NBA History Conversations: Basketball Record

Steve Johnson starred at Oregon State University and was selected by the Kansas City Kings with the seventh-overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft. He was named an All-Star in 1988.

This is an enlightening chat about Steve’s unique rise from high school to the NBA. He truly took a path that very few pro players ever have. Johnson is a great storyteller and the conversation features numerous laughs, plus, a fantastic story about Steve, Michael Jordan and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago.

Steve entered the State of Oregon Hall of Fame in 1995, had his OSU #33 retired during the 1997 season and was added to the Pac-12 Conference Hall of Honor in 2007.

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Eldridge Recasner is a member of the Washington Huskies' Hall of Fame. His rise from college to the NBA is filled with plenty of twists and turns.

We discuss the unique path that led to him enjoying an eight-year run at the highest level with teams such as the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks. I had the pleasure of meeting Eldridge earlier this year in Chicago during NBA All-Star Weekend.

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Jeff Sanders is the first of numerous former players - that I had the pleasure of meeting in Chicago (All-Star Weekend 2020) - to guest on the podcast.

Sanders was one of the Chicago Bulls' three first-round picks in the 1989 NBA Draft. The other two? Stacey King and B.J. Armstrong. Jeff shares fond memories of his time running with Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Jeff is a member of Georgia Southern University's Hall of Fame. He is one of the school's all-time greats. This is a fun chat that I’m confident you’ll enjoy.

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Andrew Bernstein and Nathaniel Butler - Senior NBA Photographers - detail iconic photos from their respective careers behind the lens.

This is the audio of our Zoom recording from May, 2020. Watch the video of our conversation on YouTube - including each of the iconic photos that Andy and Nat discuss herein.

We cover Michael Jordan’s final shot – and the moments thereafter – from the 1998 Finals, Magic Johnson’s "Junior Junior Sky Hook" at Boston Garden from the 1987 Finals, Jordan’s locker-room celebration with his late father James, from the 1991 Finals and a stunning breakaway slam-dunk from the late Kobe Bryant (circa 2000).

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Detlef Schrempf was a large part of the first wave of European-born players to make their mark in the NBA. He is a three-time NBA All-Star, back-to-back Sixth Man of the Year and two-time Olympian.

We discuss his formative years in Germany and the foreign-exchange program that would change his life forever. We cover his standout tenure at the University of Washington, the ups-and-downs of his early-pro career with the Dallas Mavericks and the 1989 trade to the Indiana Pacers that ultimately allowed his game to shine.

Detlef talks about his return to Washington state - where he played six seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics - before closing out his playing days with the Portland Trail Blazers.

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Legendary sportswriter, Jack McCallum, discusses a wide range of hoops-related topics. We begin with his eight-part podcast series, The Dream Team Tapes. We cover its origin story and Jack's original (Dream Team) audio recordings with superstars such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Jack shares great insights from his books - Golden Days (the remarkable through line between Jerry West and the history of the NBA), Seven Seconds or Less (his season on the bench with the 2006 Phoenix Suns) and Unfinished Business (his inside look at the 1991 Boston Celtics).

We also chat about (ESPN's) The Last Dance docuseries, Jack's omission from the list of interviewees and his Last Night on The Last Dance episode recaps for Sports Illustrated.

Jack discusses his approach to book research and offers great advice for aspiring writers. We round out the conversation with an anecdote for the ages featuring 1980s NBA veteran, Darren Daye - made possible thanks to another fantastic author, Jeff Pearlman.

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My guest is long-time Birmingham Barons Radio Broadcaster, Curt Bloom. This is a special episode as it’s the first devoted purely to Michael Jordan’s baseball career. This conversation was recorded after episode eight of the The Last Dance had aired.

Curt talks about first hearing the news that MJ could be headed to Alabama, how Jordan adjusted to life as a Minor League player, his interactions – and later, a special one-on-one interview - with Michael and more.

Plus, Curt gave me the thumbs-up to include audio snippets of some iconic calls he made of various MJ milestones as a Barons player; all unheard for over 25 years.

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My special guest is three-time NBA Champion of the Chicago Bulls, Bill Wennington. Bill was the first guest to appear on my podcast way back in 2012. A big thanks to another great friend of the show, Steve Kashul, for helping me reconnect with Bill.

This conversation was recorded after episode four of the The Last Dance aired. We discuss numerous topics including the Bulls’ preseason trip to France in 1997, Bill’s relationship with (GM) Jerry Krause, some Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman memories, plus, just how much handycam footage does Bill have?

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Regular co-host, Aaron, joins me to recap episode three of The Last Dance docuseries.

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Marc Grossman - the Bulls' Head Statistician since 1977 - discusses the creative ways that Chicago's stats team maximized Michael Jordan’s playing time in 1986, when MJ had a (so-called) "seven-minute per half" restriction as he recovered from a broken foot.

Steve Kashul - Anchor and Host of Bulls Basketball on SportsChannel and Fox Sports Net Chicago (1991-97) / Bulls Radio Host (1997-2019) - chats about his appearance in episode two of The Last Dance.

More generally, Marc and Steve each share great memories of being so deeply ingrained with the Bulls franchise.

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