Vin Baker

They had a really special thing happen last week as they christened...

Well, they're still building it, but they cut the ribbon on the Vin Baker Outdoor Athletics and Recreation Complex.

Of course, Vin Baker, NBA star who had some struggles in life and has really come out on the other side wonderfully.

And he is... a longtime coach of Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee and now in Miami.

And they had a really good event last week.

You know, talk about this, you know, you have to, as you're dealing with, obviously, the colleges, a lot of colleges are having challenges right now, but you've got to spend, you've got to invest, you know, you've got to do all these different things.

Just talk about the endeavor to create what you're creating outside at the University of Hartford.

Yeah, last week we had a wonderful ribbon-cutting for the Vin Baker Outdoor Conference, recreation athletics complex.

And I was on the window seat and there was a woman in the middle seat and there was another guy on the other side of her.

And the woman in the middle seat was Vin Baker's wife.

Okay.

You know, Vin Baker, ex basketball player.

I was nodding.

I know Vin Baker.

Yeah, of course.

If they played in the NBA between 1994 and today, I know them.

Mark Cuban, the Mavericks' owner, was livid and had to pay $250,000 for criticizing the referees.

After the season, Tony Kukoc, Nick Van Exel, and Vin Baker retired, and so did legendary Celtics coach and executive Red Auerbach, who resigned from his position as the team president after 56 years with the franchise.

And just a few months later, on October 28th, Auerbach died at the age of 89, passing away with 16 championship rings to his name, the most in NBA history.

But before the 2006-2007 season started, there was another surprise in the draft, which marked the second straight season with a foreign player selected first overall.

So like, "Yo, put that shit on speaker," and so we could all hear, you know, what the story...

And so it turns out Big Mac is doing a good job by relaying a message, and the message was that Vin Baker, Miami Heat assistant coach...

I have no idea where he lives, by the way, so don't even ask me.

I've heard he exercises around here.

Vin Baker, Miami Heat assistant coach, was here yesterday and he was, he was yelling to you.

He was scre- "Dan Lebatard, Dan Lebatard," and, and you didn't, you didn't respond.

You drove right past.

So Big Mac was relaying the message that Vin Baker says hello, and I just think it's interesting that you big-timed Vin Baker.

Yeah.

And Chris gets a call to let, to let Chris know to tell Dan, to tell Dan that as he was coming in the building, Vin Baker, Heat assistant coach, who, who I think is living here right now.

Okay? He's, he's here every day.

You really don't wanna do that, what you just did.

Every, everyone knows that when, when players are new to the team, they, they house them in, like, hotels right across from the arena.

Yeah.

And hey, it could've been a Vin Baker impersonator.

Everybody knows that.

In my career, which started in 1992, uh, so I'm old, I've had two experiences where when I interviewed athletes, they were so inaccurate, lying, in stories that they told that I couldn't run them.

One was Vin Baker in Seattle when he was going through his alcoholism, and the other was Ennis Kanter in Utah.

I literally would do interviews with Ennis Kanter, try to fact-check what he said, and couldn't get it fact-checked and couldn't run them.

I'll just leave it at that.

Ah.

Was it Vin Baker?

No.

I, I didn't know whether I should say something or not.