July 9, 2024 • 16 mins
Getting ready for the Olympics, as former Gold medalist and part of the last college basketball team to win an Olympic Gold medal, Jon Koncak talks about what it was like playing with Michael Jordan back then, his advice for the newest top pick for the Atlanta Hawks along with being the first big man with a major contract and the backlash it caused. Don't miss it
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Follow 19 Media Group:
Twitter: @19MGroup
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Discover our favorite podcast gear and support the show—shop our studio must-haves on our Amazon Affiliate page! https://www.amazon.com/shop/19mediagroup
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Gerald Brown here in heavy end ofpaint, and it's the honor and the
privilege to have on former NBA playermister John Contact, who knows a thing
or two about being a top draftpick for a franchise. John, It's
a pleasure. And I'll start offright off the back this NBA free agency.
What has been your overall thoughts,any surprises? Really kind of surprised
(00:33):
you off the rip just in thebeginning with all the movement. Well,
I think as a fan, youknow, seeing Klay Thompson go to a
different franchise. You know, Ireally felt during that stretch of Golden State
twenty fifteen to you know, twentytwenty two or so, they played the
(00:55):
best basketball I've probably seen since theBulls played with MJ. I obviously,
so you know, but you know, those three star guys have gotten older
and time. You know, itreminds me back to when I was a
rookie when Larry Bird won it withthe Celtics in eighty six. You know,
that was there last year they wonit, you know, until two
(01:17):
thousand and eight. And time doesn'twait for anybody, right, I just
felt for Clay with his injuries.To me, that was the biggest sadness
I felt for him was how hiscareer changed because of the injuries he had
to his body. I mean,he and Steph were two of the best
(01:38):
shooters and when they were you know, in the rhythm and playing great,
it was the best basketball I thinkto watch. Yeah, definitely. I
remember a good friend of mine isbj Armstrong played with the Bulls and I
asked him, you know, askinghim about dynasties, and he said,
you know, dynasties don't ever endwell, you know lot about it.
(02:00):
Wait a minute, we mean tothink about it. From the Celtics,
just like you alluded to Larry Birdand then obviously, you know, with
the Lakers and Shaq just to signand part ways, the whole situation with
Kawhi Leonard was the Spurs and thenobviously the Bulls with their last dance.
So it just really never ends well. But it was an amazing, amazing
(02:20):
run. The Atlanta Hawks, you'reone of your former clubs, took had
the number one pick and he tooka young man, Zachary Reshachet. And
my overall theme with this draft,John has been this saying, and it's
gonna be so true patience is avirtue, and you're gonna have to have
patience with it because the first pick, he only averaged ten points last year,
(02:45):
very very young. When you lookat a young a pick like that,
and going back to when you werelottery picked for the Atlanta Hawks,
talk about that experience in terms ofjust going into a situation and sometimes times
really trying to have enough time toget yourself acclimated. Right. Well,
(03:05):
I think in this current draft,the twenty twenty four draft, with the
Hawks having the number one overall pick, they basically got won the lottery with
one out of a thirty you know, three chance to win it. So
without that ping pong ball bouncing theright way, the Hawks would have drafted
what ten or eleven or twelve orsomething like that. So I think from
(03:25):
that perspective for the draft pick,and I think the franchise is going to
sell it this way. Listen,we got lucky getting the number one.
We're not a terrible franchise. Wedidn't only win twelve games last year.
So let's not put pressure on thekid. Let's just you know, they
picked they what they felt was thebest available player, and we'll see how
(03:47):
he does now. In my case, when the Hawks drafted me fifth.
You know, back then our draftin eighty five was the first lottery draft,
and before that, the two worstteams used to have a flip to
see who got the number one pick, and a lot of teams started losing
on purpose to be able to getdown to a fifty percent chance a drafted
(04:09):
Ralph Sampson or a chem Olajuan ora player like that. So I think
when I went to the Hawks pickfifth, they had lost lo just on
purpose to get the lottery. Andmy first year we went from I think
they won twenty seven or eight gamestheir lottery year, and then when I
joined the team and Spun joined theteam in John Battle, we then won
(04:30):
fifty. So we had a hugeupswing, but a lot of it was
based that they lost on purpose,you know, to try to get you
know, everyone wanted a shout atyouing, obviously, so but for me,
there wasn't tons of pressure. Ididn't feel it when I was drafted,
Obviously. I felt much more pressurelater when I signed the contract that
the Pistons offered me, because Iwent from you know, an above average
(04:55):
off the bench sometimes starter, tothe highest paid guy in the and you
know that changes overnight as far ashow the people and the press and the
fans, you know, how theyview your basketball ability. Yeah. Well,
and Isaiah Hartenstein, who recently waswith the New York Knicks, I
think he's in that situation now goingto making I think thirty million dollars.
(05:16):
In fact, I think he's upthere with Yo kitchen terms of centers making
that money. When you see guysmaking the money that's being distributed around and
based on the opportunities and stuff likethat, you know, in your era
it was frowned upon. It waslike, oh, how can it be?
And now it's a common thing becauseagain the money is plentiful. What
(05:38):
are your thoughts on seeing that inregards to these players, specifically guys big
men at that getting the money thatthey're getting these days. Well, you
know, it's all based on theTV revenue and all these other revenues at
the league. I know the currentTV contract that expires next season, I
think pays a little under two anda half billion a year or not quite
(06:01):
three billion a year, and nowI know the next contract is going to
be around seven So you know thisnumber that the deal Jaston Tatum just inked
where he's going to make seventy onemillion in twenty twenty nine. That's going
to be low. When we getto twenty twenty nine, I think,
so the numbers are staggering. Youknow, all of us old guys wish
(06:27):
we could play with today's money becauseyou know, the difference of when I
signed for two million a year andguys are signing for seventy it's a significantly
different amount of money. I mean, you can say, yeah, I
was forty years ago, but twomillion forty years ago is not seventy million
today. It might be ten today. So more power to those guys.
(06:51):
I think. For the what yousaid about it being commonplace, there's guys
I don't even know that are makingover one hundred million while four years I've
never heard their names and I watched, you know, playoff basketball pretty religiously.
When it gets to that, there'sguys, like I said, I
can't even there's probably fifty guys Icouldn't even name that are making you know,
(07:13):
their contracts are over one hundred million, and for them and their families,
it's a wonderful thing. Yeah,how did you deal with that?
Because I mean, you know,it was so interesting. I think as
fans we're all conditioned to sort ofpoint fingers and question the athlete, but
then never question the owners and stufflike that, who have this money and
(07:34):
the money that they're making to beable to play it where. How did
you deal with that experience in termsof just signing that contract. Well,
my situation was unique in the factthat I signed a four year rookie deal
with the Hawks, and I wasa restricted free agent and the Pistons had
just won the World title. Oneof their assistant coaches in Detroit was my
(07:58):
assistant coach in Atlanta my first threeyears, Brendan Surer, really great guy.
Rick Mahorn got selected by the Timberwolvesand expansion drafts, so all of
a sudden, you know, Detroitneeds somebody like me. I was the
number one rank free agent power forwardcenter at that time, and they decided
(08:18):
to make me a huge offer thatthen the Hawks accepted and then extended that
money for six years. And youknow, for me, what was I
supposed to do? Say no,I think that's too much, you know,
nobody in their right mind. Butthe thing that was disappointing to me
is in my case. Individually,I was caught in a circumstance where the
(08:43):
team, when they agreed to extendmy contract and pay me that money,
our team was kind of on adownward trajectory as far as wins and losses,
so it became very easy for everyoneto point to me, Hey,
you're the reason. You know thatcontract that we gave him as the Red
and the Pistons only did that toscrew up the Hawk's salary cap. I
(09:03):
mean, all these it was almostlike a political thing, like now with
what we're seeing in our country currently. Everybody had an idea, everybody had
a conspiracy theory. But at theend of the day, I do know
the Pistons wanted to sign me.You know, they flew me up on
a private jet, They had mespend time with Isaiah Thomas. He wanted
(09:24):
me to come play there, soyou know, I know, the story
didn't get a lot of publicity,but at the end of the day,
when our team started to do poorlyand people thought, well, you know,
you're making all this money, youshould average fifteen a game. That
I didn't average fifteen a game whenthey offered me the contract. So I
think certain guys in today's NBA havekind of struggled with it, but I
(09:50):
just don't. I think being thefirst guy, it's a really big deal.
And I think after that, somebodymaking twenty million a year now and
not playing well is just a blip. Nobody even notices. Yeah, and
you're right. I mean, Idon't think anybody in your position would have
been like, nah, that's toomuch money. I'm okay. What advice
(10:11):
would you have for the young manZachary Rischache who's coming into the Atlanta Hawks.
He's the number one overall pig andan organization in a franchise that you
know, they're still trying to figurethings out there, rebuilding and you know
whatever they decided to do obviously movingto Johnte Murray, but still have Trey
Young there. What do you think? What do you advice would you have
(10:33):
for him? Well? I thinkfor him, he's got to bring his
skill set and have it move intothe NBA mode of you know, much
better talent than what he was playingwith either in France or Australia or you
know, the different leagues he's playedin competition is much better. I think
(10:54):
the Hawks are still trying to figureout their identity, what kind of team
they want to be. And youknow, my two cents is, when
I was a rookie, we knewthe Boston Celtics were the best team and
the Pistons and us, the Hawkswere positioning ourselves that in the next two
or three years we were going tojump ahead and unseat the Celtics because they
(11:18):
were an older team. The problemfor the Hawks now, the team that
just won the World title, they'rebest players are under twenty six years old.
So you're looking at a team thatyou know they're studs, they're all
NBA guys are going to be onthat team for ten more years, and
you know you don't qualify for theplayoffs, so you're trying to get in
(11:39):
a playing game. So the Hawksdefinitely have a lot of work to do.
I think hopefully this player they draftedwill help them them have a little
more defensive stability, because you watchthe Hawks play, they'll beat a team
one hundred and thirty two to oneto twenty, and then the next game,
you know, only score eighty points, and that in consistent back and
(12:03):
forth. It's really tough to havea top team. Yeah, now,
before I let it get let youget on out of here and really appreciate
your time. John. You knowthis is an Olympic year and you played
on an eighty fourteen that was probablythe pre dream team, if you will,
of the college players and playing withMichael Jordan. I had the pleasure
(12:24):
of sitting down talking with Joe Kleina few weeks back, and I asked
him the same question. I'm goingto ask you, Uh, what was
it like playing with Michael? Andat that point, uh, did you
did you guys know that Michael wouldbe what he was and what he is
in terms of basketball in the NBA. If we got a second, I'll
(12:45):
tell you a quick little story,So please do please, I got a
minute. Got a minute. Okay, So Michael obviously was our best player,
but at that time, you know, uh, Patrick Ewing, Chris
Molan, Sam Perkins, Wayman Tisdale, rest in peace. I think we
had some great basketball players and youknow, Michael was our leading scorer.
(13:05):
I think, yeah, it wasabout sixteen a game. We win the
gold medal game by thirty six.He obviously has declared hardship, gets drafted
by the Bulls. I go backto sm I go back to SMU for
my senior year. The Bulls areplaying the Dallas Mavericks. I'm at SMU.
(13:26):
MJ is a rookie and before thegame, they flew in the day
before and he said, hey,can you pick me up? I'd like
to go out and do a littleshop and then let's let's go have dinner.
So I ended up picking him up. We go to the Galleria Mal
in Dallas. He's walking around Lordand Taylor, the men's clothing store,
looking at stuff, and SMU Alumwalks up to me and says, hey,
John, I just want to tellyou how proud we are of you
(13:50):
guys winning the gold medal and youknow your success at SMU. We're so
excited about your senior year and allthis stuff. And MJ walks over to
us, and the guy looks atMJ and says, is this one of
our new recruits? This is thisis the fall of nineteen eighty four,
(14:11):
right, okay, So let's skipa year ahead. I get drafted by
the Hawks. The Bulls are playingin Atlanta. They're staying at the Marriott
Hotel off Windy Hill, and afterthe game, MJ says, can you
pick me up? You know,I'd like to go to dinner with you.
I said, sure, I driveout because back then, rookies had
to ride the bus, you know, and even players like can't you know,
(14:33):
MJ had to ride the bus backto the hotel. I go in
the lobby at a hotel and there'sfour hundred people crammed in the lobby hoping
to catch a glimpse of him.Okay, I go to the house st
phone pick it up. Hey,I don't know if you've looked downstairs,
but there's four hundred people trying toHe said, I know, and I
(14:54):
don't think I can get out ofhere. He says, if it's okay,
can we do this another time?And I said yeah, but no
problem. So in the course ofone year, he gets mistaken for a
guy that might be on my teamat SMU. So then a year later,
you know, becoming the best,biggest, one of the biggest superstars,
if not biggest superstar ever. Soit was great to play with him
(15:18):
in the Olympics. We had ablast. It's hard to believe it's been
forty years that we won that medal. My families going to Paris at the
end of the month for the Olympics, so we're excited. But you know
it was a great time. Theyall the teammates were on and you know
(15:39):
we all survived. Bobby Knight restin peace, and you know we did
our country proud. Yeah, definitely. And you know what, it's forty
years and I must say, John, you still have great hair, my
friend, because again you know youstill got the great I'm bad for a
sixty one year old listen job.Really appreciate you taking time a few minutes
(16:02):
out of your schedule to join mehere Heavy into Pain always a pleasure you
and your family. Enjoy your timeout in Vegas, safe travels for the
rest of the summer, and definitelylook forward to talking to down the line.
Yeah sounds great. We'll check backsoon. Yes, indeed he is
legendary. Well, mister John contactright here, Heavy into Pain.
Gerald Brown here in heavy end ofpaint, and it's the honor and the
privilege to have on former NBA playermister John Contact, who knows a thing
or two about being a top draftpick for a franchise. John, It's
a pleasure. And I'll start offright off the back this NBA free agency.
What has been your overall thoughts,any surprises? Really kind of surprised
(00:33):
you off the rip just in thebeginning with all the movement. Well,
I think as a fan, youknow, seeing Klay Thompson go to a
different franchise. You know, Ireally felt during that stretch of Golden State
twenty fifteen to you know, twentytwenty two or so, they played the
(00:55):
best basketball I've probably seen since theBulls played with MJ. I obviously,
so you know, but you know, those three star guys have gotten older
and time. You know, itreminds me back to when I was a
rookie when Larry Bird won it withthe Celtics in eighty six. You know,
that was there last year they wonit, you know, until two
(01:17):
thousand and eight. And time doesn'twait for anybody, right, I just
felt for Clay with his injuries.To me, that was the biggest sadness
I felt for him was how hiscareer changed because of the injuries he had
to his body. I mean,he and Steph were two of the best
(01:38):
shooters and when they were you know, in the rhythm and playing great,
it was the best basketball I thinkto watch. Yeah, definitely. I
remember a good friend of mine isbj Armstrong played with the Bulls and I
asked him, you know, askinghim about dynasties, and he said,
you know, dynasties don't ever endwell, you know lot about it.
(02:00):
Wait a minute, we mean tothink about it. From the Celtics,
just like you alluded to Larry Birdand then obviously, you know, with
the Lakers and Shaq just to signand part ways, the whole situation with
Kawhi Leonard was the Spurs and thenobviously the Bulls with their last dance.
So it just really never ends well. But it was an amazing, amazing
(02:20):
run. The Atlanta Hawks, you'reone of your former clubs, took had
the number one pick and he tooka young man, Zachary Reshachet. And
my overall theme with this draft,John has been this saying, and it's
gonna be so true patience is avirtue, and you're gonna have to have
patience with it because the first pick, he only averaged ten points last year,
(02:45):
very very young. When you lookat a young a pick like that,
and going back to when you werelottery picked for the Atlanta Hawks,
talk about that experience in terms ofjust going into a situation and sometimes times
really trying to have enough time toget yourself acclimated. Right. Well,
(03:05):
I think in this current draft,the twenty twenty four draft, with the
Hawks having the number one overall pick, they basically got won the lottery with
one out of a thirty you know, three chance to win it. So
without that ping pong ball bouncing theright way, the Hawks would have drafted
what ten or eleven or twelve orsomething like that. So I think from
(03:25):
that perspective for the draft pick,and I think the franchise is going to
sell it this way. Listen,we got lucky getting the number one.
We're not a terrible franchise. Wedidn't only win twelve games last year.
So let's not put pressure on thekid. Let's just you know, they
picked they what they felt was thebest available player, and we'll see how
(03:47):
he does now. In my case, when the Hawks drafted me fifth.
You know, back then our draftin eighty five was the first lottery draft,
and before that, the two worstteams used to have a flip to
see who got the number one pick, and a lot of teams started losing
on purpose to be able to getdown to a fifty percent chance a drafted
(04:09):
Ralph Sampson or a chem Olajuan ora player like that. So I think
when I went to the Hawks pickfifth, they had lost lo just on
purpose to get the lottery. Andmy first year we went from I think
they won twenty seven or eight gamestheir lottery year, and then when I
joined the team and Spun joined theteam in John Battle, we then won
(04:30):
fifty. So we had a hugeupswing, but a lot of it was
based that they lost on purpose,you know, to try to get you
know, everyone wanted a shout atyouing, obviously, so but for me,
there wasn't tons of pressure. Ididn't feel it when I was drafted,
Obviously. I felt much more pressurelater when I signed the contract that
the Pistons offered me, because Iwent from you know, an above average
(04:55):
off the bench sometimes starter, tothe highest paid guy in the and you
know that changes overnight as far ashow the people and the press and the
fans, you know, how theyview your basketball ability. Yeah. Well,
and Isaiah Hartenstein, who recently waswith the New York Knicks, I
think he's in that situation now goingto making I think thirty million dollars.
(05:16):
In fact, I think he's upthere with Yo kitchen terms of centers making
that money. When you see guysmaking the money that's being distributed around and
based on the opportunities and stuff likethat, you know, in your era
it was frowned upon. It waslike, oh, how can it be?
And now it's a common thing becauseagain the money is plentiful. What
(05:38):
are your thoughts on seeing that inregards to these players, specifically guys big
men at that getting the money thatthey're getting these days. Well, you
know, it's all based on theTV revenue and all these other revenues at
the league. I know the currentTV contract that expires next season, I
think pays a little under two anda half billion a year or not quite
(06:01):
three billion a year, and nowI know the next contract is going to
be around seven So you know thisnumber that the deal Jaston Tatum just inked
where he's going to make seventy onemillion in twenty twenty nine. That's going
to be low. When we getto twenty twenty nine, I think,
so the numbers are staggering. Youknow, all of us old guys wish
(06:27):
we could play with today's money becauseyou know, the difference of when I
signed for two million a year andguys are signing for seventy it's a significantly
different amount of money. I mean, you can say, yeah, I
was forty years ago, but twomillion forty years ago is not seventy million
today. It might be ten today. So more power to those guys.
(06:51):
I think. For the what yousaid about it being commonplace, there's guys
I don't even know that are makingover one hundred million while four years I've
never heard their names and I watched, you know, playoff basketball pretty religiously.
When it gets to that, there'sguys, like I said, I
can't even there's probably fifty guys Icouldn't even name that are making you know,
(07:13):
their contracts are over one hundred million, and for them and their families,
it's a wonderful thing. Yeah,how did you deal with that?
Because I mean, you know,it was so interesting. I think as
fans we're all conditioned to sort ofpoint fingers and question the athlete, but
then never question the owners and stufflike that, who have this money and
(07:34):
the money that they're making to beable to play it where. How did
you deal with that experience in termsof just signing that contract. Well,
my situation was unique in the factthat I signed a four year rookie deal
with the Hawks, and I wasa restricted free agent and the Pistons had
just won the World title. Oneof their assistant coaches in Detroit was my
(07:58):
assistant coach in Atlanta my first threeyears, Brendan Surer, really great guy.
Rick Mahorn got selected by the Timberwolvesand expansion drafts, so all of
a sudden, you know, Detroitneeds somebody like me. I was the
number one rank free agent power forwardcenter at that time, and they decided
(08:18):
to make me a huge offer thatthen the Hawks accepted and then extended that
money for six years. And youknow, for me, what was I
supposed to do? Say no,I think that's too much, you know,
nobody in their right mind. Butthe thing that was disappointing to me
is in my case. Individually,I was caught in a circumstance where the
(08:43):
team, when they agreed to extendmy contract and pay me that money,
our team was kind of on adownward trajectory as far as wins and losses,
so it became very easy for everyoneto point to me, Hey,
you're the reason. You know thatcontract that we gave him as the Red
and the Pistons only did that toscrew up the Hawk's salary cap. I
(09:03):
mean, all these it was almostlike a political thing, like now with
what we're seeing in our country currently. Everybody had an idea, everybody had
a conspiracy theory. But at theend of the day, I do know
the Pistons wanted to sign me.You know, they flew me up on
a private jet, They had mespend time with Isaiah Thomas. He wanted
(09:24):
me to come play there, soyou know, I know, the story
didn't get a lot of publicity,but at the end of the day,
when our team started to do poorlyand people thought, well, you know,
you're making all this money, youshould average fifteen a game. That
I didn't average fifteen a game whenthey offered me the contract. So I
think certain guys in today's NBA havekind of struggled with it, but I
(09:50):
just don't. I think being thefirst guy, it's a really big deal.
And I think after that, somebodymaking twenty million a year now and
not playing well is just a blip. Nobody even notices. Yeah, and
you're right. I mean, Idon't think anybody in your position would have
been like, nah, that's toomuch money. I'm okay. What advice
(10:11):
would you have for the young manZachary Rischache who's coming into the Atlanta Hawks.
He's the number one overall pig andan organization in a franchise that you
know, they're still trying to figurethings out there, rebuilding and you know
whatever they decided to do obviously movingto Johnte Murray, but still have Trey
Young there. What do you think? What do you advice would you have
(10:33):
for him? Well? I thinkfor him, he's got to bring his
skill set and have it move intothe NBA mode of you know, much
better talent than what he was playingwith either in France or Australia or you
know, the different leagues he's playedin competition is much better. I think
(10:54):
the Hawks are still trying to figureout their identity, what kind of team
they want to be. And youknow, my two cents is, when
I was a rookie, we knewthe Boston Celtics were the best team and
the Pistons and us, the Hawkswere positioning ourselves that in the next two
or three years we were going tojump ahead and unseat the Celtics because they
(11:18):
were an older team. The problemfor the Hawks now, the team that
just won the World title, they'rebest players are under twenty six years old.
So you're looking at a team thatyou know they're studs, they're all
NBA guys are going to be onthat team for ten more years, and
you know you don't qualify for theplayoffs, so you're trying to get in
(11:39):
a playing game. So the Hawksdefinitely have a lot of work to do.
I think hopefully this player they draftedwill help them them have a little
more defensive stability, because you watchthe Hawks play, they'll beat a team
one hundred and thirty two to oneto twenty, and then the next game,
you know, only score eighty points, and that in consistent back and
(12:03):
forth. It's really tough to havea top team. Yeah, now,
before I let it get let youget on out of here and really appreciate
your time. John. You knowthis is an Olympic year and you played
on an eighty fourteen that was probablythe pre dream team, if you will,
of the college players and playing withMichael Jordan. I had the pleasure
(12:24):
of sitting down talking with Joe Kleina few weeks back, and I asked
him the same question. I'm goingto ask you, Uh, what was
it like playing with Michael? Andat that point, uh, did you
did you guys know that Michael wouldbe what he was and what he is
in terms of basketball in the NBA. If we got a second, I'll
(12:45):
tell you a quick little story,So please do please, I got a
minute. Got a minute. Okay, So Michael obviously was our best player,
but at that time, you know, uh, Patrick Ewing, Chris
Molan, Sam Perkins, Wayman Tisdale, rest in peace. I think we
had some great basketball players and youknow, Michael was our leading scorer.
(13:05):
I think, yeah, it wasabout sixteen a game. We win the
gold medal game by thirty six.He obviously has declared hardship, gets drafted
by the Bulls. I go backto sm I go back to SMU for
my senior year. The Bulls areplaying the Dallas Mavericks. I'm at SMU.
(13:26):
MJ is a rookie and before thegame, they flew in the day
before and he said, hey,can you pick me up? I'd like
to go out and do a littleshop and then let's let's go have dinner.
So I ended up picking him up. We go to the Galleria Mal
in Dallas. He's walking around Lordand Taylor, the men's clothing store,
looking at stuff, and SMU Alumwalks up to me and says, hey,
John, I just want to tellyou how proud we are of you
(13:50):
guys winning the gold medal and youknow your success at SMU. We're so
excited about your senior year and allthis stuff. And MJ walks over to
us, and the guy looks atMJ and says, is this one of
our new recruits? This is thisis the fall of nineteen eighty four,
(14:11):
right, okay, So let's skipa year ahead. I get drafted by
the Hawks. The Bulls are playingin Atlanta. They're staying at the Marriott
Hotel off Windy Hill, and afterthe game, MJ says, can you
pick me up? You know,I'd like to go to dinner with you.
I said, sure, I driveout because back then, rookies had
to ride the bus, you know, and even players like can't you know,
(14:33):
MJ had to ride the bus backto the hotel. I go in
the lobby at a hotel and there'sfour hundred people crammed in the lobby hoping
to catch a glimpse of him.Okay, I go to the house st
phone pick it up. Hey,I don't know if you've looked downstairs,
but there's four hundred people trying toHe said, I know, and I
(14:54):
don't think I can get out ofhere. He says, if it's okay,
can we do this another time?And I said yeah, but no
problem. So in the course ofone year, he gets mistaken for a
guy that might be on my teamat SMU. So then a year later,
you know, becoming the best,biggest, one of the biggest superstars,
if not biggest superstar ever. Soit was great to play with him
(15:18):
in the Olympics. We had ablast. It's hard to believe it's been
forty years that we won that medal. My families going to Paris at the
end of the month for the Olympics, so we're excited. But you know
it was a great time. Theyall the teammates were on and you know
(15:39):
we all survived. Bobby Knight restin peace, and you know we did
our country proud. Yeah, definitely. And you know what, it's forty
years and I must say, John, you still have great hair, my
friend, because again you know youstill got the great I'm bad for a
sixty one year old listen job.Really appreciate you taking time a few minutes
(16:02):
out of your schedule to join mehere Heavy into Pain always a pleasure you
and your family. Enjoy your timeout in Vegas, safe travels for the
rest of the summer, and definitelylook forward to talking to down the line.
Yeah sounds great. We'll check backsoon. Yes, indeed he is
legendary. Well, mister John contactright here, Heavy into Pain.
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