Sonny Vaccaro
Sonny Vaccaro
John Paul Vincent Vaccarois an American former sports marketing executive...
hurt player college
What would have happened if Derrick Rose had torn his knee in college, or Greg Oden? It would have cost them millions of dollars. They were lucky, coming out early. I'm not saying don't go to college. There are plenty of players like Shaq [O'Neal] who went back and graduated. I commend that. But do it at your leisure - don't hurt your finances.
nike school player
After the NBA and ABA merged, players could come out after high school. Still, there were only a few cases prior to Kevin Garnett coming out in 1995, so Nike and the other companies were only involved in the college game.
jobs selfish player
NBA has a selfish rationale. It saves the owners money by delaying the time a player gets to a second, more lucrative contract. Even the player's union is on board. There are only 450 jobs in the NBA, and the one-and-done protects veterans' jobs.
selfish school player
It's not uncommon in the entertainment world for agents to sign young talent. It's sinful that these players can't be represented by lawyers and agents when they're in school. If a player wants to hire someone to seek his value - in any other walk of life, except where this farcical entity that is the NCAA is involved - having a lawyer or agent isn't illegal. It's just the NCAA imposing its own set of rules. It's selfish on their part.
player college years
There's Brandon Jennings. The NBA told him to go to college for a year, and he said, "Screw that. I'll go to Europe and make a million bucks and then come back." And he's proven to be a pretty damn good player. He's done as much for the game as Michael [Jordan] by forging a different route.
building expansion kids shoes thrill within
We'll have the young kids in our shoes within 18 months. This is a thrill for me. It's like I'm building my own expansion team.
toys turned
I've got a lot of toys to play with. I just turned 64, and I'm reinventing myself again.
cost effort great name wrapped
They want to own everything. They have successfully wrapped up every great name athlete. They have made a concentrated effort to do that, cost be damned.
last people team tournament worked
All O.J. did was play for another team last weekend. People are getting too worked up about it. It was just one tournament in April.
city found high looks permanent school talent
This city is one of the hotbeds for high school talent in the country. It looks like we've found a permanent home.
last mean
Going into these last two years, it was Greg and Derrick. I mean he was right there.
enthusiasm highest kids picked
Patrick's enthusiasm is contagious. He is what you want kids to feel like when they are picked for this kind of event. And the kid can play at the very highest level.
dominant easily man moses since
Greg is easily the most dominant big man since Shaquille O'Neal. And I go all the way back to Moses Malone.
nike games jordan
In terms of my work with Nike, obviously signing Michael Jordan to a $500,000 contract in 1984 set a new precedent for the business side of the game.