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E012: Bringing Back the Legends of Sport with Andrew Bernstein
Andrew Bernstein is recognized as an all-star in sports photography. The unique personal rapport that he has developed with athletes and coaches and teams over the years, allows him exclusive access to special behind the scene moments.
As a co-founder of NBA Photos, Andrew is the key photographic contributor to NBA Entertainment’s global media platforms, which include NBA.com, all-league publications, and NBA licensed products. He has been the team photographer for ten professional home teams which won championships in basketball, baseball, and hockey. He has covered 38 NBA Finals and All-Star Games as the senior NBA photographer.
In 2018, Bernstein collaborated with five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant on the worldwide bestselling book “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” a unique look at Bryant’s 20-year career through Bernstein’s lens. He's also been awarded the 2018 Curt Gowdy Award recipient, acknowledging his contributions to basketball media.
Having seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of business, Andrew considers professional sports as a ruthless business. Sometimes it lacks any sense of morality. But all that being said, he has a deep love for the athletes and the personalities he had crossed paths with. And this became one of his motivations for his reinvention.
Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:
Episode Highlights:
The Launch of Legends of Sport
Most athletes retire in team sports in their mid-30s. But at the end of their careers, and then post-career, they're basically just being spit out. Agents don't sign them. They don't return phone calls, and they don't really have a lot of skills. Plus, they have addiction problems, custody issues with children, and all kinds of financial problems.
Andrew, along with his two best friends, launched Legends of Sport, decided they wanted to work in sports in some way, but they didn't want to work for anybody ever again. And having seen the horror stories of athletes that have fallen on hard times, they wanted to do something to help get these people whole as human beings first, and then help them become viable and marketable again. It's a terrible thing when the spotlight is so bright, for so long and then it moved away.
How to Prepare for Reinvention
It's a matter of just increasing the bandwidth and getting rid of stuff in my life that was holding me back. Sometimes, you just have to sit down and ask yourself if your career now is something you want to be doing for the next 10 years of your life.
The Power of the Voice Medium
People don't have to get dressed and put on makeup and look good. They can just show up and have great conversations with the community and connect with people and build a business and build connections. We are all such social beings as humans and the last year has really taken a toll on that. So anything that we can do to stay connected, have real conversations to expose people – not just to inspire or motivate, but just human connection – is just so important for people to really stay connected to.
Resources Mentioned:
http://www.adbapi.com/
Legends of Sport
Legends of Sport podcast
View all episodes
By Kathi Sharpe-Ross
4.8
2323 ratings
Andrew Bernstein is recognized as an all-star in sports photography. The unique personal rapport that he has developed with athletes and coaches and teams over the years, allows him exclusive access to special behind the scene moments.
As a co-founder of NBA Photos, Andrew is the key photographic contributor to NBA Entertainment’s global media platforms, which include NBA.com, all-league publications, and NBA licensed products. He has been the team photographer for ten professional home teams which won championships in basketball, baseball, and hockey. He has covered 38 NBA Finals and All-Star Games as the senior NBA photographer.
In 2018, Bernstein collaborated with five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant on the worldwide bestselling book “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” a unique look at Bryant’s 20-year career through Bernstein’s lens. He's also been awarded the 2018 Curt Gowdy Award recipient, acknowledging his contributions to basketball media.
Having seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of business, Andrew considers professional sports as a ruthless business. Sometimes it lacks any sense of morality. But all that being said, he has a deep love for the athletes and the personalities he had crossed paths with. And this became one of his motivations for his reinvention.
Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:
Episode Highlights:
The Launch of Legends of Sport
Most athletes retire in team sports in their mid-30s. But at the end of their careers, and then post-career, they're basically just being spit out. Agents don't sign them. They don't return phone calls, and they don't really have a lot of skills. Plus, they have addiction problems, custody issues with children, and all kinds of financial problems.
Andrew, along with his two best friends, launched Legends of Sport, decided they wanted to work in sports in some way, but they didn't want to work for anybody ever again. And having seen the horror stories of athletes that have fallen on hard times, they wanted to do something to help get these people whole as human beings first, and then help them become viable and marketable again. It's a terrible thing when the spotlight is so bright, for so long and then it moved away.
How to Prepare for Reinvention
It's a matter of just increasing the bandwidth and getting rid of stuff in my life that was holding me back. Sometimes, you just have to sit down and ask yourself if your career now is something you want to be doing for the next 10 years of your life.
The Power of the Voice Medium
People don't have to get dressed and put on makeup and look good. They can just show up and have great conversations with the community and connect with people and build a business and build connections. We are all such social beings as humans and the last year has really taken a toll on that. So anything that we can do to stay connected, have real conversations to expose people – not just to inspire or motivate, but just human connection – is just so important for people to really stay connected to.
Resources Mentioned:
http://www.adbapi.com/
Legends of Sport
Legends of Sport podcast