Episode 37 with Multi-Talented Writer of Sports and Fitness and Fatherhood, Jon Finkel

 

Show Notes and Links to Jon Finkel’s Work

On Episode 37, Pete is honored to talk with Jon Finkel,  the award-winning author of Hoops Heist, The Life of Dad, Jocks In Chief, The Athlete, Heart Over Height, “Mean” Joe Greene and more. His books have been endorsed by everyone from Mark Cuban and Tony Dungy to Spike Lee, Kevin Durant and Chef Robert Irvine. He has written for GQ, Men’s Health, Yahoo! Sports, The New York Times and has appeared on CBS: This Morning, Good Morning Texas, and hundreds of radio shows, podcasts and streams.

Jon's 2020 book, Hoops Heist: Seattle, the Sonics, and How a Stolen Team's Legacy Gave Rise to the NBA's Secret Empire, can be found wherever books are sold. 

 

Jon Finkel’s Website

Article from 2013 about Nate Robinson's Incredible Leaping Ability

Buy Hoops Heist here! (Bookshop)

Buy Hoops Heist here! (Amazon)

“Notable mention” in The Best American Sports Writing anthology in 2017: Basketball in the Driveway

Authors/Books Mentioned and Allusions Referenced During the Episode:

 

-at around 2:45-Jon Finkel talks about his love of reading as a kid, particularly sports biographies, and his family’s love of sports

 

-at around 5:15-Jon talks about the childhood athletic battles between he and his brother, echoed by Pete with he and his brothers’ battles, especially in basketball

 

-at around 7:00-Jon and Pete wax nostalgic and poetic about the “old days” and Sports Illustrated as a print magazine juggernaut and some of the great writers (Steve Rushin was Jon’s favorite)

 

-at around 10:45-Jon talks about his luck in growing up in Boston and reading all-star journalists like Jackie McMullen, Bob Ryan, Leigh Montville, and more

 

-at around 11:45-Jon and Pete talk about SÍ for Kids icon Buzz Beamer

 

-at around 12:35-Jon talks about “chills at will” in his own reading history, including Rick Reilly’s “Life of Reilly” and Jim Murray’s The Great Ones 

 

-at around 18:20-Jon talks about his college and post-graduate education in writing, both in the classroom and outside

 

-at around 22:00-Jon talks about working in Hollywood through building sets on The Man Show and soon writing some for the show

 

-at around 23:00-Jon talks about his self-education in writing a query letter and debuting with Men’s Fitness after inquiring about writing an article in which he would train and learn to dunk

 

-at around 24:50-Jon talks about the article that was published following his query

 

-at around 25:55-Pete and Jon discuss story ideas of theirs that had great potential but have exceeded their statute of limitations; Jon talks about training for the NFL combine and competing in a high-level volleyball for prospective articles; Pete talks about his perfect setup for a book idea about dunking-one that got away

 

-at around 31:35-Jon talks about his early writing for Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness and beginning by writing personal profiles that ended up becoming consistent cover stories

 

-at around 34:45-Jon talks about the balance between commerce and art, particularly in writing aesthetically-pleasing prose and also satisfying advertisers 

 

-at around 38:45-Jon tells two incredibly unique Karl Malone stories, one involving a photo shoot, and one involving Kobe Bryant

 

-at around 45:45-Jon talks about his personal relationship with Nate Robinson and how it led to his first book, Heart over Height

 

-at around 48:45-Jon talks about Dadvantage: A Blueprint for New Fathers to Stay in Shape on No Sleep, with No Time and No Equipment and The Life of Dad: A Blueprint for New Fathers to Stay in Shape on No Sleep, with No Time and No Equipment; he also talks about

 

-at around 52:45-Jon talks about how he and Isaiah Thomas’ Slow Grind Media managed to write and publish his most-recent book, the outstanding Hoops Heist, in a pandemic year

 

-at around 54:50-Pete and Jon talk about how the structure of the book (Part I as Seattle and Sonics history; Part II as the legacy of Seattle’s close-knit basketball community) adds to its power

 

-at around 57:45-Jon talks about the importance of using present tense to solidify perspective, including adding to the pathos when the reader experiences the last days of the Seattle NBA franchise as described in the book

 

-at around 1:00:05-Jon reads from Hoops Heist and discusses Bill Russell, his greatness, his resentments, the media, and racism

 

-at around 1:04:30-Jon discusses the iconic 90s Sonics

 

-at around 1:05:45-Jon discusses the basketball camps and incredible cooperation and fraternity of Seattle basketball, and how Seattle truly is a special and welcoming basketball family

-at around 1:10:05-Pete (cringe) drops a bar from a freestyle about Doug Christie

 

-at around 1:10:30-Jon talks upcoming projects, including some cool ideas for “bite-sized bios” and a documentary based on Hoops Heist

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The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.