00:00I mean, a lot of people don't realize, despite how much of a legend you are in the NBA, you
00:03were kind of a college journeyman, so you never really played in the NCAA tournament. You weren't really even considered.
00:08No, not at all. I went to Oklahoma State for a year and we didn't make the tournament that year.
00:13And yeah, you miss out on those incredible times like right now. Yeah, and I don't know if you had
00:19a chance to even show any clips from that commercial, but it was kind of very fun, you know, you
00:22guys, I guess, you know, hiking through the mountains or wherever you were, I guess, to talk about the AT
00:28&T connection. Patrick Ewing, your former
00:30teammate even dialed in for a second there. You're lagging behind, man. I mean, what's going on? I'm 60 now.
00:38Takes a little time getting up that hill. Yeah, yeah. That was a lot of fun, you know, with Jalen
00:43and Carl Anthony Towns. We had a great time filming it. You know, AT&T is about the connection, especially
00:50during this time of the year with March Madness, so you don't want to miss nothing, you know. Stay connected.
00:56Well, I do want to go back to March Madness, of course. This is the signature event. It has been
01:03the case for decades now. Over that time, how have you seen this tournament evolve in your view?
01:09Oh, social media definitely has blew it up to, like, out of this world. You know, March Madness is probably
01:17one of the biggest, you know, spectacle event during the month of March that you can find.
01:23And, you know, it's the most exciting event during this time of the year. I can remember during my playing
01:29days just being excited about the game of basketball because every day you turn it on, you're going to find
01:35a game some point in time throughout the day.
01:38And so it just gets you energized for the game of basketball. And, you know, you may find something, you
01:45know, watching from a professional standpoint, see a player make a move. You're like, oh, man, let me take that,
01:51you know, and implement it in your game.
01:53So it's a lot of fun during this time of the year. Yeah.
01:56Well, in terms of cultural relevance, you think about six years ago when March Madness was impacted by the COVID
02:04virus.
02:04I think that's when a lot of people really started to take it seriously.
02:08But it's hard to have a conversation about college sports of any sport, really, without talking about NIL, name, image,
02:15likeness.
02:16How have you seen that impact this tournament and just the sport of college basketball overall?
02:22Yeah, it's tougher on the schools that don't have the financial worth.
02:27I think it makes it very tough for them to win, especially if you get the top schools that can
02:34pay these guys X minus a guy making eight million dollars.
02:37I heard, you know, that's like it's not bad. That's not bad at all.
02:42You know what I mean? You said coming out of college. And so, yeah, it's definitely going to impact.
02:48You know, some of these guys are going to schools that they probably would, you know, go to a major
02:55college school instead of they going to a smaller school and probably get more money.
02:59Well, that's what I'm curious, too, also with the transfer portal.
03:01I mean, now you can have somebody start out at a Siena or a McNeese or somewhere like that.
03:05But then if they're really good, you know, in the old days, they would have had to stick around for
03:09maybe a couple more years.
03:10But now they can maybe be poached by a Duke or some other powerhouse here.
03:14How is that going to change, I guess, not only the economics of the business, but also just the watchability
03:19of it?
03:20Yeah. You know, the Cinderella teams.
03:23Because that's the whole point of watch that is you're kind of rooting for the underdogs.
03:26You're rooting for the underdogs. The underdogs may be gone.
03:29Yeah. You know, that's just a simple fact.
03:31Because if you've got a school that's able to pay all these guys, basically a professional contract, you know what
03:39I mean?
03:39It's tough for these schools to compete.
03:41You know, you're not getting the talent level that you would get if a guy wasn't getting paid and he's
03:46just trying to find somewhere to play.
03:48But, you know, you have to make a business decision as a student coming out from the standpoint of do
03:54you want to go and sit on a bench at a major school
03:56or do you want to go take less money and really play and show that you can play?
04:01Yeah.
04:01And so that's the decision the student-athletes have to make.
04:04I do want to ask you just about the NBA and just how it's changed.
04:08I mean, we referenced, you know, your dunk in 93, which you guys got paid back the next year with
04:12the Scotty's dunk over Pippen in 94.
04:14And not to rub it in.
04:14You remember everything.
04:15I do.
04:16But I remember because those were exciting times.
04:18I mean, the NBA was rough back then and it was great to watch.
04:21And it's changed a lot.
04:22I'm not saying it's changed it for the worst, but it's changed a lot.
04:24And there are a lot of people kind of asking, like, does the league need something more to get fans
04:29a little bit more excited about watching it?
04:31Well, I think what you found out last year is it's two different leagues.
04:36Yeah.
04:37One is regular season league and one is playoff time.
04:40And in the playoff time, all the calls that these guys think that they was getting, they wasn't getting,
04:45and they had to go back to the old school rules and play, I think fans truly appreciated that.
04:51And so I think, you know, that's what basketball is about.
04:55You know, the fans want to feel it when they're in the arena and they want to feel it when
04:59they're just sitting up here watching TV.
05:01You know, they want to feel it through the screen.
05:03And that's why I was saying that back during our day, fans come up and tell me, man, we just
05:07felt every moment that y'all was out there.
05:10Y'all was fighting and battling hard.
05:12I wasn't at the game, but I was watching it.
05:14And I think that's where the excitement of the game is.
05:18Yeah.
05:18Well, John, I have to ask, because NBA playoffs do start next month.
05:23I'm asking for my dad.
05:24Do you think that the Knicks actually have a shot?
05:26I do.
05:27Pops.
05:27Uh-oh.
05:28When you have pops.
05:29When you have pops.
05:30I do, pops.
05:31You hold on, all right?
05:32We good.
05:33We all good.
05:34No, I'm excited about the team.
05:36I think they're coming together at the right time.
05:38I think they started to understand how hard they truly got to play on the defensive end of the court.
05:44And offensively, the ball is moving.
05:46And I like that.
05:47So I'm excited.
05:49Yes.
05:49All right.
05:49Well, that's good.
05:50You heard it straight here from John Starks.
05:53And it's good to see Ewing back in the fold.
05:54He's like an ambassador or something for the Knicks.
05:56And it does kind of feel like, I mean, not being a Knicks fan, but it does kind of feel
06:00like a little bit like old times here.
06:02They're kind of getting that swagger back.
06:03They've got a great roster.
06:04You know, just having guys like him in the mix helps a lot.
06:07Yeah.
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