Damien Barling: A Night With The Greatest (And Michael Jordan)
Since ESPN is doing it's annual Jimmy V Week for cancer awareness I thought I'd share a story about one of the previous winners of the Jimmy V Courage Award - Stuart Scott.
The 2009 NBA All-Star game was in Phoenix, AZ. I had been to a couple of all-star games at this point and our schedule was pretty much always the same. We generally arrived on the Thursday and would fly out before the game on Sunday.
The night we arrived, we had been invited over to a party at Michael Wilbon's house in Scottsdale. During the long ride from downtown Phoenix to Scottsdale, we speculated amongst ourselves who might be there.
Wilbon has been in the sports world for a very long time. A Chicago native, worked at the Washington Post and had a house in Phoenix. Pardon The Interruption is pretty much the templet for every single phony debate show you see on TV now. Except his show wasn't, and isn't, phony. He's respected by his peers and by the people he covered.
When we arrived, we saw that most of the people were personal friends and ESPN colleagues. Jon Barry, Stuart Scott, and a number of behind the scenes people. There was one notable exception to this guest list...
We were first greeted by Wilbon's lovely wife who had just given birth to their first child, Matthew. When we went to the back room to meet Matthew for the first time, there was Michael Jordan, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his son Jeffery play a nationally televised game for the University of Illinois. As you can imagine with a party like this, the crowd tend to gravitate towards the room Jordan was in.
After a few drinks, some food, and a whole lot of conversation, the dwindling party goers headed towards the kitchen. By this point, there were less than 10 people left in the house. One of those people was Jon Barry.
Barry asked Jordan about LeBron James, what he thinks of him as a player, and why it may not be working out in Cleveland. From there, MJ had the floor, and JB would keep peppering him with questions, egging him on from everything about Phil Jackson, to white women, to a hilarious Dennis Rodman story. It was that night I first heard the complete story of Jordan punching Steve Kerr in the face at a Bulls practice.
This went on very late into the night until Jordan, and the woman who is now his wife, got ready to leave.
There I uttered the only words I've ever spoken to Michael Jordan:
MJ - "Have a good night"
Me - "You too"
Nailed it.
While that in itself is enough for a good story, the next day it got better, and two years ago, this night became significantly more meaningful.
Friday night, the Celebrity All-Star game takes center stage, since Kara was playing in it, I was invited to sit courtside next to Mark Jones and Jon Barry who were calling the game. As I'm walking to the table, I hear, "Yo, D."
Barely paying attention, I glance around figuring I'm not the person being called for. Then I spotted Stuart Scott on the floor. He gave me a big smile and a head nod as he walked towards me.
Scott was one of the guys I spent a good deal of time talking to at the party. He skips the "bro-hug" and comes in for a full embrace, "Dude, how much fun was last night?"
"Man that was incredible. It didn't feel real," I responded.
"He was holding court last night."
"Does he do that a lot?" I asked.
Scott looks at me, completed humored by that question.
"D, he never does that."
We chatted for a few before he had to get back to work.
"Let's hook up back home," Scott said as he went to interview Terrell Owens on the floor. "Lets hook up when you come to Bristol."
I ran into Wilbon before sitting down and he confirmed that he had never seen Jordan talk that much and that openly at any sort of gathering before.
I got to see Scott a handful of times over the course of the next few years. Whenever he text with Kara, he'd end it with, "Give D some love for me."
You hear stories about people when they pass away and wonder how much of it is glamorized. Scott's kindness and genuine warmth is very real. I'm happy to have experienced that first hand.
My only Michael Jordan story will always be my favorite Stuart Scott story.