November 15, 2022 • 27 mins
The legendary point guard from across the harbor in Jersey City found championships at Duke before a car accident interrupted his NBA career. He got back in the game coaching with his brother Danny and brings his Arizona State team to Barclays Center this week. Chris talks about perseverance, perspective, and family with Bobby Hurley.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, what's going on. It's Chris Corino. This is the
Voice of the Nets podcast. We're thick into the NBA
season right now. The college basketball season is just getting
under way, and you know, Brooklyn is such a hotbed.
Barkley Center has become a hotbed for college basketball. Coming
(00:32):
up as we record this. The week we're recording this,
the Legends Classic is coming in to Barkley Center and
the Legends Classic is going to feature pit against Michigan,
and we know what a huge following Michigan has in
the Tri state area, so that should be a great environment.
You know, I did a did the n c A
(00:53):
Tournament when it was at Barkley Center for Westwood One,
and I remember doing the four games in one day,
the hardest thing I ever do. And the the fourth
game was Michigan Notre Dame and the game prior to
that was Stephen F. Auston against West Virginia. And if
(01:13):
you know anything about those two schools, they you know
West Virginia with with Bobby Huggins going up against Stephen F. Austin,
which had coached Brad Underwood who was now in Illinois
at the time. Brad Underwood had learned his craft. He
had he had been an assistant under Huggins and they
play that same style, you know, just constant pressure up
(01:37):
and down the floor. And that was the third game
of the day. And Stephen F. Austin, which were a
big underdog that day, they were they were right in it,
and they were winning, and the crowd was filing in
for Notre Dame Michigan and the place who was absolutely jammed,
(01:57):
and of course, and there's an upset brewing the neutral crowd.
They start going nuts for the underdog. So you've got
all the Michigan fans that are there and in in the
Notre Dame fans are They're going nuts on every Stephen F.
Austin bucket. And it was an electric atmosphere that day.
(02:19):
I I don't know how my boys got through it,
but it was. It was something I'll never forget. So
seeing Michigan, I'm sure they're gonna pack Barkley Center their
matchup against Pitt, and Pitt has a lot of fans
in this area too. I didn't realized that until that
in Central New Jersey and people that went to Pitt
down here, so that should be really exciting. And then
(02:40):
the other game in the Legends Classic features out of
the Atlantic ten b c U going up against Arizona State.
And Arizona State is coached by the iconic Bobby Hurley.
You know him from his days at Duke, but before
that played for his dad, Bob her the Senior, a
(03:00):
legendary coach and a legendary program at St. Anthony's of
Jersey City. UM, A book recommendation if you want to
know about that program and Bob Hurley. Adrian Wardronowski, before
he was dropping woas bombs in the NBA, wrote a
book called The Miracle of St. Anthony's and it chronicles
(03:24):
the career of Bob Hurley Senior and uh, that school
which is no longer around in Jersey City, but it's
a great read, terrific read, highly recommended for any basketball
fans out there. And of course Jersey City on the
map last year in the n c A Tournament and
what St. Peter's did and getting there. So we're gonna
(03:45):
talk to Bobby about our Our guest here today is
the head coach of Arizona State, Bobby Hurley, and we'll
talk a little bit about Jersey City and basketball in
this area. UM, Bobby has a fascinating story. You know,
he's but that Duke team, even Bobby very polarizing teams
and a polarizing player in Bobby Hurley. I think there
(04:06):
are there are people that absolutely love that team, loved him,
and when you have that intensity, there are people gonna
be on the other side of it. Right, Bobby and
I are going to talk about social media a little
bit and and how it's changed the way, uh these
players interact in college and things like that. Can you imagine,
you know, having Twitter around when that Duke team was
(04:31):
at its height, you know, with with Bobby Hurley and
Christian Layton and Grant Hill, Like Twitter can be a
scary place. Now imagine with with that group, because that
was a group where you came down on one side
of the other. But they gave us some incredible basketball
over the years. So I really there are there are
(04:51):
a number of things I wanted to talk to Bobby
Hurley about, and we get into mostly all of them.
You know, he was played for his dad, as we mentioned,
went on to Duke and Mashachowski played against the Dream
Team as a college select player when they were getting ready.
And there's a folklore about a famous scrimage that they had,
(05:13):
and he'll talk about that, and then he's the six
pick overall to the Sacramento Kings and nineteen games in
has a car accident where I mean horrific is probably
not the right word, the broken bones and just knowing
(05:34):
whether or not he was going to live or walk again.
I mean it was just to go through that. I
wanted to get his perspective on on going through that, um,
how it affected his NBA dreams, how it eventually would
lead to his perspective on life and his family, and
then his perspective on on coaching and how he got
into coaching, and then a little bit about his Arizona
(05:57):
State team. But it was definitely, uh a interesting perspective
that he has and and we'll get into that. You
know that I I a lot of times I give
a movie recommendation or something or something to listen to.
At the end, I'll give it to you now because
I want to set it up with the interview because
I think it relates to it. I saw this movie
recently that I have been waiting to see for a while.
(06:18):
It was nominated for Best Picture about a year ago,
and it's called A Sound of metal, and it's about
this guy is a heavy metal drummer and he starts
to lose his hearing and then you discover that he's
a recovering addict. And then there's that battle of how
do I uh you're going through this life event and
(06:39):
and how I can stop it from spiraling out of control?
And what happens is you're faced with something that's going
to change your life, and you rebel against it a
little bit, but in the end, it reveals something about
your character and about your makeup as a person, and
you may have to now live life different leg and
(07:01):
you're gonna rebel against that, and you're gonna fight against that,
but eventually it's going to give your perspective about your
life and show you a path that maybe you didn't
know existed, and then you're gonna come to accept it.
And then you're going to realize that maybe what I'm
going through can help other people. And it's about finding
stillness and accepting your path in life and and how
(07:24):
you can get the most out of your life when
you thought maybe it was it was all over. And
I think that's a great segue into Bobby Hurley the
movie Again Sound of Metal. I won an Oscar for
Best Sound and Best Editing, and I'm a movie guy
and geek about it, and those aspects are tremendous. But
(07:45):
anyone would love will love the film. Riza med was
nominated for Best Actor and he's brilliant in it. Uh
So there you go, there's my recommendation right off the bat. Again.
College basketball starting up in Brooklyn, we had a chance
us to talk here. It was. It was a terrific
conversation and one that I was excited to have with
(08:07):
Jersey City Zone Bobby Hurley here the voice of the Nets.
So when the Nets are out in Phoenix, I'm on
the road with the team. We practice over at Arizona State.
And I gotta say, I come away every time that
(08:29):
I want to go to Arizona State when I when
I spent some time out there. But now you get
back to the East Coast, what is it like coming
back to this area, bring your team to play at
Barkley Center. Well, we mean, we had a tough overtime
loss in Texas Southern and uh, but just landing in
New York and seeing the buildings and uh, just seeing
all the life and the energy and being back home
(08:50):
and maybe forget pretty quick about the loss on something, yeah,
and get you back into the juice and what started
you in this game, I would imagine, and you know
that that energy. Uh there's a certain type of player
that plays here. You were a product of it. Do
you try and and use this as a recruiting area?
Well we uh we we have a kid signed the
(09:10):
m Kiel Watson. It was outflick this year six nine forward.
And we've had other guys from the East Coast and
the South, so we feel like we kind of recruit nationally.
And Hudson Catholic, right, and a couple of nets connections there.
Broadcaster Jim Spinarco Michael Coryn Hudson Catholic. I know he's
one of the one of your one of your recruits
from there, right. Uh. Yeah, we have Luther Mohammad, who's
(09:33):
who who had eight points for us in our last game,
and LUSA from North New Jersey. And I always feel
better if I got a Jersey guy with me. So
and your Jersey guy you played obviously, you know, you
go you talk to high school coaches and some of
the best coaches in the country. Our high school coaches
and your dad, Bob r was one of them and
(09:57):
at Jersey City at St. Anthony's and you played for him.
You were McDonald's All American before you went on a duke.
And you have your son on your team now right,
And I was curious to how how that that delineation
between father and coach, How that was when you were
(10:17):
playing for your dad and had an influence the way
maybe you coach your son. Well, Um, just watching my
dad growing up, he was the most competitive person I
ever saw. Just he hated to lose. If if if
we lost the game at Saint Anthony, it was like
everyone was hiding from him, you know that night and uh,
(10:40):
and it rarely happened. He prepared so well, he was
always doing camps in the summer. Had an amazing work
ethic and love for the game. So that's what I've
hopefully passed along to my son. We we watched basketball
all the time together. You know, we've we've played together,
worked out together. So like, uh, it's it's a family
like And I would think it took some mental fortitude
(11:02):
on your part, and probably a reason why you were
able to perform at such a high level was too
to know, like when you lost, you didn't want to
be with it, Like you have to be mentally strong
too to go through that and want to be coached
like that. Some kids might, you know, run the other
way everything about that. Yeah, just I think when when
I played, I played for my coach, not for my
(11:24):
coach to do something for me. You know. I wanted
to do everything that could to please him, uh, to
to win, and that's what drove me. So, you know,
making whatever winning plays that you can make and trying
to be a great leader out there on the floor.
And you made winning plays in high school, you go
on to make winning plays in college. Curious your decision
(11:47):
to go play for Missovski and go to Duke and
teaming up with Grant Hill and Christian Latern are becoming
one of the more iconic college basketball teams in the
history of the sport. Did you have any indication that
that could happen when you were with those guys? And
where's your college experience? Was it elevated or where was
it like a normal college experience that you see your
(12:09):
kids coaching now in that process that they go through,
I think it's, uh, it's different for these kids. There's
more press, sure, and more scrutiny. Uh social media, like
regular people have access to them instantly on on Twitter
or Instagram, where like if I had a bad game,
it would just be in a newspaper the next day.
(12:30):
And uh, I didn't have to deal with that external
stuff that our guys do. There's you know, people could
be taking any of them if they're out and about,
so it's they have to be careful and uh, they
have to be a little more guarded with with stuff.
But as me as far as my college time, I
was a big East guy growing up, and I loved,
uh those battles with Syracuse and St. John's and Georgetown
(12:52):
and Villanova. So those were the kind of schools I
was looking at. And then all of a sudden, Duke
I had a great visit and met with coach k
and I saw Kristen Layton or playing there, so I
could throw him the ball might work out pretty good
for me. And uh so it was I just felt
a real family environment there, and I just trusted my
instincts that I had been around like a legendary coach
(13:12):
my whole life. Maybe I could have the right instincts
to find another one. Yeah, And Bobby. You know, I
want to bring up you're in college, you get selected
to play on this, I would say'd be like a
sparring partner for the Dream Team. And and this is
kind of like folklore for many years that you guys
actually would go and you beat the Dream Team, and
(13:35):
then the documentary came out about it and it brought
it to light and that you were part of this
team going up against you know, Magic Johnson and Michael
Jordan and Larry Bird and Karl Malone. I'm fascinated by it,
and I would love to know what your perspective was
coming into that situation and going to Europe and matching
up with those guys. What was your mindset going in
to go that gym to play that game with those guys.
(13:58):
It's probably about two week after we won our second championship,
Coach k called me in the office for a meeting
and he that's when he told me you were one
of eight guys selected for this development team to to
scrimmage against the Dream Team. And I was like, Initially
on Cloud nine, I'm like, wow, this is gonna be
like a fantasy camp type situation. But then when the
(14:19):
reality settled in I realized, like, hey, I'm gonna actually
have to go out and play these guys, and then
you're just concerned about your own survival, you know, and
not getting embarrassed out there. So I I like really
wouldn't have been training that hard that time of year,
but I was like training like a maniac. I was
like biking to my workouts and then working out, so
(14:39):
like I was in as good as shape as I
ever was going into that thing, just out of like
self preservation instinct. And the first day it was it
was funny. It was you know, we pull up and
there was no fanfare. They pulled up on luxury bus
and it was hundreds of people screaming for them as
they go into the gym, and and I was trying
to justify, like or rationalize how they would be that day.
(15:02):
And I was saying, you know, these guys have won
everything and done everything in their career. They're probably not
gonna go that hard today. They're gonna kind of eat
use their way into man. They were like sharp Ball
was moving, they were talking. It looked like they had
been together forever. So like my anxiety level was even
more heightened. Um And now like after about an hour
(15:23):
watching this. Now it's like you're like going in the coliseum.
It's like about to be slaughtered. But uh, you know
it was I don't know. We just our youthfulness, our energy,
our pretty care free maybe nothing to lose, um, and
we just had one of those days. It was it
was amazing too to win that day. But the rest
(15:43):
of the week was it was a massacre. And they're
like every day, Well you got their attention and then
uh and then you got the rest. I wanted to
shift it here. Now you get drafted by Sacramento sixth overall.
Pick what will your dreams and your and your goals
for your NBA career At that moment, up to that time,
(16:04):
like all I had known was winning and won a
bunch of championships, and I had gone the three final fours,
I won four state championships. So I have been on
like an incredible run. Um, And that's that's what I was.
How can I help be a part of taking Sacramento
Kings franchise? And and I liked the idea after Duke
(16:24):
because Duke was kind of a blue blood on the
on the cusp. When I got there and they had
already been the final fours, and my and my thinking was, well,
this franchise has never really done anything I'm excited to
want to be a part of at the ground level
of building it. So that's kind of where my thoughts were,
you know, going into that season. And then obviously the
(16:45):
nineteen games in you had that accident, at that terrific
car accident in your first year, and I just a
little perspective on on me, Bobby bet I'm about the
same age as you, and right around the same time
I had noticed that it. Physically, I had been getting
my limbs are get a little skinnier, I was falling,
and I was diagnosed with a type of muscular distrophy
called s h D. And you know, I'm a kid
(17:09):
trying to break into broadcasting and you're out out of college,
and I have all these aspirations. And at first it
was my relationship with it was frustration, anger, I'm not
gonna let this stop me. I'm gonna come back and
with you everything I wanted out of my life. And
then as it progresses, you realize, all right, well, maybe
my life is going to be a little different than
I had envisioned it. And then you get older, our age,
(17:31):
and you go, well, you know, maybe I could help
a lot of people are going through this, and I'm
appreciative for what I have and I've given. I've gotten
a perspective on it that I may never have gotten otherwise.
I'm curious your relationship with you know, that accident probably
cost you whatever goals you had at the n b A.
Your relationship to that accident then, and how it's changed
(17:52):
over the years and the kind of perspective it's given you. Yeah,
well that's a great, great story, your story, and and
I kind of for me, it was it gave me
a taste of my own mortality in that moment, because
I could remember as clearly today as I did in
a moment of how much pain I was in and
how I thought I wasn't gonna make it, and to
(18:14):
be there with a with a teammate and just telling
him please tell my family I love him. So like
when you know you're that close, Uh, it gives you
like kind of amazing perspective. Uh. Looking back on it,
people say like, oh, this got taken away, but I
I don't know, I feel blessed that I made it,
you know, as is the first thing and after that,
(18:35):
I said, why am I entitled to having everything perfect
in life? Like everybody has their own crutch to bear
and things they got to work through and fight through.
And and that was mine and and you know it's
I shouldn't be blessed to win everything and to be
a storybook thing, and it's not how life works. And
uh so those circumstances were handed to me. There's no
(18:58):
preparation for him. Uh. There were a lot of physical
scars and injuries I had. I think the emotional part
of the trauma was even harder for me, just uh
even getting back in the car again. And I remember
a couple of times when I right after when I
first got back in that car, someone beat the horn
on me. I got so upset and shaking up that
(19:18):
I'd have to pull the car over and and just
get it together. So there was stuff that you know,
you have to work through and handle with it. And
I think the frustration of not succeeding was something that
it was very hard for me to deal with later
in my NBA stage. Is that, you know, when when
it just wasn't working, and uh, to have the support
(19:39):
I had helped me just to get through it. And
I know it seemed it would seem so natural when
when you go through you're going through and the NBA
stuff doesn't work out the way you wanted. Between your
father being a legendary coach, your brother at the time,
Danny was in coaching, it would have been a natural
thing for you to just go right to coaching. What
(19:59):
I know, there was a there was a gap there
right like you you went into the horse racing, I believe.
And what held up that process of getting you to
where you are now and starting coaching, good question. I
know that it's not I'm not using the accident again
as an excuse, but you know, I had I had
two beautiful daughters, um that were growing up, and I
(20:20):
had just finished my last season in the NBA, and
they were both very young, and my number one priority
was them and spending time with them. And I got
to see them, you know, grow up. And even my
son was a little further down the line, but I
still was around in his early years. So to have
that flexibility to not have to jump right into something,
(20:42):
I think played a roll into it. The other part
of it was just I just had an awful taste
in my mouth from how my NBA career ended, and
I had done basketball my whole life, and I felt
a little bit burnt out, and so I think taking
that time was appropriate. Looking back on it, I wish
I would have jumped in a little sooner, because if
I ever knew how much what I'm doing now replaced
(21:05):
and even exceeded how I felt as a player. As Um,
what I'm doing, I feel like impacts so many more
people than that. When I was playing, it was just
me playing, you know, and maybe I'm helping my coach
and my teammates. But now this role is really I think, uh,
it's been been a blessing for me. Yeah, I mean
seeing you on the sideline and you're intense, but it
(21:27):
just seems like that's what you were meant to do,
and and you know, sometimes you have to take a
longer route to get there, but um, and it's great
to you that maybe what you went through physically gave
me that perspective to be with your kids early on,
to spend that time at all. It all kind of
happens for a reason, doesn't it. I Mean I feel
it does, and and all the timing stars aligned, and
(21:50):
I got to work with my brother for three years,
two years of Wagner College and one year of Rhode Island.
So I just remember those those meetings. Some of them
weren't always pleasant with and because Dan, you know, he
wants us to get the best recruits, and but just
having that time to talk with him and uh, you know,
tell stories and talk about basketball in life, and it
(22:10):
was like another great use. We had a bunch of
years where we weren't around each other, so that was
another great piece, you know, being an assistant and and uh,
but I'm excited and to be able to do what
I'm doing right now. I met Dan a couple of
times in college because I had a friend Gordon Winch.
I said that played for seat Hall, And um, did
you think your brother was gonna go into coaching and
(22:32):
be as successful as he was going? Thinking back on
it around them when you were younger, I mean we
I think we both figured that was where we were going.
If we had been in a grown up with doctors,
maybe would have went to medical school or I don't
know if engineers and the engineer, but you know, we
grew up in a basketball house and watch my dad operate,
you know, our whole lives so it was kind of
(22:52):
like what we knew the best and what was what
our passion was most for. So and I saw Dan
at St. Benedict's like he would play in these high
school tournaments out in Florida, and I was retired there
at the time, and just to watch j R. Smith
and Tristan Thompson and some of the teams he had,
he I could tell he was on the on the
right track. Uh, we'll will dad be at the game
(23:14):
in Brooklyn? He will. Yeah, my mom and dad will
be there and my sister Melissa. So we're excited about that.
You guys didn't bring the band. You're playing VCU. It's
a tough match up with the bands. Yeah, no's it's
a long it's a long trip for the band, so
we uh but but yeah, we'll have we'll have decent support.
(23:34):
I'll have some people, Luther Muhammad will have a nice cruise,
so it won't be as much as BCU, but we'll
do the best weekend. Yeah. No, the VCU band is legendary.
It's like going up against the Dream Team. So yeah,
good good, good choice to just kinda sit that one
out for the band. But otherwise, uh, your your your
outlook on your team. I know sometimes you said you're
coming off a tough loss. Uh. NBA teams have games
(23:56):
to figure it out. That's a season for you. Have
you figured out the idea to the year, your team
and how good you're gonna be in the Pact. Well,
this year, I think we're getting there. We're we have
to improve a little bit offensively. We we struggled at
times on Sunday. It was our our first true road game, so, uh,
they're never easy. Lost a tough game, you know at
the buzzer, basically tip in and over time. So just
(24:18):
trying to pick up and build the morality team, uh,
and get everyone excited to play in this event because
I told the guys and we talked about earlier. Man,
it's like this is everyone talks about maybe Indiana and
New York City. Is is the birthplace at a game
as far as I'm concerned, And if you could come
in here and play, well, there's there is no greater
feeling and uh, and so I think we're gonna hopefully
(24:40):
feed off that energy. But I think we could be
a really good defensive team. We're in a in the
top ten nationally right now in blocks and I know
it's just early in the season, but we have really
good length around the basket, and our transfer guard from
Michigan has been really good. Frankie Collins has uh has
done some nice things for US. I think he's got
a chance of a really good year. Well, Bobby Harley,
really appreciate you taking your time. Look forward to seeing
(25:02):
your play there against v c U at Berkeley Center
in Brooklyn. Thanks so much for for your candor and
opening up with us. I appreciate it. Appreciate you a
great talk, all right, That is Bobby Hurley. You can
see Arizona State at Barkley Center part of the Legends
(25:22):
Classic November six, seventeen, Arizona State against b c U,
pit against Michigan, and then November twenty one and two
the Empire Classic at Barkley Center, UH, Syracuse, what you know,
packed the building against Richmond, and then you've got St.
John's and Temple, So that should be a terrific couple
(25:44):
of days of basketball. Their Empire Classic and then the
Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational on December eleven featuring Rick
Pettino and Iona against St. Bonnie's. We already got an
Adrian Wardronowski reference, so I'm sure him and Mike Vaccaro
and Tim bon Temp's all St. Bonnie's alums will show
(26:06):
up if their schedule permits them on December eleven to
see St. Bonnie's take on I own it. I'd be
very disappointed if those guys who are not in the
building at Barkley Center for that. You've got Oklahoma State
playing Virginia Tech, Maryland and Tennessee and you Mass and Hofstra.
So great stuff there December eleven. But a great college
(26:27):
basketball schedule in Brooklyn. Fantastic And that's not even a mention.
You've got the Atlantic Ten Tournament coming up in March
at Barkley Center. I'll leave you with a great I
don't know. I can't play the song, but uh the
song recommendation for today talking about what we talked about
with Bobby Hurley from If You Know Me, I love
(26:47):
Frank Turner the great. I want to say folk rock
punk guy at a London singer songwriter has a song
called get Better. Go listen to it and you will
feel better. Thanks to Tom Dowd, our producer putting this
all together, Isaac Lee, our engineer. I'm Chris Corino'll talk
to you next time. This has been the voice of
(27:08):
the nets
Hey, what's going on. It's Chris Corino. This is the
Voice of the Nets podcast. We're thick into the NBA
season right now. The college basketball season is just getting
under way, and you know, Brooklyn is such a hotbed.
Barkley Center has become a hotbed for college basketball. Coming
(00:32):
up as we record this. The week we're recording this,
the Legends Classic is coming in to Barkley Center and
the Legends Classic is going to feature pit against Michigan,
and we know what a huge following Michigan has in
the Tri state area, so that should be a great environment.
You know, I did a did the n c A
(00:53):
Tournament when it was at Barkley Center for Westwood One,
and I remember doing the four games in one day,
the hardest thing I ever do. And the the fourth
game was Michigan Notre Dame and the game prior to
that was Stephen F. Auston against West Virginia. And if
(01:13):
you know anything about those two schools, they you know
West Virginia with with Bobby Huggins going up against Stephen F. Austin,
which had coached Brad Underwood who was now in Illinois
at the time. Brad Underwood had learned his craft. He
had he had been an assistant under Huggins and they
play that same style, you know, just constant pressure up
(01:37):
and down the floor. And that was the third game
of the day. And Stephen F. Austin, which were a
big underdog that day, they were they were right in it,
and they were winning, and the crowd was filing in
for Notre Dame Michigan and the place who was absolutely jammed,
(01:57):
and of course, and there's an upset brewing the neutral crowd.
They start going nuts for the underdog. So you've got
all the Michigan fans that are there and in in the
Notre Dame fans are They're going nuts on every Stephen F.
Austin bucket. And it was an electric atmosphere that day.
(02:19):
I I don't know how my boys got through it,
but it was. It was something I'll never forget. So
seeing Michigan, I'm sure they're gonna pack Barkley Center their
matchup against Pitt, and Pitt has a lot of fans
in this area too. I didn't realized that until that
in Central New Jersey and people that went to Pitt
down here, so that should be really exciting. And then
(02:40):
the other game in the Legends Classic features out of
the Atlantic ten b c U going up against Arizona State.
And Arizona State is coached by the iconic Bobby Hurley.
You know him from his days at Duke, but before
that played for his dad, Bob her the Senior, a
(03:00):
legendary coach and a legendary program at St. Anthony's of
Jersey City. UM, A book recommendation if you want to
know about that program and Bob Hurley. Adrian Wardronowski, before
he was dropping woas bombs in the NBA, wrote a
book called The Miracle of St. Anthony's and it chronicles
(03:24):
the career of Bob Hurley Senior and uh, that school
which is no longer around in Jersey City, but it's
a great read, terrific read, highly recommended for any basketball
fans out there. And of course Jersey City on the
map last year in the n c A Tournament and
what St. Peter's did and getting there. So we're gonna
(03:45):
talk to Bobby about our Our guest here today is
the head coach of Arizona State, Bobby Hurley, and we'll
talk a little bit about Jersey City and basketball in
this area. UM, Bobby has a fascinating story. You know,
he's but that Duke team, even Bobby very polarizing teams
and a polarizing player in Bobby Hurley. I think there
(04:06):
are there are people that absolutely love that team, loved him,
and when you have that intensity, there are people gonna
be on the other side of it. Right, Bobby and
I are going to talk about social media a little
bit and and how it's changed the way, uh these
players interact in college and things like that. Can you imagine,
you know, having Twitter around when that Duke team was
(04:31):
at its height, you know, with with Bobby Hurley and
Christian Layton and Grant Hill, Like Twitter can be a
scary place. Now imagine with with that group, because that
was a group where you came down on one side
of the other. But they gave us some incredible basketball
over the years. So I really there are there are
(04:51):
a number of things I wanted to talk to Bobby
Hurley about, and we get into mostly all of them.
You know, he was played for his dad, as we mentioned,
went on to Duke and Mashachowski played against the Dream
Team as a college select player when they were getting ready.
And there's a folklore about a famous scrimage that they had,
(05:13):
and he'll talk about that, and then he's the six
pick overall to the Sacramento Kings and nineteen games in
has a car accident where I mean horrific is probably
not the right word, the broken bones and just knowing
(05:34):
whether or not he was going to live or walk again.
I mean it was just to go through that. I
wanted to get his perspective on on going through that, um,
how it affected his NBA dreams, how it eventually would
lead to his perspective on life and his family, and
then his perspective on on coaching and how he got
into coaching, and then a little bit about his Arizona
(05:57):
State team. But it was definitely, uh a interesting perspective
that he has and and we'll get into that. You
know that I I a lot of times I give
a movie recommendation or something or something to listen to.
At the end, I'll give it to you now because
I want to set it up with the interview because
I think it relates to it. I saw this movie
recently that I have been waiting to see for a while.
(06:18):
It was nominated for Best Picture about a year ago,
and it's called A Sound of metal, and it's about
this guy is a heavy metal drummer and he starts
to lose his hearing and then you discover that he's
a recovering addict. And then there's that battle of how
do I uh you're going through this life event and
(06:39):
and how I can stop it from spiraling out of control?
And what happens is you're faced with something that's going
to change your life, and you rebel against it a
little bit, but in the end, it reveals something about
your character and about your makeup as a person, and
you may have to now live life different leg and
(07:01):
you're gonna rebel against that, and you're gonna fight against that,
but eventually it's going to give your perspective about your
life and show you a path that maybe you didn't
know existed, and then you're gonna come to accept it.
And then you're going to realize that maybe what I'm
going through can help other people. And it's about finding
stillness and accepting your path in life and and how
(07:24):
you can get the most out of your life when
you thought maybe it was it was all over. And
I think that's a great segue into Bobby Hurley the
movie Again Sound of Metal. I won an Oscar for
Best Sound and Best Editing, and I'm a movie guy
and geek about it, and those aspects are tremendous. But
(07:45):
anyone would love will love the film. Riza med was
nominated for Best Actor and he's brilliant in it. Uh
So there you go, there's my recommendation right off the bat. Again.
College basketball starting up in Brooklyn, we had a chance
us to talk here. It was. It was a terrific
conversation and one that I was excited to have with
(08:07):
Jersey City Zone Bobby Hurley here the voice of the Nets.
So when the Nets are out in Phoenix, I'm on
the road with the team. We practice over at Arizona State.
And I gotta say, I come away every time that
(08:29):
I want to go to Arizona State when I when
I spent some time out there. But now you get
back to the East Coast, what is it like coming
back to this area, bring your team to play at
Barkley Center. Well, we mean, we had a tough overtime
loss in Texas Southern and uh, but just landing in
New York and seeing the buildings and uh, just seeing
all the life and the energy and being back home
(08:50):
and maybe forget pretty quick about the loss on something, yeah,
and get you back into the juice and what started
you in this game, I would imagine, and you know
that that energy. Uh there's a certain type of player
that plays here. You were a product of it. Do
you try and and use this as a recruiting area?
Well we uh we we have a kid signed the
(09:10):
m Kiel Watson. It was outflick this year six nine forward.
And we've had other guys from the East Coast and
the South, so we feel like we kind of recruit nationally.
And Hudson Catholic, right, and a couple of nets connections there.
Broadcaster Jim Spinarco Michael Coryn Hudson Catholic. I know he's
one of the one of your one of your recruits
from there, right. Uh. Yeah, we have Luther Mohammad, who's
(09:33):
who who had eight points for us in our last game,
and LUSA from North New Jersey. And I always feel
better if I got a Jersey guy with me. So
and your Jersey guy you played obviously, you know, you
go you talk to high school coaches and some of
the best coaches in the country. Our high school coaches
and your dad, Bob r was one of them and
(09:57):
at Jersey City at St. Anthony's and you played for him.
You were McDonald's All American before you went on a duke.
And you have your son on your team now right,
And I was curious to how how that that delineation
between father and coach, How that was when you were
(10:17):
playing for your dad and had an influence the way
maybe you coach your son. Well, Um, just watching my
dad growing up, he was the most competitive person I
ever saw. Just he hated to lose. If if if
we lost the game at Saint Anthony, it was like
everyone was hiding from him, you know that night and uh,
(10:40):
and it rarely happened. He prepared so well, he was
always doing camps in the summer. Had an amazing work
ethic and love for the game. So that's what I've
hopefully passed along to my son. We we watched basketball
all the time together. You know, we've we've played together,
worked out together. So like, uh, it's it's a family
like And I would think it took some mental fortitude
(11:02):
on your part, and probably a reason why you were
able to perform at such a high level was too
to know, like when you lost, you didn't want to
be with it, Like you have to be mentally strong
too to go through that and want to be coached
like that. Some kids might, you know, run the other
way everything about that. Yeah, just I think when when
I played, I played for my coach, not for my
(11:24):
coach to do something for me. You know. I wanted
to do everything that could to please him, uh, to
to win, and that's what drove me. So, you know,
making whatever winning plays that you can make and trying
to be a great leader out there on the floor.
And you made winning plays in high school, you go
on to make winning plays in college. Curious your decision
(11:47):
to go play for Missovski and go to Duke and
teaming up with Grant Hill and Christian Latern are becoming
one of the more iconic college basketball teams in the
history of the sport. Did you have any indication that
that could happen when you were with those guys? And
where's your college experience? Was it elevated or where was
it like a normal college experience that you see your
(12:09):
kids coaching now in that process that they go through,
I think it's, uh, it's different for these kids. There's
more press, sure, and more scrutiny. Uh social media, like
regular people have access to them instantly on on Twitter
or Instagram, where like if I had a bad game,
it would just be in a newspaper the next day.
(12:30):
And uh, I didn't have to deal with that external
stuff that our guys do. There's you know, people could
be taking any of them if they're out and about,
so it's they have to be careful and uh, they
have to be a little more guarded with with stuff.
But as me as far as my college time, I
was a big East guy growing up, and I loved,
uh those battles with Syracuse and St. John's and Georgetown
(12:52):
and Villanova. So those were the kind of schools I
was looking at. And then all of a sudden, Duke
I had a great visit and met with coach k
and I saw Kristen Layton or playing there, so I
could throw him the ball might work out pretty good
for me. And uh so it was I just felt
a real family environment there, and I just trusted my
instincts that I had been around like a legendary coach
(13:12):
my whole life. Maybe I could have the right instincts
to find another one. Yeah, And Bobby. You know, I
want to bring up you're in college, you get selected
to play on this, I would say'd be like a
sparring partner for the Dream Team. And and this is
kind of like folklore for many years that you guys
actually would go and you beat the Dream Team, and
(13:35):
then the documentary came out about it and it brought
it to light and that you were part of this
team going up against you know, Magic Johnson and Michael
Jordan and Larry Bird and Karl Malone. I'm fascinated by it,
and I would love to know what your perspective was
coming into that situation and going to Europe and matching
up with those guys. What was your mindset going in
to go that gym to play that game with those guys.
(13:58):
It's probably about two week after we won our second championship,
Coach k called me in the office for a meeting
and he that's when he told me you were one
of eight guys selected for this development team to to
scrimmage against the Dream Team. And I was like, Initially
on Cloud nine, I'm like, wow, this is gonna be
like a fantasy camp type situation. But then when the
(14:19):
reality settled in I realized, like, hey, I'm gonna actually
have to go out and play these guys, and then
you're just concerned about your own survival, you know, and
not getting embarrassed out there. So I I like really
wouldn't have been training that hard that time of year,
but I was like training like a maniac. I was
like biking to my workouts and then working out, so
(14:39):
like I was in as good as shape as I
ever was going into that thing, just out of like
self preservation instinct. And the first day it was it
was funny. It was you know, we pull up and
there was no fanfare. They pulled up on luxury bus
and it was hundreds of people screaming for them as
they go into the gym, and and I was trying
to justify, like or rationalize how they would be that day.
(15:02):
And I was saying, you know, these guys have won
everything and done everything in their career. They're probably not
gonna go that hard today. They're gonna kind of eat
use their way into man. They were like sharp Ball
was moving, they were talking. It looked like they had
been together forever. So like my anxiety level was even
more heightened. Um And now like after about an hour
(15:23):
watching this. Now it's like you're like going in the coliseum.
It's like about to be slaughtered. But uh, you know
it was I don't know. We just our youthfulness, our energy,
our pretty care free maybe nothing to lose, um, and
we just had one of those days. It was it
was amazing too to win that day. But the rest
(15:43):
of the week was it was a massacre. And they're
like every day, Well you got their attention and then
uh and then you got the rest. I wanted to
shift it here. Now you get drafted by Sacramento sixth overall.
Pick what will your dreams and your and your goals
for your NBA career At that moment, up to that time,
(16:04):
like all I had known was winning and won a
bunch of championships, and I had gone the three final fours,
I won four state championships. So I have been on
like an incredible run. Um, And that's that's what I was.
How can I help be a part of taking Sacramento
Kings franchise? And and I liked the idea after Duke
(16:24):
because Duke was kind of a blue blood on the
on the cusp. When I got there and they had
already been the final fours, and my and my thinking was, well,
this franchise has never really done anything I'm excited to
want to be a part of at the ground level
of building it. So that's kind of where my thoughts were,
you know, going into that season. And then obviously the
(16:45):
nineteen games in you had that accident, at that terrific
car accident in your first year, and I just a
little perspective on on me, Bobby bet I'm about the
same age as you, and right around the same time
I had noticed that it. Physically, I had been getting
my limbs are get a little skinnier, I was falling,
and I was diagnosed with a type of muscular distrophy
called s h D. And you know, I'm a kid
(17:09):
trying to break into broadcasting and you're out out of college,
and I have all these aspirations. And at first it
was my relationship with it was frustration, anger, I'm not
gonna let this stop me. I'm gonna come back and
with you everything I wanted out of my life. And
then as it progresses, you realize, all right, well, maybe
my life is going to be a little different than
I had envisioned it. And then you get older, our age,
(17:31):
and you go, well, you know, maybe I could help
a lot of people are going through this, and I'm
appreciative for what I have and I've given. I've gotten
a perspective on it that I may never have gotten otherwise.
I'm curious your relationship with you know, that accident probably
cost you whatever goals you had at the n b A.
Your relationship to that accident then, and how it's changed
(17:52):
over the years and the kind of perspective it's given you. Yeah,
well that's a great, great story, your story, and and
I kind of for me, it was it gave me
a taste of my own mortality in that moment, because
I could remember as clearly today as I did in
a moment of how much pain I was in and
how I thought I wasn't gonna make it, and to
(18:14):
be there with a with a teammate and just telling
him please tell my family I love him. So like
when you know you're that close, Uh, it gives you
like kind of amazing perspective. Uh. Looking back on it,
people say like, oh, this got taken away, but I
I don't know, I feel blessed that I made it,
you know, as is the first thing and after that,
(18:35):
I said, why am I entitled to having everything perfect
in life? Like everybody has their own crutch to bear
and things they got to work through and fight through.
And and that was mine and and you know it's
I shouldn't be blessed to win everything and to be
a storybook thing, and it's not how life works. And
uh so those circumstances were handed to me. There's no
(18:58):
preparation for him. Uh. There were a lot of physical
scars and injuries I had. I think the emotional part
of the trauma was even harder for me, just uh
even getting back in the car again. And I remember
a couple of times when I right after when I
first got back in that car, someone beat the horn
on me. I got so upset and shaking up that
(19:18):
I'd have to pull the car over and and just
get it together. So there was stuff that you know,
you have to work through and handle with it. And
I think the frustration of not succeeding was something that
it was very hard for me to deal with later
in my NBA stage. Is that, you know, when when
it just wasn't working, and uh, to have the support
(19:39):
I had helped me just to get through it. And
I know it seemed it would seem so natural when
when you go through you're going through and the NBA
stuff doesn't work out the way you wanted. Between your
father being a legendary coach, your brother at the time,
Danny was in coaching, it would have been a natural
thing for you to just go right to coaching. What
(19:59):
I know, there was a there was a gap there
right like you you went into the horse racing, I believe.
And what held up that process of getting you to
where you are now and starting coaching, good question. I
know that it's not I'm not using the accident again
as an excuse, but you know, I had I had
two beautiful daughters, um that were growing up, and I
(20:20):
had just finished my last season in the NBA, and
they were both very young, and my number one priority
was them and spending time with them. And I got
to see them, you know, grow up. And even my
son was a little further down the line, but I
still was around in his early years. So to have
that flexibility to not have to jump right into something,
(20:42):
I think played a roll into it. The other part
of it was just I just had an awful taste
in my mouth from how my NBA career ended, and
I had done basketball my whole life, and I felt
a little bit burnt out, and so I think taking
that time was appropriate. Looking back on it, I wish
I would have jumped in a little sooner, because if
I ever knew how much what I'm doing now replaced
(21:05):
and even exceeded how I felt as a player. As Um,
what I'm doing, I feel like impacts so many more
people than that. When I was playing, it was just
me playing, you know, and maybe I'm helping my coach
and my teammates. But now this role is really I think, uh,
it's been been a blessing for me. Yeah, I mean
seeing you on the sideline and you're intense, but it
(21:27):
just seems like that's what you were meant to do,
and and you know, sometimes you have to take a
longer route to get there, but um, and it's great
to you that maybe what you went through physically gave
me that perspective to be with your kids early on,
to spend that time at all. It all kind of
happens for a reason, doesn't it. I Mean I feel
it does, and and all the timing stars aligned, and
(21:50):
I got to work with my brother for three years,
two years of Wagner College and one year of Rhode Island.
So I just remember those those meetings. Some of them
weren't always pleasant with and because Dan, you know, he
wants us to get the best recruits, and but just
having that time to talk with him and uh, you know,
tell stories and talk about basketball in life, and it
(22:10):
was like another great use. We had a bunch of
years where we weren't around each other, so that was
another great piece, you know, being an assistant and and uh,
but I'm excited and to be able to do what
I'm doing right now. I met Dan a couple of
times in college because I had a friend Gordon Winch.
I said that played for seat Hall, And um, did
you think your brother was gonna go into coaching and
(22:32):
be as successful as he was going? Thinking back on
it around them when you were younger, I mean we
I think we both figured that was where we were going.
If we had been in a grown up with doctors,
maybe would have went to medical school or I don't
know if engineers and the engineer, but you know, we
grew up in a basketball house and watch my dad operate,
you know, our whole lives so it was kind of
(22:52):
like what we knew the best and what was what
our passion was most for. So and I saw Dan
at St. Benedict's like he would play in these high
school tournaments out in Florida, and I was retired there
at the time, and just to watch j R. Smith
and Tristan Thompson and some of the teams he had,
he I could tell he was on the on the
right track. Uh, we'll will dad be at the game
(23:14):
in Brooklyn? He will. Yeah, my mom and dad will
be there and my sister Melissa. So we're excited about that.
You guys didn't bring the band. You're playing VCU. It's
a tough match up with the bands. Yeah, no's it's
a long it's a long trip for the band, so
we uh but but yeah, we'll have we'll have decent support.
(23:34):
I'll have some people, Luther Muhammad will have a nice cruise,
so it won't be as much as BCU, but we'll
do the best weekend. Yeah. No, the VCU band is legendary.
It's like going up against the Dream Team. So yeah,
good good, good choice to just kinda sit that one
out for the band. But otherwise, uh, your your your
outlook on your team. I know sometimes you said you're
coming off a tough loss. Uh. NBA teams have games
(23:56):
to figure it out. That's a season for you. Have
you figured out the idea to the year, your team
and how good you're gonna be in the Pact. Well,
this year, I think we're getting there. We're we have
to improve a little bit offensively. We we struggled at
times on Sunday. It was our our first true road game, so, uh,
they're never easy. Lost a tough game, you know at
the buzzer, basically tip in and over time. So just
(24:18):
trying to pick up and build the morality team, uh,
and get everyone excited to play in this event because
I told the guys and we talked about earlier. Man,
it's like this is everyone talks about maybe Indiana and
New York City. Is is the birthplace at a game
as far as I'm concerned, And if you could come
in here and play, well, there's there is no greater
feeling and uh, and so I think we're gonna hopefully
(24:40):
feed off that energy. But I think we could be
a really good defensive team. We're in a in the
top ten nationally right now in blocks and I know
it's just early in the season, but we have really
good length around the basket, and our transfer guard from
Michigan has been really good. Frankie Collins has uh has
done some nice things for US. I think he's got
a chance of a really good year. Well, Bobby Harley,
really appreciate you taking your time. Look forward to seeing
(25:02):
your play there against v c U at Berkeley Center
in Brooklyn. Thanks so much for for your candor and
opening up with us. I appreciate it. Appreciate you a
great talk, all right, That is Bobby Hurley. You can
see Arizona State at Barkley Center part of the Legends
(25:22):
Classic November six, seventeen, Arizona State against b c U,
pit against Michigan, and then November twenty one and two
the Empire Classic at Barkley Center, UH, Syracuse, what you know,
packed the building against Richmond, and then you've got St.
John's and Temple, So that should be a terrific couple
(25:44):
of days of basketball. Their Empire Classic and then the
Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational on December eleven featuring Rick
Pettino and Iona against St. Bonnie's. We already got an
Adrian Wardronowski reference, so I'm sure him and Mike Vaccaro
and Tim bon Temp's all St. Bonnie's alums will show
(26:06):
up if their schedule permits them on December eleven to
see St. Bonnie's take on I own it. I'd be
very disappointed if those guys who are not in the
building at Barkley Center for that. You've got Oklahoma State
playing Virginia Tech, Maryland and Tennessee and you Mass and Hofstra.
So great stuff there December eleven. But a great college
(26:27):
basketball schedule in Brooklyn. Fantastic And that's not even a mention.
You've got the Atlantic Ten Tournament coming up in March
at Barkley Center. I'll leave you with a great I
don't know. I can't play the song, but uh the
song recommendation for today talking about what we talked about
with Bobby Hurley from If You Know Me, I love
(26:47):
Frank Turner the great. I want to say folk rock
punk guy at a London singer songwriter has a song
called get Better. Go listen to it and you will
feel better. Thanks to Tom Dowd, our producer putting this
all together, Isaac Lee, our engineer. I'm Chris Corino'll talk
to you next time. This has been the voice of
(27:08):
the nets
Host
Chris Carrino
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