker 1: winning their sixteenth straight game. Nope, folks, I think the

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Speaker 1: biggest sports story today not Tuah Tonguavaloa learning jiu jitsu

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Speaker 1: to avoid concussions. Yes, that is a real thing that's happening.

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Speaker 1: The biggest Storian sports today is what the hell is

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Speaker 1: going on with Ja Moran. Now, if you've been listening

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Speaker 1: to this podcast for the entire NBA season, even dating

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Speaker 1: back to last year's playoffs, you know I had quickly

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Speaker 1: worn thin on the Memphis Grizzlies consistency in a trash

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Speaker 1: talking department. They ran their mouths more than any team

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Speaker 1: in the league. It wore on me quickly. I was

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Speaker 1: kind of out on them. I was openly rooting for

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Speaker 1: the Timberwolves in that playoff series. What Anthony Edwards nearly

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Speaker 1: took him down. And then Memphis got smoked by a

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Speaker 1: Golden State, which I liked because I did. I just

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Speaker 1: don't like the constant trash talk. Now. I liked Dylan

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Speaker 1: Brooks in college. I liked him at Oregon, but he's

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Speaker 1: basically turned into a goon in the NBA. He's a

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Speaker 1: cheap shot artist. It's tough to respect what he's become

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Speaker 1: in the NBA. Now. I get his role. I totally

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Speaker 1: understand that, but it almost feels like Memphis has like

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Speaker 1: got its personality not from Dylan Brooks but from Jah Morant.

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Speaker 1: All along, everybody thought, oh, well, Dylan Brooks is leading

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Speaker 1: to charge being the dirty goon for the Memphis scores least,

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Speaker 1: but alone, behold, it sounds like Jah Morant has become

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Speaker 1: something somebody who thinks he's a gangster. I don't know

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Speaker 1: when this occurred, but as we all know, John Moran

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Speaker 1: has had a rapid rise. I was reading about him

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Speaker 1: yesterday and I learned that John Morant could not dunk

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Speaker 1: a basketball until his senior year in high school. He

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Speaker 1: was like a small guard and once he started dunking, hey,

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Speaker 1: obviously he didn't stop. He ends up at Murray State.

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Speaker 1: They have a I think, oh is it Murray State.

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Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure it's Murray State. Yeah. John Moran ends

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Speaker 1: up at Murray State. He has a nice run, they

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Speaker 1: make the nca Tournament. Like he was fun, he was

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Speaker 1: a good story. He all of a sudden, I'm coming

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Speaker 1: literally out of nowhere to be the number two pick

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Speaker 1: in the draft. Lands On Memphis is kind of an

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Speaker 1: instant hit, folks. This is only his fourth year in

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Speaker 1: the NBA. He's an All NBA player. He's averaging twenty

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Speaker 1: seven and eight already a game. Now. He can't still

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Speaker 1: can't shoot three point or thirty one percent, but none

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Speaker 1: of his on court stuff is the story. The Washington

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Speaker 1: Post went digging and apparently John Morant remember that incident

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Speaker 1: he had with the Indiana Pacers after the game where

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Speaker 1: some of John Morants guys were talking trash to the

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Speaker 1: Pacers and then they were like, oh, we'll see you later,

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Speaker 1: and then you know, as they're loading up the truck,

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Speaker 1: some of the Pacers kind of guy. Guys are harassed

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Speaker 1: by a crew and there's somebody pointing a red flash

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Speaker 1: lighter and it was it was a bit of a

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Speaker 1: sketchy scene, and John Morant was identified with that crew.

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Speaker 1: I was like, what's he doing hanging out with these idiots?

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Speaker 1: What does he think? He's a gangster? Well, now we

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Speaker 1: hear there are more stories. The latest according to TMZ

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Speaker 1: I you'll have to pick up basketball game at John

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Speaker 1: Morant's house. And I don't know how this happened, but

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Speaker 1: a seventeen year old stumbled into the game. Because you know, obviously,

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Speaker 1: if you're a high level twenty two, twenty three year

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Speaker 1: old NBA player, you want you want to be hanging

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Speaker 1: out with seventeen year olds at your house right at

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Speaker 1: any rate, you know, John Moran sees a seventeen year

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Speaker 1: old guarding him and does what any NBA player would do.

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Speaker 1: I'm kidding, of course. It basically throws the ball hard

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Speaker 1: at the kid. Well, the kid's not some punk. He

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Speaker 1: throws it right back hard at jaw and it goes

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Speaker 1: through his hands, hits him in the face, and you know, people,

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Speaker 1: I guess laughed. John Moran goes up to the kid

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Speaker 1: he towers over the seventeen year old and he's like, oh,

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Speaker 1: should I you know, should I hit him? What should

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Speaker 1: I do? Standing over the kid and just sucker punches him.

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Speaker 1: And then John Morant's friend, some loser who's a hanger

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Speaker 1: on or and his crew starts punching the kid and

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Speaker 1: then they pile on the kid start beating him up.

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Speaker 1: This is at John Morant's house. Like, what are you doing?

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Speaker 1: You're an NBA player, you're you're the face of a franchise,

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Speaker 1: and you're beating up a seventeen year old what? This

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Speaker 1: is insane? So of course it gets worse. The kid

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Speaker 1: gets up, he starts to walk away, and he turns around.

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Speaker 1: He sees John Morant come out of the house with

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Speaker 1: like a gun tucked into his waistband, like he's wyat

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Speaker 1: herb or some some some get gangster from the waw

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Speaker 1: Waw West flash a gun at a seventeen year old

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Speaker 1: who who threw a basketball at him, Like are you kidding?

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Speaker 1: Are you really putting your your self at stake? Now

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Speaker 1: it gets even worse. According to the Washington Post, this

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Speaker 1: incident happened in a mall, I guess somewhere in South Carolina.

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Speaker 1: It really was unclear what mall this was. But John Morand'

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Speaker 1: mom was at a mall, and of course, you know,

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Speaker 1: as moms do, they got in. She got in an

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Speaker 1: argument with an employee at a store. So what does

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Speaker 1: John Morand's mom do? This was The store is called

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Speaker 1: Finished Line, which I believe is some kind of shoe

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Speaker 1: product or you know, some sporting good store. So John

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Speaker 1: Moran's mom calls her son. So what does John Morant do?

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Speaker 1: He rolls up to the mall with like eight dudes

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Speaker 1: and they get mouthy and start mall security. You know,

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Speaker 1: Paul Blart, that's another bad joke. Don't even need it,

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Speaker 1: Paul Blart. The mall security guy shows them to the

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Speaker 1: parking lot. Get out of here, Get out of here.

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Speaker 1: They're refusing to leave. Real police show up, and John

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Speaker 1: Morant is overheard saying, let me find out what time

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Speaker 1: he gets off work, what time is shift ends? And

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Speaker 1: the guy's like, whoa, what are you doing, dude? You're

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Speaker 1: an NBA player. In his head, I'm assuming he's say

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Speaker 1: you're an NBA player. So he tells the police this,

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Speaker 1: and now the Washington Post gets their hands on it.

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Speaker 1: So we've got now multiple incidents where John Moran all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden is acting like he's some street guy

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Speaker 1: who's hanging out with the wrong crew. He's got his posse,

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Speaker 1: he's all gassed up, and he's jeopardizing a really good thing.

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Speaker 1: Somebody in Memphis is going to have to sit this

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Speaker 1: dude down and be like, hey man, this crew you're

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Speaker 1: running with, they're no longer welcome in the arena. I'm sorry, Bud,

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Speaker 1: I know we love you here. But the entire Memphis

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Speaker 1: organization at this point you have to believe they know

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Speaker 1: about some of this stuff, right and for them to

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Speaker 1: do nothing, and the incidents keep piling up, like John

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Speaker 1: Moran is seriously putting what seems like a very very

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Speaker 1: promising NBA career in jeopardy. This is a guy who

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Speaker 1: should know. Hey, guys, I got out of a tough

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Speaker 1: situation in South Carolina. I was looking up the school

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Speaker 1: he went to. Somebody made this really, really funny parody. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: the movie eight Mile is classic starring eminem The ending,

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Speaker 1: the wrap off is iconic stuff, to the point that

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Speaker 1: I have it saved on my DVR. I've kind of

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Speaker 1: showed it to my son, who's almost about to be twelve.

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Speaker 1: It's that great of a scene. You know, listen, he

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Speaker 1: here's cuss words. Come on, he's in middle school, they'd

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Speaker 1: say cussword. It's not the end of the world that

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Speaker 1: I showed him that. But when Eminem goes at spoiler

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Speaker 1: alert Eminem eight Mile twenty year old movie. When Eminem

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Speaker 1: goes at Papa Doc, he basically pulls his pants down

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Speaker 1: on stage, and it's like, you know, this guy's no gangster.

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Speaker 1: His real name's Clarence. He lives at home with both parents.

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Speaker 1: They've got a real good marriage. He went to a

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Speaker 1: private school. Blah blah blah, and it's just an unbelieve

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Speaker 1: If somehow you haven't seen the end of eight Mile,

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Speaker 1: please go to YouTube right now, pause the podcast, go

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Speaker 1: to YouTube and watch it. It's incredible. It is hysterical. Now, obviously,

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Speaker 1: if you've seen the movie and you watch it, you'll

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Speaker 1: be laughing at any rate. Some guy on the internet

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Speaker 1: went and made one of these videos substituting Job Morant

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Speaker 1: in for Papa Doc. Now, he did have one mistake.

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Speaker 1: A bunch of people after I posted it on social media,

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Speaker 1: a bunch of people were like, dude, the high school

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Speaker 1: John Moran in two was not a private school, so

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's not my video, but I did look

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Speaker 1: it up in this Crestwood High School in South Carolina,

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Speaker 1: not at private school at any rate. You know, he

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Speaker 1: stitched together pictures of job with both of his parents

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Speaker 1: who played sports and her were there in present for him,

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Speaker 1: and you know he seemed like a good kid. Like

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Speaker 1: there's no history at Murray State of John Morant being

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Speaker 1: a fool and doing off the court stuff where he's

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Speaker 1: got some massive ego and acting like he's some tough guy.

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Speaker 1: He's got to drop this act fast. I know a

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Speaker 1: lot of people love John Moran. He's exciting a lot

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Speaker 1: of kids, buy the jersey. I don't know, guys. I'm

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Speaker 1: somewhere on the what do we do deal? Is this

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Speaker 1: an Allen Iverson? Is this or Russell Westbrook? Because if

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Speaker 1: he doesn't learn how to shoot all these incredible athletic dunks,

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Speaker 1: all these amazing blocks, the high wire act, we see

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Speaker 1: what happens when these players age, they age rapidly. Got

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Speaker 1: to develop a jump shot. Otherwise do you gotta see

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Speaker 1: Desmond Bay and have a longer NBA career than John Morant.

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Speaker 1: He's got to develop a jump shot, and he really,

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Speaker 1: really really has to ditch this crew that he's hanging

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Speaker 1: with because they are leading him down some bad, bad roads. Listen,

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Speaker 1: I like John Morant, I don't love the guy. I

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Speaker 1: don't love. The Memphis Antics is a team that could

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Speaker 1: cause some noise in the playoffs, that could be NBA

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Speaker 1: Finals material. I personally don't think so, but the numbers

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Speaker 1: say that, sure they've got a shot. John Moran's got

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Speaker 1: to clean up his act. All right, Without further ado,

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Speaker 1: let's get to our guest, the iconic sneaker marketing maven

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Speaker 1: Sonny Vaccaro. Topic. Jason likes to think he knows everything

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Speaker 1: when it comes to sports. I know what sports dance want,

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Speaker 1: but for everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does.

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Speaker 1: Let's just say I know a guy who knows a

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Speaker 1: guy who knows another guy. All right, let's welcome into

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Speaker 1: straight fire a special guest. He is a titan in

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Speaker 1: the sports marketing industry, the sneaker industry. I have had

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Speaker 1: him on my radio show back on this Saturday show

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Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio because obviously this guy is a legend. Um.

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Speaker 1: He probably doesn't remember me, but I was at an

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Speaker 1: ABCD camp high school basketball camp where this kid named

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Speaker 1: Lebron James took down a New York City phenomenamed Lenny

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Speaker 1: Cook and kind of that was. I know everybody wants

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Speaker 1: to say that Lebron game against Mellow on TV was

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Speaker 1: the game, but it was really at Sonny Vacaro's camp,

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Speaker 1: the ABCD camp in New Jersey where Lebron Star was born.

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Speaker 1: So let's welcome in, Sonny Vacaros. Sonny, how are you man,

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Speaker 1: I've I'm fine looking forward to this. You had it right.

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Speaker 1: I think Lebron's debut against Lenny that day is Remember

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Speaker 1: jay Z was there. I mean, we can go no further.

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Speaker 1: And he actually talked about it, you know, when he

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Speaker 1: was in some of these things. He said, so you

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Speaker 1: are absolutely right that was the coming out Mellow and

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Speaker 1: him in the regular scheduled game and all that was right,

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Speaker 1: but this one was this one? Was it? Yeah? And

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Speaker 1: Sonny of course was the kind of the central focus

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Speaker 1: of a ESPN thirty for thirty called soul Man from

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Speaker 1: about eight years ago. And now Ben Affleck and Matt

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Speaker 1: Damon decided, you know what, we should make a movie

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Speaker 1: about this guy. It's called Air and it is about

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Speaker 1: Sonny Vaccaro signing Michael Jordan too Nike back in the day, Sonny,

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Speaker 1: I am curious when you get the first call about

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Speaker 1: this movie, is it from a fucking damon or is

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Speaker 1: it a middleman? Like how when you first hear about it,

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Speaker 1: are you like, oh, what took you guys so long?

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Speaker 1: Or is it? Damn this is really happening. Let me

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Speaker 1: tell you, as much as I I would like to

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Speaker 1: talk about all this, it happened without me knowing. During

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Speaker 1: all the things I had done with Mandalaide Bay John Weinbach,

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Speaker 1: did you know the thirty or thirty thing? And I've

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Speaker 1: done some other things you know, in my life, as

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Speaker 1: you know, But there was a young writer that he

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Speaker 1: was in charge of all the scripting through soul Man

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Speaker 1: and also the last dance named Alex Convroy, and I

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Speaker 1: had no idea what was happening so this young man,

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Speaker 1: but all the scripts, all the things I did in

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Speaker 1: all my interviews, sixty hours of that because I was

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Speaker 1: asking an interview for the last dance, but I was

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Speaker 1: never invited Joe to participate. This young man wrote a

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Speaker 1: script and then I knew nothing about it. And about

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Speaker 1: two or three weeks before the super Bowl last year.

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Speaker 1: Just remember what I'm saying. Last year they told me

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Speaker 1: about it. I had no idea. I didn't know anything

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Speaker 1: about a script. And Peter Goober, who runs man Lay Bay,

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Speaker 1: and sixteen more people including John Winebauch and I'm brighter,

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Speaker 1: invited my wife and I Pam Don took every hills

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Speaker 1: to tell me they wanted me involved. That's how it happened.

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Speaker 1: So this young man wrote a script. They sold it

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Speaker 1: on the Blacklist, which you know what that is that Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm becoming movies. Yeah, and he come in first, I

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Speaker 1: mean he was really high seat. He looked at and

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Speaker 1: you know, and all the big time people wanted it.

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Speaker 1: George Clooney wanted it, Michael Georgians thing fun it. So

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Speaker 1: when I looked at it, I never saw the script

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Speaker 1: until after I've met So what I'm saying and trying

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Speaker 1: to answer your question, I have nothing to do with it.

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Speaker 1: But I'm totally involved. And I didn't I didn't meet

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Speaker 1: Ben or I. Matt called me. We did some zooms,

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Speaker 1: then they invited me down to watch screening. I'm totally

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Speaker 1: involved without any involvement. By that, I'm probably the best case, right, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that is wonderful. I mean, it's wonderful for me, and

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Speaker 1: it's uh, you know, and take it one step further off.

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Speaker 1: It's it's an unbelievable the event that's happening in my life.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's you know, and then not that there

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Speaker 1: aren't other things or whatever, but this was to me

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Speaker 1: unexpected and I'm thrilled. So go ahead ask me the

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Speaker 1: next ques. Yeah, I mean, I guess when I think

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Speaker 1: about the movie, the trailer was incredible. I think it

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Speaker 1: debuted maybe during the Super Bowl. Yeah, super Bowl, that's

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Speaker 1: in the second quarter time. Finances are pretty high at

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Speaker 1: that time. Yeah, oh my god. Before you know, everybody

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Speaker 1: starts to turn it on. Well not everybody, but a

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Speaker 1: lot of people want to see the half time, so

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Speaker 1: so they turn it on before and that's when the

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Speaker 1: trailer comes out. And I remember being at a Super

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Speaker 1: Bowl party and everybody's like, wow, that looks really really good.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know, Sonny, you know, you lived in it,

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Speaker 1: and it's weird. It's sometimes difficult to step away from

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Speaker 1: a moment when you're in it and see how incredible

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Speaker 1: it is. Do you ever do that and just step

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Speaker 1: away and think like, oh my gosh, Yeah, I did

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Speaker 1: the Michael Jordans stuff. Yeah, that was that was pretty incredible.

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Speaker 1: You know, I've talked to your audience, her and you know,

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Speaker 1: and someone like yourself, so that anyone knows. I stayed

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Speaker 1: this humbly, not not like any Brigado show. I think

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Speaker 1: my life has been very interesting and it'd be very

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Speaker 1: honest to the audience. I've had an unbelievable life and

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Speaker 1: it's almost I can't explain it on your show or anyone.

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Speaker 1: I can't explain to my wife, she's a one thirty years.

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Speaker 1: But what I'm saying is things seem to happen unknowingly

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Speaker 1: to me my whole life, but that I've had. But

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Speaker 1: this is this is totally out Usually the things that

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Speaker 1: I've been able to do were put in place with

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Speaker 1: to be in Baldwood situations in my life, such as

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Speaker 1: Nike later on and the Amanda Think later on that

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Speaker 1: therese those things that were there that somebody who was

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Speaker 1: looking at the things I found. But this this movie

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Speaker 1: is like a godsend. I mean, you're talking about Michael Jordan.

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Speaker 1: You're talking about a man you know that I don't care.

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Speaker 1: You know, all this ghast stuff and all this who's

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Speaker 1: best and who got I mean, I'd like to get

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Speaker 1: into that because I was involved with most of them.

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Speaker 1: I mean, so I know who the players are. And

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Speaker 1: there's always arguments about whatever, and that's good, that's healthy.

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Speaker 1: But when you're talking about the goat of advertising, you're

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Speaker 1: talking about the goat of marketing. No one can ever

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Speaker 1: do again. It will never be replicated what Michael Jordan

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Speaker 1: did and I was on there. I was fortunate enough

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Speaker 1: to be given and allowed me to think, and Phil

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Speaker 1: Knight allowed me, and a man named Rob Stosser allowed me,

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Speaker 1: and Michael allowed me. We travel the world together. So

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Speaker 1: to say anything would be fullish and easy. You're trying

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Speaker 1: to pretend something here. But if this doesn't come out,

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Speaker 1: you know, unrelated to me. If I would have written

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Speaker 1: a stirrup, if I'd have said I'm going to do

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Speaker 1: the damn movie right, there would be every reason for

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Speaker 1: you or anybody else to question what it happened. But

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Speaker 1: this happened because there are other people, very important other people.

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Speaker 1: And then when you get mad, you know, and I

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Speaker 1: mean by old Davis playing Michael's mother, and this is

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Speaker 1: like Ocean's eleven. You're old enough to remember Oceliv. The cast,

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Speaker 1: am I right? I mean, oh yeah, you know, unbelieving

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Speaker 1: the cast on the cast is unbelievable. And they're opening it,

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Speaker 1: you know, on hundred some countries. I mean, it's going everywhere,

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Speaker 1: and then it goes on you know, Amazon. So to

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Speaker 1: say anything, there was no braggat Asia at all. I'm

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Speaker 1: the luckiest guy in the world joined this particular time

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Speaker 1: in my life. I mean to have it at eighty

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Speaker 1: three years old in the story of Michael Jordan, how

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Speaker 1: it actually happened will be remembered in and you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean we joked once in a while and all

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Speaker 1: that sort of stuff, but once it's in a book

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Speaker 1: or once to some film, did lasts forever. Yeah, when

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Speaker 1: you're you know, so I'm excited. I'm afraid. We're actually

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Speaker 1: four weeks four weeks from today it'll be over with

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Speaker 1: the premiere, which my wife and I are going to

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Speaker 1: go to the premiere, and you know, it was all

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Speaker 1: over the country. It's it's an unbelievable experience for the

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Speaker 1: Italian Kiff and Safa Savania, Yeah, it really is. Fox

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Speaker 1: Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

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Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot

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Speaker 1: Com and within the iHeartRadio app search f SR to

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Speaker 1: listen live. You know, there's been so many articles written

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Speaker 1: about you, and I think one of the overriding themes, Sunny,

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Speaker 1: is your willingness to challenge authority, whether it's the NCAA

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Speaker 1: and you know kind of the way they treated young athletes,

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Speaker 1: specifically mostly black athletes, and you pushing back and helping

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Speaker 1: them and starting these All Star games and then the

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Speaker 1: camps and you know, getting Jordan to Nike and Kobe

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Speaker 1: to Adidas and like brokering deals. I don't know, is

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Speaker 1: that is that something you can really learn or is

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Speaker 1: that something that you kind of you're just born with

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Speaker 1: that skill and ability to kind of navigate all these

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Speaker 1: challenging relationships. No one'd ever put it so well to

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Speaker 1: an audience that you know that I'm not familiar with.

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Speaker 1: And you know, but I can' explain that. It's impossible

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Speaker 1: to explain my life. And I was involved with all

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Speaker 1: the other things when when my my buddy, my I

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Speaker 1: was twenty four years old when he pat to Caesar,

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Speaker 1: a boy his friend of mine. You know, it was

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Speaker 1: twenty five we started that first All Star game. What

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Speaker 1: the hell made me. Think of an All Star game

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Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania against the world. This is nineteen sixty

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Speaker 1: before Ladies in thirteen years before the well known McDonald's game.

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Speaker 1: What the heck make you make an All Star camp

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Speaker 1: like ABCD camp and you don't charge kids money to

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Speaker 1: do it? I mean, and then you come to Obannon,

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Speaker 1: I mean obandon to me in my life. When you

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Speaker 1: see the movie, you'll see it. They give your credits again, Obandon,

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Speaker 1: what any obandon? Did? You know? What we did with

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Speaker 1: that case against the end of the way is something

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Speaker 1: I can take to my grave. It is feeling good

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Speaker 1: because that that that's how thousands of founds of the kids,

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Speaker 1: you know, because listen, you're watching right now the chaos

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Speaker 1: in the end. You don't want you right now, things

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Speaker 1: that they're going to go under if we're not going

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Speaker 1: to have that anymore, and it will be another day

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Speaker 1: or two. But they failed. They felt because of their greed,

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Speaker 1: and they felt because of the Alistom case and all

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Speaker 1: the case have preceded Eddie, but never were they able

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Speaker 1: to get to the finals. That's that's what this is

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Speaker 1: all about. The world is scood up. I've watched I

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Speaker 1: watched a lot of things, I mean, my whole time,

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Speaker 1: But the one that appalled me more than anything is

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Speaker 1: thinking they own your name, image and likeness for perpetuity.

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Speaker 1: They have the balls to say that they own my

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Speaker 1: life as that they've being gainst away. So that to

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Speaker 1: me is whatever. But I'll tell you what if I

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Speaker 1: don't win into Michael, If I don't do that, the

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Speaker 1: all story name, I don't I can't explain it. But

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's an Air is the Air is an interesting movie.

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Speaker 1: If you don't know anything about basketball, you just know

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Speaker 1: one thing. The trail to get him. All the great

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Speaker 1: things happened till three and a half months and it done.

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Speaker 1: That's all. That's what it was. You know, the meetings

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Speaker 1: I had, the feelings I had, and I think when

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Speaker 1: you see the entirety, there's a scene that match does

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Speaker 1: in there that that just makes me. You know, there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of things, but one of them, on the

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Speaker 1: specific point of what you brought up. I never met

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan till I met him a tony romos. After

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Speaker 1: the game. I saw him play and probably noticed that

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Speaker 1: the Georgetown when they lost, you know, they beat Georgetown,

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Speaker 1: and you know, and I was a big Georgetown man.

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Speaker 1: That's when I was working with Night we had eighty

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Speaker 1: we had eighty teams, you know in the shoe though

422
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:41,000
Speaker 1: like that, you know, but that that shot stuck in

423
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,840
Speaker 1: my mind without every meeting, without ever talking about it again,

424
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,800
Speaker 1: because I was I was aggravated. He George stan I mean,

425
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,520
Speaker 1: you know, so I was a fan and also business

426
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 1: for Nike, and I never knew anything about him. He

427
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,840
Speaker 1: didn't go to camp, he didn't played, he played mythnology,

428
00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,760
Speaker 1: didn't playing a round ball, all that stuff. And then

429
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 1: to my life to turn around because they helped Rob

430
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 1: Stosser and Nike and you know, got together and said

431
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,119
Speaker 1: we're gonna we're gonna do something. We're gonna get a

432
00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:11,600
Speaker 1: real player and we're paying real money and we're gonna

433
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,920
Speaker 1: market him. That's your audience that pay attended. That was

434
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 1: the difference. And I said, we'll give it to the kids.

435
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,359
Speaker 1: I mean it shows plainly there. But that that's what

436
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,119
Speaker 1: I said, that that on God is my duds. I

437
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,640
Speaker 1: said that, you know, and they said, you know, will

438
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,920
Speaker 1: you bet your job would help? My wife was more successful.

439
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 1: I was in nineteen eighty four, the jalize that that's

440
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 1: how it happened. So but this, this will live forever

441
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 1: because it shows you what the power of an individual

442
00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:48,080
Speaker 1: and a person who basically Michael's Michael's not like a

443
00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: people guy that goes around the world. I mean people wa,

444
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 1: you know, that's who he is. But his power and

445
00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:59,160
Speaker 1: his beauty, of his skill in the way he handled everything,

446
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,879
Speaker 1: I don't think I don't think there ever would have

447
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,560
Speaker 1: been aired Jordans. I don't mean I mean aired Jordan ever.

448
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,080
Speaker 1: There would have been guys wearing shoes getting paid a

449
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 1: lot of money. They named the shoes. I don't know

450
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,679
Speaker 1: if they named the shoe because they didn't until nineteen

451
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 1: eighty four. I mean, I know we had Stan Smith,

452
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 1: we had stuff like that, but that wasn't marketed. I mean,

453
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,480
Speaker 1: you bring me in the Spike Lee, I mean the

454
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:25,119
Speaker 1: Nike marketing department. I mean you did all these things.

455
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:26,720
Speaker 1: I don't know if you know this. He was the

456
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,679
Speaker 1: first Alfte appeared on Saturday Night Live. I was with him,

457
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:31,760
Speaker 1: them and I at night. You know, it was the

458
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,320
Speaker 1: biggest one ever. Nineteen nine two, there was a special

459
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 1: with Michael Jordan on one of the networks. Yeah you know, yeah,

460
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,560
Speaker 1: that was that was me he allowed me to do

461
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,880
Speaker 1: it with with comic release with Delie Crystal, Robin Williams.

462
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,080
Speaker 1: That's right, I mean and the World the Goldberg that

463
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:51,920
Speaker 1: that that's where we did that, and score the theater.

464
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 1: So he was, he was, he is madetic. I mean,

465
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,679
Speaker 1: I mean, there's special How how I was able to

466
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: join Michael? What if? He says, no, what if I

467
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,240
Speaker 1: don't know? What if I didn't see that? What if?

468
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 1: Right is the world? What if that's probably it is?

469
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,840
Speaker 1: It's what is? Yeah? You, Sonny? I was gonna say,

470
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,720
Speaker 1: you know, I get a lot of these college kids saying, hey, Jason,

471
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:22,760
Speaker 1: I gotta know, how do you get from where I

472
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:27,440
Speaker 1: am in college to where you are on TV hosting

473
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,840
Speaker 1: your own podcast? You know how do I get there?

474
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,120
Speaker 1: And I say, you know what, there's no path, there's

475
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,879
Speaker 1: no direct path. All this crazy stuff had to happen

476
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,600
Speaker 1: for me to to get where I am from working

477
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,520
Speaker 1: at this newspaper, the Bergen Record in North Jersey when

478
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: I covered your ABCD camp, Like, if you had asked

479
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,960
Speaker 1: me twenty years ago, Jason, will you be on TV

480
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:48,760
Speaker 1: five days a week and hosting your own podcast? No,

481
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,080
Speaker 1: I was laughed. I would have been like come on,

482
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,919
Speaker 1: get out of here. No, no chance. I mean, Sonny,

483
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 1: you almost did you have an idea of which you

484
00:25:56,119 --> 00:26:00,280
Speaker 1: had wanted with these camps and the sneaker stall and

485
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 1: Adidas and like, did you have any idea that's what

486
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:04,480
Speaker 1: you wanted to go into when you were like a

487
00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: young man in your early twenties, Jason, when I was

488
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 1: in my only twenties and I was at young stun

489
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: State University, I was lucky to have a scholarship. I

490
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:14,679
Speaker 1: was lucky for a lot of things. As I go

491
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,480
Speaker 1: through it, I'm telling you, things came to me at

492
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,960
Speaker 1: the moment they came to me. It's so fascinating, Jason,

493
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,879
Speaker 1: I was, you know again, I say, he's on your radio.

494
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,199
Speaker 1: So I graduated third, third from the bottom of my

495
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,160
Speaker 1: class in Trafford High School, a small community about thirty

496
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 1: five hundred people in nineteen fifty seven. I wasn't supposed

497
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:38,119
Speaker 1: to go to college. I had a guidance constable, but

498
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:39,679
Speaker 1: I never knew because I never thought I was going

499
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,359
Speaker 1: to college. You know, she said, I used to speak.

500
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,360
Speaker 1: I was the captain of the football team for two years,

501
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:46,520
Speaker 1: and I mixed speeches, and she brought to you one day,

502
00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,920
Speaker 1: I swear to God is my judge. And she said,

503
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,440
Speaker 1: you know John, that's my name John. He said, I'd

504
00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 1: like to talk to you and I said yes necessarily.

505
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 1: What it was like, I said, I think you have

506
00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,400
Speaker 1: a gift speaking. I swear God. She said that speaking

507
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,560
Speaker 1: and the Steed thing. So and then she said, you

508
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,040
Speaker 1: ever think you're going to college and I said no,

509
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 1: I was him to play baseball. I actually had a

510
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,119
Speaker 1: chance to sign with the Pirates. That's the fact and

511
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: all that stuff in baseball. But but there, But what

512
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,960
Speaker 1: happened was the University Kentucky was recruiting me. Uh, there

513
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 1: haven't been Italian on Italian Centric and Pittsburgh project or

514
00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:28,440
Speaker 1: Stason so tyde of anyway, I went and I said,

515
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,639
Speaker 1: I can play baseball and football and whatever. And I

516
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,160
Speaker 1: turned on the thing and I went to Time Bland

517
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:35,960
Speaker 1: call you wanted to coach, I go down there and

518
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,160
Speaker 1: I visit and all that sort of stuff. And then

519
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 1: they found out about my academics that I gradually a

520
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:42,879
Speaker 1: third from the bottom. But they sent me a junior.

521
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 1: Call you readily, California, seriously, Danny's going away and remember

522
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: me kick used our quarterback. It's after the war it's

523
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,080
Speaker 1: like nineteen fifty seven out right. My uncle's my father's

524
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 1: family today. Some got killed in the war. I'm I'm

525
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,840
Speaker 1: a child all that certain chance growing up. Whether would

526
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 1: I see Hispanics and you know and and uh, you

527
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 1: know Japanese people. And I never saw my life before, right,

528
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 1: I mean that happened. I go out there, I get injured.

529
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,040
Speaker 1: I want to move on. I write a letter to

530
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 1: a coach and at young Stunt State University, which I

531
00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 1: know nothing one who was including me, also one of

532
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 1: the smallert given schools. I never thought of going there,

533
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:24,640
Speaker 1: but I write him a level. He writes back, So, yeah, John,

534
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,040
Speaker 1: come on back. I go to young Stun State. I'm

535
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 1: talking past and I know you're on thing. Okay, So

536
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,600
Speaker 1: I go back there. I go I actually, I'm they're

537
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,600
Speaker 1: they're they're going to especially on anyway. So I go

538
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 1: to Youngstun and the guy who named Dike Beattie, you

539
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 1: know it was a coach. So I go out. It's

540
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 1: it's a fall practice, you know. I go to the

541
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: practice and I I got hurt of really joined the

542
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 1: ball game. We played in the you know, one of

543
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: the bowl games, and we were pretty good, and I

544
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,560
Speaker 1: did a pretty good out there. But anyway, I go

545
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 1: there and I can't run anymore. That was my un forth, say,

546
00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,120
Speaker 1: I guess, And so I don't know what to how

547
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 1: I'm doing right, And and Byke was honest. Get his

548
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,960
Speaker 1: assistant coach with the basketball case named Don Roseli. I

549
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,280
Speaker 1: was basketball to work though all my sports, Jason. So

550
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,080
Speaker 1: now I go there, and and Byke says, you know,

551
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: I'm want to start, said listen, this is fifty seven

552
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 1: fifty eight now, right, so they should have kicked me out, right,

553
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 1: I mean, did kick kids out Now we're watching them, right.

554
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 1: The new coach comes in twenty guys are gone. Boo

555
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 1: boo boo boom. Don said, hey, can you help me

556
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 1: get some basketball players to come to young stuff in

557
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,760
Speaker 1: pitch work? I swear to God that's what happened. And

558
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,880
Speaker 1: I did. I went out and I started getting what

559
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 1: will be called AAU teams now in my little area. Meanwhile,

560
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:45,720
Speaker 1: kids I brought here, two of the kids I brought

561
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:47,720
Speaker 1: there in those three years or in the Hall of

562
00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,000
Speaker 1: Fame right now at young stun State University. So all

563
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,680
Speaker 1: those circumstances I'm trying to tell your audience were unforeseen.

564
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 1: They shouldn't have happened in the real world. I didn't

565
00:29:57,680 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 1: go to school to be a doctor. I didn't go

566
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 1: to school to be Agaennis. I didn't go to school

567
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,880
Speaker 1: to be a teacher. I went to school to be me.

568
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,200
Speaker 1: And I just press and me come out and in

569
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 1: one day. You know, in nineteen eighty four, you know,

570
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:17,479
Speaker 1: I mean Michael Jordan, a Tony ROMs and then the rest. Yo,

571
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:22,040
Speaker 1: I've done some interesting things. Yeah, obviously, luck plays a

572
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:26,640
Speaker 1: part in everybody's journey wherever they're headed. And you know,

573
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:28,960
Speaker 1: we could toss around lucky like people would listen to

574
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 1: this and might say, oh, Sonny Vacarl got kind of

575
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: lucky with Jordan. Come on, but but Sonny, you know this,

576
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:37,640
Speaker 1: if you stir up enough, if you try to make

577
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 1: enough things happen, eventually you're gonna stumble on something. Right,

578
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,680
Speaker 1: You're not gonna You're not sitting at your house watching

579
00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 1: TV all the time or reading while the Internet didn't

580
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,560
Speaker 1: exist back then. But you're not just sitting around doing

581
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 1: nothing twiddling your thumbs. You're out there stirring up stuff,

582
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 1: trying to make things happen, and in the process you

583
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,160
Speaker 1: stumble upon Michael Jordan. Because there were other big time

584
00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,760
Speaker 1: stars at the time right that that I'm sure Nike

585
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,840
Speaker 1: would be like. And I went to the NBA in

586
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,480
Speaker 1: that draft, Tall Barkley, I mean, you good goal of

587
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 1: John Stocks and I mean the six of them went

588
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,040
Speaker 1: to the draft. They're all they're all, you know, are

589
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,320
Speaker 1: all playing my thing? So yes they were. But I

590
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 1: said that Sam bowe And was the number one player

591
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 1: if you remember him, he got hurt. He was going

592
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,800
Speaker 1: to go the story. Yeah, there was the irony here

593
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,800
Speaker 1: is it was a moment of my life that I

594
00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,360
Speaker 1: never forgot. And I think if I have I don't

595
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 1: know what I have or don't have, I have some

596
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,959
Speaker 1: sort of a gift. I can have A knew Kobe Bryant.

597
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 1: I never arned it. Tray McGrady never played high school basketball.

598
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,920
Speaker 1: I mean, these were kids that come to the camp

599
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,560
Speaker 1: that I got to know. I knew. I knew Kobe

600
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 1: because his daddy, Joe. How about this was the MVP

601
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:48,760
Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventy two Roundball Classic out of high school.

602
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,320
Speaker 1: His mother Chubby Cox there's a cost as her maiden name.

603
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,280
Speaker 1: And Chubby played and he was a great player in college.

604
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: He played, you know in the seventy three game. So

605
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,200
Speaker 1: I never who Kobe. I never knew you know, all

606
00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,520
Speaker 1: those kids that came to camp. I got to meet them,

607
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:09,280
Speaker 1: and then I made judgments on kids. I mean, but

608
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:14,280
Speaker 1: that's I have a gift I do. This is blagdaysha,

609
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: It's factual because I can't I didn't go to class.

610
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: I didn't go to school. I analyzed a basketball player,

611
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,320
Speaker 1: or think about I'm gonna go against one of the biggest,

612
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,000
Speaker 1: most pain and button organization in the world the way, well,

613
00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,920
Speaker 1: there is you say a gift. There is that phrase,

614
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 1: the gift of gab right, you know how to talk

615
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,000
Speaker 1: to people. I know it was a meal over like

616
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 1: almost forty years ago, thirty five, forty years ago, but

617
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,640
Speaker 1: do you remember sitting down with with Jordan and in

618
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:45,000
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four at the restaurant, and like, was it

619
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 1: a challenging talk? I mean, how did you guys connect

620
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,720
Speaker 1: on a personal level. George Ravine, who was the best

621
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: man at my wedding, you know, uh was coaching in

622
00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,160
Speaker 1: uh the Olympic Games. He was just coach to Bobby

623
00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four and Riddy washing Wash He's uh, he

624
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:06,120
Speaker 1: was working at the colleges also George arranged it, but

625
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: Rudy Washington, who was an assistant coach there in basketball,

626
00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: well drove Michael over. So then then Rudy went to

627
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:15,880
Speaker 1: meet and George stayed with me, and it was me

628
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 1: and Michael and to Earth's Graveling, and I started talking

629
00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,320
Speaker 1: and Michael knew a little bit about me, but no,

630
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,240
Speaker 1: he knew I had the Dapper Dan game. Uh. He

631
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,640
Speaker 1: knew I put shoes, you know, on the teams, but

632
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:29,880
Speaker 1: he also knew that he never knew what the hell

633
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 1: and Nike was. I mean, that's a fact. And in

634
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 1: the meeting lasted was an hour and fifteen twenty misses,

635
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 1: not more long than because George had Rudy. Rudy would

636
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:41,760
Speaker 1: drove Michael did. It's not George. He had to get

637
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,280
Speaker 1: him back to the you know they began, and Bobby

638
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 1: and Knight would have found out. I don't think would

639
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 1: have had always probably lost a job, and I would

640
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 1: never have gone further. But my point to view is

641
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: it just happened. And then when he made this thing,

642
00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,360
Speaker 1: and for there are four other circumstances the movie, you'll

643
00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 1: show the change definitely. I mean I just got to

644
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:04,720
Speaker 1: know him well, and I said I stated, I travel

645
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,520
Speaker 1: with the world. Pam and I when when the mild

646
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 1: started and you know that when he played, you know,

647
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,560
Speaker 1: back in the ninety two out to one in Spain. Uh.

648
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,359
Speaker 1: We toward Europe, me and Pam and Howard White, who

649
00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,440
Speaker 1: was in the movie worked in the professional parts of

650
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: the Nike. We traveled from Spain, we went to Germany,

651
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,200
Speaker 1: we went to Paris on the tour, joined the and

652
00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 1: we had we had our own plane. And then coming

653
00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:31,160
Speaker 1: back on a plane, you know, the four of us

654
00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:36,080
Speaker 1: obviously from Europe of Stanago and I placed in with

655
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:40,919
Speaker 1: Michael for seven hours on that plane. So it's it's

656
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 1: all impossible to explain. I don't know, but I do

657
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,879
Speaker 1: know that I feel for spawning talent or having some

658
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,719
Speaker 1: sort of a gift. I have no idea. That may

659
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,879
Speaker 1: seem corny or bragado show, but I guess pretty well

660
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,360
Speaker 1: that's if it's a guest, I've done well that I

661
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 1: feel good about that part of my life. Fox Sports

662
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,800
Speaker 1: Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

663
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,040
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot

664
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:11,840
Speaker 1: com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search f SR to

665
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: listen live. Matt Damon plays you in the movie air,

666
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:18,480
Speaker 1: and I'm curious, like, did they have him or I

667
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:19,799
Speaker 1: don't know if you know the answer. Did they have

668
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 1: him watch old videos of you to pick up any mannerisms?

669
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,719
Speaker 1: Did you tell him what you were like, things you were,

670
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:28,480
Speaker 1: you know, the little little tiny things that he could

671
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,600
Speaker 1: use in the movie to give that extra Sonny Vacaro touch.

672
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 1: I think we did that on the zoom for an hour.

673
00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,719
Speaker 1: Then I think I know we made both contacts with

674
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 1: UH and and and all the staff. Pam and I

675
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,440
Speaker 1: spent five six hours watching them film done in California.

676
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:50,680
Speaker 1: We went to and mister Gouber was there all filming.

677
00:35:50,719 --> 00:35:53,960
Speaker 1: John everybody connected a film. I met the you know,

678
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 1: all the other actors were doing filming that day. So

679
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,440
Speaker 1: there was a and the young writer Alex you know,

680
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:07,120
Speaker 1: come up here to UH Televation, you know, Paul Strings

681
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 1: and spent a couple of hours in me at the

682
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,479
Speaker 1: restaurant and got closer and we talked continue being John

683
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,680
Speaker 1: Weinbauch knew me from five years doing that, So yes,

684
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,239
Speaker 1: there was and then you know, Matt and I gone

685
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:22,840
Speaker 1: along immediately. I mean we had we had that hour

686
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,399
Speaker 1: on thinking the first thing. It was impressive Matt told

687
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,560
Speaker 1: me he grew up about six miles or six blocks

688
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,240
Speaker 1: away from Patrick Ewing. He went to the same high school.

689
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:36,920
Speaker 1: He was a big basketball fan. Yeah, that's true. There

690
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,400
Speaker 1: was a common thing. When I saw Ben at the

691
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,520
Speaker 1: All Star Game last week. We hunked and the whole

692
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,920
Speaker 1: world was like watching and because I wanted to tell

693
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,239
Speaker 1: him something that he wanted to tell me something. But

694
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:51,560
Speaker 1: it was the most intimate you know, you know, conversation

695
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:55,600
Speaker 1: you men can have together, you know, and just talking

696
00:36:55,760 --> 00:37:00,160
Speaker 1: were as a picture like his his his mouth like

697
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,239
Speaker 1: about sixways my ear trying to talk because they're want

698
00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:05,400
Speaker 1: to run us. And I told him something special and

699
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 1: he told me to special. But who would have thought that,

700
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 1: I mean, to be very honest, I mean that this

701
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,319
Speaker 1: is all evolved. Who would have thought that I would

702
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,319
Speaker 1: have been you know, you know, the the NBA's you know,

703
00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:17,799
Speaker 1: Adam Schulber has been tremendous in this thing that they're

704
00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:20,359
Speaker 1: supporting the movie, uh, wanting to show it all over

705
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:25,160
Speaker 1: the country and some prime places. I can't explain to him,

706
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:29,440
Speaker 1: but there was there was a camarade between Matt and I.

707
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: I sensed that he was he was a pure basketball fan.

708
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,239
Speaker 1: He knew some other things that I had done, you

709
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 1: know that we talked about. And the other thing is

710
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,440
Speaker 1: very common if I get it in real quick. I

711
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:46,279
Speaker 1: gambled quite a bit. And when I was by, I

712
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,440
Speaker 1: used to go. When I was when I graduate from college,

713
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,480
Speaker 1: my two u two of my high school friends, Johnny

714
00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:55,640
Speaker 1: and Patris, we drove from Transfer, Pennsylvania's to Las Vegas.

715
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 1: We drove. This is nineteen sixty two, you know, right

716
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,160
Speaker 1: out of filmy Greg Rids and colleague. And the first

717
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,239
Speaker 1: place I was to do was to play poker. I

718
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:06,759
Speaker 1: play poker all my life until Reek. I haven't played

719
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:09,839
Speaker 1: in the last twenty five years serious poker. And I'll

720
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:14,320
Speaker 1: never forget rounders, rounders along the doing, you know, watching

721
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 1: rounders and have this affinity then you know more for

722
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,880
Speaker 1: Matt because of that, that that thing and in h

723
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: and as I said, you know, I believe in the

724
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,320
Speaker 1: since any kids these were this was a gamblick. Was

725
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:28,680
Speaker 1: a great part of my life. I mean, you know,

726
00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:31,880
Speaker 1: I I especially poker. And in the movie they have

727
00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,399
Speaker 1: a scene where I am gambling and I lose whatever.

728
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:37,160
Speaker 1: They have me shooting dice, which I have shot dikes also,

729
00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 1: and I lost money. I guess, and I guess I

730
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,960
Speaker 1: was a pain in the button. But but my point

731
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:46,120
Speaker 1: I'm making on having his affinity for Matt is that

732
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,560
Speaker 1: that movie and his his ease with my life, I

733
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:52,359
Speaker 1: sort of like we spend time. I wasn't like, you know,

734
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,319
Speaker 1: men didn't know that, but I didn't. I didn't, you know,

735
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:59,000
Speaker 1: get to talk to them that much because Matt's playing me.

736
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,200
Speaker 1: But my my life has been interesting and I can't

737
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:05,719
Speaker 1: believe what's happened. Every everything, everything was a poker game

738
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,160
Speaker 1: for me. Everything, Everything that I did was a bet.

739
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:11,680
Speaker 1: I was betting on whatever I was thinking. And I

740
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:14,000
Speaker 1: don't know how better I can explain to your to

741
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:18,520
Speaker 1: your audience, Jason, Uh, it's inside of me. Uh, it

742
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:22,080
Speaker 1: didn't hold me and I quit, you know, and and

743
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,080
Speaker 1: sports was like a part of it and whatever. But

744
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,359
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden one day, you know, I think,

745
00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:30,520
Speaker 1: you know, after I left, like I just quit. And

746
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:34,200
Speaker 1: then that's what you do because life it changed when

747
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,840
Speaker 1: when when they let me go and we went forward.

748
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,319
Speaker 1: But the movie and the people I was with, the

749
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 1: supporting castles I said before, is unbelievable. But Matt, Damon,

750
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:48,560
Speaker 1: I just think, you know, you know, all the all

751
00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,880
Speaker 1: these movies, I knew him better. And when he can

752
00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:55,680
Speaker 1: identify Patrick ewing to me, we had a bond immediately,

753
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,719
Speaker 1: Oh instantly, Yeah, yeah, hey John, let me let me

754
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:00,879
Speaker 1: squeeze in one more. So. Obviously you were the guy

755
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:04,959
Speaker 1: who discovered Kobe for Adidas back in the day. And

756
00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:07,800
Speaker 1: I'm looking at that draft in ninety six and it

757
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,840
Speaker 1: had some heavy hitters. Obviously, I ever said Marcus Camby, Marlbury,

758
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:16,040
Speaker 1: Ray Allen was incredible at Yukon Antoine Walker, Kentucky all

759
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:18,600
Speaker 1: these big times. I thought carry Kittles was special. How

760
00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,440
Speaker 1: the heck could you say Kobe Bryant is the guy

761
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:23,400
Speaker 1: you want, that's the guy you want. How did you

762
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:28,080
Speaker 1: know that? Well? To your audience, I had a start

763
00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:30,799
Speaker 1: new because I had been let loose by Nike. We

764
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:33,320
Speaker 1: couldn't get obviously, they had all the great guys and

765
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,320
Speaker 1: a couple other you know, Pad grand Heel and that

766
00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:37,239
Speaker 1: he had his only steel with a couple other guys did.

767
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,160
Speaker 1: But I knew, I knew I was going. After I

768
00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:43,400
Speaker 1: moved to New York, Jason Bam and I lived there

769
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 1: for Adidas sent me here for seven months because of

770
00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 1: my camp. Because everything was happening in New York at

771
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,839
Speaker 1: that time. We went back and I knew I want

772
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,480
Speaker 1: to Kobe his junior year when he came unknown to

773
00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:00,680
Speaker 1: our camp, his dad brought him put him in because

774
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:02,920
Speaker 1: a friend of mine, Gary Charles, told me that, you know,

775
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:05,480
Speaker 1: he knew his dad and this kid was good and

776
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:07,560
Speaker 1: the dad wanted to see me again. And all those

777
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:10,319
Speaker 1: years and seventy two when Bill, Joe and I had

778
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:13,120
Speaker 1: met when he was a player, he said, I have

779
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:15,720
Speaker 1: a son. When you put him in camp, I said, certainly,

780
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:17,919
Speaker 1: I'll put him in camp, and you know, and I did.

781
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:20,760
Speaker 1: I didn't never knew what I was getting. And he played,

782
00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 1: and I'll give you, I'll give you what happened. He

783
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:27,239
Speaker 1: was brilliant. He was different, quite different. But what he

784
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,600
Speaker 1: said to me after the camp, I go over and

785
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:32,560
Speaker 1: I meet all the I thank all the kids and

786
00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:34,840
Speaker 1: all that. And Kobe was one of the last to go.

787
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:38,400
Speaker 1: And Gary was him over there with Joe and uh

788
00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:42,040
Speaker 1: and uh damned his wife, and Kobe come run over

789
00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 1: to me and I'll never forget this. I've had three

790
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:47,239
Speaker 1: things with great athletes. And one day I'll tell you

791
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:50,239
Speaker 1: the Michael's story. But Kobe's story was he runs over

792
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:54,160
Speaker 1: to me. Now, I knew that he was awfully going

793
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,160
Speaker 1: to be the first major sign. We said there was

794
00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:58,520
Speaker 1: other kids. In fact, the other guy was Kerry Kittles

795
00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:02,480
Speaker 1: to be very happy and seriously, that's who you know.

796
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,200
Speaker 1: So I knew about that, and I knew Rawi and

797
00:42:05,239 --> 00:42:10,520
Speaker 1: all that sort of stuff. And so anyway, so Kobe says, uh,

798
00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:13,080
Speaker 1: thank you, mister Carrol from inviting me to camp. I

799
00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:15,400
Speaker 1: really enjoyed myself. Blah blah blah blah blah. But I

800
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:19,560
Speaker 1: want to apologize. Are you listening, audience? I want to apologize, Kobe.

801
00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:23,279
Speaker 1: Why would you're not an apologize yesterday? Is? I said? Why?

802
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:26,719
Speaker 1: He says, because I wasn't you know, I didn't do

803
00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,160
Speaker 1: whatever I did. He said, I'm a tip. Here's what

804
00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:31,919
Speaker 1: he said to me. Swear to God. But mister, I'll

805
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:34,040
Speaker 1: tell you what. When I came back to I'm going

806
00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:36,239
Speaker 1: to be the best player in the whole camp, he

807
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:38,960
Speaker 1: wasn't satisfied with being on the junior All Star team.

808
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:40,640
Speaker 1: We had a junior and the senior all to name

809
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,720
Speaker 1: at camp. He said that to me, and I looked

810
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 1: at him, and it was never emotion. I'll never forget it.

811
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:50,839
Speaker 1: It was me and this this young man seventeen years old,

812
00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:53,680
Speaker 1: you know, looking out there. He's only sixteen at that time,

813
00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:57,200
Speaker 1: because he was going into this senior he was talking

814
00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,000
Speaker 1: about a gear from now. He's talking about a year

815
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:03,880
Speaker 1: from them. And so I knew I was right. And

816
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:07,000
Speaker 1: then I stayed there and I never saw him play

817
00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,000
Speaker 1: a high school game. I kept the seeing we went

818
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:11,719
Speaker 1: to we went to Philadelphia to visit, you know, I

819
00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:15,480
Speaker 1: went to see other guys nineteen and the other companies

820
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:19,080
Speaker 1: had no idea. They never made a bid for him.

821
00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:21,719
Speaker 1: I gave him a lot of money. I bet our

822
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:25,960
Speaker 1: bank roll, just like Michael there was Michael. I gave

823
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,440
Speaker 1: Kobe a million dollars and we hired Joute to you know,

824
00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:31,520
Speaker 1: to help us do a lot of things, obviously just

825
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:34,359
Speaker 1: to be with his son. A million dollars the order

826
00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:36,440
Speaker 1: of the money for a high school kid. And they

827
00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,920
Speaker 1: all laughing when I'm telling you. The company that I

828
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:41,560
Speaker 1: left on top of the world, and they were still

829
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:44,719
Speaker 1: on top of the world, but they being everyone after

830
00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 1: all the bs, they everyone after Kobe. I had Kobe.

831
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,680
Speaker 1: All I had to do was follow through and get

832
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,360
Speaker 1: the support of you know, Petermore, who was running a

833
00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:57,239
Speaker 1: jetis the time, and that was my orders. So we

834
00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,799
Speaker 1: lived in New York. I went to games and all,

835
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,600
Speaker 1: and no one until draft day knew we were going

836
00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:06,799
Speaker 1: to take. You know, we had Aren't tell and represented

837
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,640
Speaker 1: them and uh, and I was there. I ranged along

838
00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:13,360
Speaker 1: with Aren't and he's close with Julie West. The workout,

839
00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:17,120
Speaker 1: the famous workout he had we bought done. Yeah yeah,

840
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:19,600
Speaker 1: Jerry runs over to me, you know, mid court, and

841
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:23,000
Speaker 1: he stops. He stops the workout like ten fifteen in

842
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:25,320
Speaker 1: this he said, we heen enough. We did one anyway,

843
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,120
Speaker 1: says and then he and Aren't talked, and everyone knows

844
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:31,719
Speaker 1: they didn't have a draft pick, and they you know,

845
00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:36,680
Speaker 1: they traded what's his name, Yeah, Vladi who was a

846
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:40,839
Speaker 1: great player. Oh yeah, yeah, Vladie was a great player.

847
00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:44,680
Speaker 1: So let's you know, and and and Jerry said, you know,

848
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:47,799
Speaker 1: I got to get into the draft. And they their

849
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,080
Speaker 1: plan was, and uh, Charlotte. I believe that's who they

850
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:53,480
Speaker 1: traded them to. They had no interest, They had no

851
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:56,399
Speaker 1: interest in Kobe. So if we knew, if we could

852
00:44:56,440 --> 00:45:01,400
Speaker 1: get to Charlotte, Kobe would go. No one else. We

853
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:04,400
Speaker 1: don't know what I'm being very honest with you. We

854
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:09,400
Speaker 1: no one knew except Jerry West that you know, that

855
00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:12,680
Speaker 1: Kobe was safe. He's going into that lottery all that stuff,

856
00:45:12,719 --> 00:45:14,719
Speaker 1: and he was going to go and he was gonna

857
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:18,720
Speaker 1: end up with the Lakers. It's one of those stories, Jason,

858
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,919
Speaker 1: you can't tell. I mean, I first of all, let's

859
00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:23,960
Speaker 1: go back as I taught you for, you know, go

860
00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:26,439
Speaker 1: back to my change. As I go through my life,

861
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,759
Speaker 1: something always happened in the right direction that I never

862
00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:32,080
Speaker 1: you know that I ever dream in my life. And

863
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:34,239
Speaker 1: I'm gonna see Jerry West in the middle of court

864
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,800
Speaker 1: run about a kid that I recommended to go. No,

865
00:45:37,560 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 1: that didn't never happen. I didn't know who Jerry West

866
00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:42,839
Speaker 1: was until I, you know, was involved with the kids

867
00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:45,759
Speaker 1: they were leaving high school. I mean, I knew he was,

868
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,759
Speaker 1: but I never met him, you know that saying and

869
00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,759
Speaker 1: he says, we're taking Kobe Bryant and they're gonna they're

870
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:53,600
Speaker 1: gonna make a trade and they get rid of light.

871
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:58,480
Speaker 1: All these things are incomprehensible, they really are. And so

872
00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:03,640
Speaker 1: I lived under the blocky star unbelievable. So Sonny, Forcaro, everybody,

873
00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:09,680
Speaker 1: the legendary sports marketing executive sneaker legend Way to go, Sonny.

874
00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:11,520
Speaker 1: Congrats on all your success and thanks for taking the

875
00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 1: time to jump on the podcast. Well, let's hope we

876
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:16,520
Speaker 1: do it some other time. We have to wait forty

877
00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:19,480
Speaker 1: years this time, okay, all right, but anytime you want to,

878
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:20,440
Speaker 1: we'll do it.