-
In my formative business years while working at Immortal Records in Los Angeles, I had a unique experience as an A&R person to conceptualize and executive produce an album featuring NBA Players as rappers in a now infamous moment in Sports History. The album, “B-Ball’s Best Kept Secret” sold about 10 records and I bought 5 (wink), but was important for more than just the album sales. For me I got the opportunity to spend time with and know 12 NBA Players who in turn wanted me to help them understand the music business. It setup some very interesting relationships with both players and the NBA that I maintain today.
One of the relationships I cherish the most from that album was with the late Malik Sealy. Malik at the time was playing for the Indiana Pacers and contributed to the album as an “MC” but what I got out of that relationship was so much more then his song. Malik had this very smart and very demanding “assistant” Raqiba who turned out to be his sister. I so enjoyed my time going back and forth with this persistent young lady that when I became Sr. Director of Marketing at Columbia Records in NYC I hired her as my assistant. …
Posted on Feb 19.09 to Uncategorized Comments
-
My guy, Scott Oneil has been named President of Madison Square Garden and that’s a good thing (and not just because I now get to sit behind Spike at Knicks games.) I’m sure this was a shock to many in the sports business world, as O’Neil, who was SVP, Team and Business Marketing Operations was tracking for David Stern’s job in about 20 years. O’Neil is just one of those guys that when around him you get that he is extremely polished, poised and positioned for great things. I had an opportunity to work with him indirectly during his days at Hoops TV and I was at UBO (co-founded by his buddy Seth Berger who founded And 1) and have kept in touch with him ever since. His reputation inside the league office was stellar and his tenacity, smarts and relationships make him an obvious choice to head up MSG. The position was held by Steve Mills who unfortunately was caught up in the recent Isiah Thomas scandal. Mills will now report to O’Neil and you gotta hope that all goes well. Hats off to Scott O’ and the recent announcement.
Posted on Jul 30.08 to Under The Influence Comments
-
Got an invite to this year’s NBA Technology Summit from Adam Silver (David Stern’s #2) which took place at All Star Weekend well before the “hoopla” began. This gathering is generally the only serious business that takes place at ASW and this year and Silver made sure we were in the house. What made this year’s Tech Summit special is that everyone was asked to sport jeans and work clothes so that we could all go into the streets of New Orleans for NBA “Day Of Service.” Not only was that the right thing for the NBA to do, it also made the atmosphere less stiff and gave even the corniest a little edge!! I thought Kevin Colleran’s (Facebook) mobile photos from the streets on his Facebook Profile said it all
The first of three panels was on the topic of “Which Screen Are You Watching.” Highlights of the panel included a very innovative, yet very midwestern Daniel Gilbert (owner Cleveland Cavaliers, Chairman, Quicken Loans). Jim Dolan (Chairman, MSG and President/CEO, Cablevision) played the role of naysayer and instigator but had very practical viewpoint of the web and the opportunity. Though I differed with a lot of his opinions his role was a necessary one on the panel. David Levy and John Skipper …
Posted on Feb 21.08 to Uncategorized Comments
