This week we had the honor to interview again Dr. Ron Dick, associate professor of sports marketing at Duquesne University in the school of business. Ron also worked for 20 years in sports, including 15 years in the NBA with the Sixers and the Nets, and then five years in the NCAA.
📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on the MLB and Ohtani’s injury. We also discussed Team USA finishing 4th at the Basketball world championships. We also touched on the 2023 NBA season, the 2023 NFL season and who the favorites are. Other topics discussed were the NCAA and some of the college football players at Iowa state who were suspended for gambling, the PGA Tour and its uncertain future, Djokovic and Coco’s recent wins at the US Open tennis. Lastly we discussed Messi and Inter Miami fc.
🚀Best Quotes: Here’s some of the key discussion points and best quotes from our conversation with Ron:
On Ohtani’s injury nd his future team:
“ With the injury needing Tommy John surgery again for the second time on the elbow, that's certainly going to limit him in the open market as far as a pitcher. But he's also a tremendous hitter and he's still going to sign for a big deal logically at the end of July (..) He's just not going to be a pitcher within the next 18 months, but I think he could pitch again”.
“He wants to win now and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in either Seattle or he ends up in New York or somewhere of that that nature and even a bigger market or a more prominent team. It probably will not be the Dodgers, but some some of these other big market teams like the Yankees who are struggling right now”.
On Team USA finishing 4th at the Basketball world championships:
“They're blaming the fact that they don't get to play together a lot. They kind of just throw these pieces together and you can do that sometimes in baseball but with basketball it is a group of five out there at the same time and they all have to be on the same page”.
“The rules are different for the NBA than they are in the FIBA and things like goaltending are allowed once the ball hits the rim, and shooting the lane is formatted differently (..) I wouldn't be stunned if they changed the roster. They've done this before you remember the late great Kobe Bryant was part of the redeem team”.
“There's roughly 450 players in the NBA and roughly 100 of them were born outside the United States. So I'm not going to say basketball is a world sport quite at the level of soccer, but it's right up there with cricket and some of the others as being really a global sport more so than ever before. And NBA ownerships and GMs and the scouts think that they can find talent in other countries that's where they're going to go more global now than ever before”.
On the favorite teams to win the NBA title in 2024:
“You've got the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks. They'll have some great players. The Celtics will be right up there and the Denver Nuggets, if they repeat, which would be the first time that would happened in a little while, that wouldn't be totally surprising”.
And Sacramento had a great year last year. They just seem to have some off the court problems with some of their guards, but the Lakers have one more year left on LeBron James's contract and he makes about $49M a year. So I would think they certainly would be in the mix and they will spend money, but it's too early to tell who's going to do what yet”.
On the NCAA and some of the college football players at Iowa state who were suspended for gambling:
”There is some concerns. I think that's growing in the NCAA with what recently just happened with some Iowa played at Iowa State this past weekend and players for both teams were suspended with the rumors and some allegations of them getting involved in some way, shape or form with gambling”.
“And In college there's plenty of documentaries written on this. Netflix has one called Bad Sports, which talks about the 94 point guard at Arizona State, in which, he thought he was hoping 90% of them in Division I basketball think he'd go into the NBA”.
On the PGA Tour and its uncertain future:
“I'm not surprised that the money from LIV hasn't been transferred over to the proper bag accounts and all that. They're going to wait until the calendar year until it's over. I think it's a coin. There may be some complications tapping into that money that they need from LIV”.
“But there's other rumors that the Saudi Arabia public investment fund will try to go after the NBA, the MLB, the NFL, or the NHL. I don't thing the deal with the PGA will not happen. I think the owners are too strong and financially secure for that to happen”.
On Djokovic and Coco’s recent wins at the US Open tennis:
“So with Coco, there's an old rap song that says, I want to thank the haters and the doubters because you made the fires burn, right? You made me want to work harder because you doubted me and you said things about me and doubted my talent and my desire”.
“And she stuck it in their face. So good for her. You mentioned earlier, is she the great going to be the greatest player? but wow, I mean, does she have to be Serena Williams to be successful? I don't think so. If she comes in somewhere between Chris Everett and maybe Venus, that would be great. That'd put her at the top 10 or 20 of all time. So so far so good. She seems to have the right attitude and definitely has the talent”.
“Regarding Djokovic, I think he is the greatest of all time for the men's tennis. Well, he's got the most championships. But I remember back in the day when Tiger was at 14 grand slams and they're like, Oh, he's easily going to pass Jack and Nicholas at 18. And guess what? He did not”.
“So yeah statistically, he probably is the greatest. and he's not done yet. So he's got a few more to win, but I don't think 30s is out of the question for him and that would put him way ahead of everybody else”.
On Messi and Inter Mimi fc and the chances to make the MLS playoffs:
“If I'm the commissioner of the MLS, I want that team making it, that would really help. And even if they get the last spot and then they just take off from there again, because we're seeing more highlights of him on ESPN, like sports center and highlights that we haven't seen from the MLS in a lot of different years”.
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