Dale, how are you? Dale, you talk about shooting. There's even more of an emphasis on shooting now than when you played. I mean, when you retired, you were right there at the top of the ranks when it came down to threes, and we've seen an explosion over the past decade. What are your thoughts on these guys?
What's the offensive balance in the game right now when it comes to shooting versus going to the basket? Dale Ellis, NBA legend, joining us here on the JR Sport Brief Show. You named some of the contemporaries and guys that you played with.
Anthony Edwards made a lot of noise a couple of days ago last week when he talked about Michael Jordan being the most or only skilled type player, so much more skilled than everybody. A lot of people had to shake their heads because he admitted that he didn't see anybody. What are your thoughts? Like, why even make a comment like that if you didn't see?
He didn't see him. Is that what you're saying? Yes, he said, I didn't see it, but this is what I think.
Oh, yeah, yeah. You've got kids that are growing up watching the game right now that have got a lot of excitement about it. And they're going so far that they look back at previous players and study their careers, their statistics, study their movements on the floor, their history of the game. I can see him making a comment about Michael just by looking at clips of him. And here with people like yourself or someone that has real knowledge of the game or basketball, what they thought about Michael. But, yeah, to be in front of Michael, face-to-face playing, that's the only way you get a real understanding of what talent he had. It was incredible talent. He came into the league, it wasn't very good, she would have developed that.
It was not good enough just to be talented. You have to put the work in, and Michael was one of those guys. He's worked and worked and worked to improve his game.
Michael Colby, Colby Broughton as well. One of the greatest shooters the NBA has seen. Dale Ellis is joining us here on the JR Sport Brief Show. You have had a long and decorated career. I also know that you've continued to help people shoot.
You've gotten into business endeavors. You also helped folks out with the Retired Players Association. Tell us about your role there. I'm currently president of the Atlanta Chapter of the Retired Players Association.
There's 10, 11 chapters around the country. We put events together. Each chapter is obligated to put one event together, raise money, and give back to our charity of choice. So we've done a number of things out in the community as far as providing scholarships for kids, helping families in need during the holidays. We teamed up with Breakthrough Atlanta's non-profits to get kids schooling during the off-season to help them get a college prepare.
Those kids needed a house, a school to work out of, teachers, transportation, food. So we helped raise money for that cause. And our last event was actually for Wells Springs Living, which is a safe house in Atlanta, once kids are rescued from human trafficking and therefore rehabilitation.
So as a group, what we do is get together, sit down and decide what we want to attack. And right now, our pet peeve is cancer. And so we teamed up with Gertrude House, which is dealing with breast cancer, and our function this year to raise money is for prostate cancer research. And the monies that will be raised will go to Northside Hospital. So we're all about health and wellness. And this is something, this is the first annual event for this, and we're doing it at Topgolf, and we're really excited about how it's all coming together.
And I think this is something we'll stick with year after year. Well, that's amazing. And this event is going to be Sunday, September 8th at Topgolf, from Northside Drive side of town at Topgolf, right?
That's right. Well, awesome, Dale. We have 17 bays. There'll be 17 athletes. We have athletes from WNBA, Major League Baseball, NFL, and of course NBA ball players as well. So we got a nice mixture of athletes that will entertain sponsors, so they'll get a chance to meet some of these guys. So we're really excited about the upcoming event.
That's awesome. That'll take place at Topgolf West Midtown here in Atlanta September 8th. That's a Sunday. And Dale, I know football season is upon us as well as basketball season. I know you're a Tennessee guy. Are you going to be checking in on a football at all? We strictly basketball here, Dale. You know, from here when I was an active player, I didn't play much attention to sports. It would be difficult for me to come home and watch NBA basketball games because it's like bringing your job home with you. But college football and basketball, I love watching it.
And now that I'm retired, I have a group of friends I grew up with who love it even more than I do. So we get together and make little small bets on games. I'm here in Georgia. Georgia Bulldogs are huge.
So I get to battle with those guys about Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. We're in the hub of some great football. So I'm really excited about the upcoming season.
When it comes to the NBA, we don't have to wait too much longer, but we did just see the Olympics take place out in Paris. We're finally starting to hear from someone like Jason Tatum. He was benched. He had some comments about, you know, a weird atmosphere, not knowing when you were going to get the ball or if this or if that. You were a shooter yourself.
How important is it to be in a rhythm or do you always just have to be ready because you don't know when the ball is coming? That's right. You know, my first three years were played in Dallas. I was the ninth pick in the draft overall.
There was no lottery back then. The Mavericks selected me because I was the best player available in the draft at the time. So I flipped from three.
They're going to Houston to Dallas, number nine. And for the first three years, I had to wait for my opportunity. So I had to stay prepared. And then in practice, that practice was play time for me. So I worked hard in practice. I show up early, maybe leave late, but just to stay ready for an opportunity.
I got my opportunity in Seattle. But it is important for a shooter to get a rhythm. You know, it's hard to play like that, not knowing when you're going to. It's hard to be prepared to play, not knowing when you're going to go into the game and how much, how many minutes you got to play. You know, in the high point in my career, I knew I was going to play 36 minutes a game. I could start out slow and finish with a great game or the win.
So it's difficult. Well, Dale, we certainly know you. You were an all star out in Seattle. What's the deal? What's the deal?
Do you got a little bit of a scoop? When is Seattle going to get a team back? What are we going to get the SuperSonics back there?
I'm surprised they left and I'm surprised they haven't made the announcement yet. My understanding is that waiting on this television deal to make the announcement, there'll be two franchises, one in Seattle and one in Las Vegas. So I know the fans in Seattle are really excited about the opportunity of the team coming back. I mean, they've been pushing for it, campaigning for it for a number of years since the Sonics actually left. So it's going to be exciting for the city of Seattle. No doubt about it. That's where you made your bones and we're an all star. Well, Dale, thank you for the time.
I look forward to hanging out with you a little bit on on Sunday, September 8th at Topgolf as you guys raise money for cancer research. And my final question, Dale, with all the shooting going on in the NBA, just people running back and forth shooting. No chance that we see you those days are done?
Yeah, those days are way gone. You know, I could still shoot it, but running from one end of that court to another was a little difficult for me. OK, I didn't know if that Steph Curry 62 mil was going to be attractive, but let me know if you change your mind. I'll negotiate the deal for you. I appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate your thought.
