Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [221]
I had sex in the office. I did drugs in the office. People knew I was mischievous. Just so it’s on the record, I wasn’t like some big drug addict at the office. People drank a lot at ESPN; I probably drank more then. But I’m just saying it was possible to be a bad boy then. Maybe because I wasn’t in Bristol. I misbehaved with a lot of people on staff. It was live and loose back then.
JOHN WALSH:
The magazine was way overrated for its importance. We figured SI in its heyday was making $150 million, and we figured we could come in and make $50 to $70 million a year, but I don’t think we ever made $30 million in the decade that we did it.
When Michael Jordan reigned as the world’s biggest athletic superstar, no detail about him seemed too small for ESPN to report. The network might as well have turned itself into a 24/7 Michael Jordan Reality Show for all the attention lavished upon him—and the public’s apparent appetite for even more. A gigantic far-flung army of sports journalists was in constant competition for Jordan’s time, so access became key—and virtual currency. Here, ESPN lucked out, big-time. The network had, on staff, two people Jordan liked and to whom he granted special access: Andrea Kremer and Dan Patrick.
ANDREA KREMER:
I don’t know why Michael Jordan always liked me as much as he did; certainly I was always very straight with him. I covered his games and sat down with him each year. One time I did my yearly Jordan thing and instead of just a sit-down, I had an idea which wasn’t done a whole lot back then. I called it “Jordan on Jordan,” where I sat with him and we watched video of him playing. And he told me that he’d never done it before, that he doesn’t even watch coaching films. It was fascinating for me to watch him watch himself. And I told him, “Here’s what I want you to do, almost a stream of consciousness. I want you to just tell me what’s going on in your mind throughout everything that you’re seeing.” And there was the great amazing shot against the Lakers where he goes up with his right hand and switches midair, and I had him take me through plays like that, or six three-pointers in the first half against Portland in the Finals. I’ve always strongly believed that when you get these athletes out of their automatic pilot, you get them to think a little bit differently, and then you got ’em in your hand.
DAN PATRICK:
Michael came in after they won the title in Utah, and I got to witness the crowning moment of a career. He came in without shoes on, because he would always give his shoes to the Bulls’ art director, his shirttail was out, he was soaked with champagne, had a cigar in his mouth, and had the basketball with him. He was a completed man; he just looked like that was everything that needed to be there for Michael Jordan, and had a smile that would take up the entire front row of an NBA game. I worked hard to get that access, so I didn’t feel like I was getting something I didn’t deserve. I did my homework and made sure that I was respectful when I needed to be respectful. I didn’t ask too often. I tried to be fair to him. I appreciated Michael Jordan. I didn’t view him as Michael or Air Jordan. He’d be Mike, and that’s the way I always treated him. But I wasn’t going to bow down to him, and I think he was so competitive that he loved a little bit of that “let me see what you’re going to say and what I’m going to say back to you.” When he got up, I said, “I still think I could score on you.” And he turned around and goes, “What?!” I said, “I’d like to play you one time.” He said, “You think you could fuckin’ score on me? Stand up. Stand up. How are you going to guard me?” I put my arm out against his backside, and he said, “A lot of motherfuckin’ teams in the NBA have tried that shit,” and I saw that look for just a second, and then he smiled as he walked out the door.
BONNIE BERNSTEIN:
Michael was really great with me. For my first basketball