Rick Fox – 3x NBA Champion, Actor, Gaming Entrepreneur
“No matter how much I reinvent myself, or how many industries I tap into, it’s not enough.”
Episode Description
Rick Fox has never been one to be defined by anything he’s done before. It’s more like the whole world is his playground, a stage maybe, where every opportunity could be his, if he chooses to pursue it with everything’s he got.
Guest Info
You probably know Rick Fox as a three-time NBA champion, playing alongside Kobe and Shaq. Or, you may know him from the HBO show Oz, or the Spike Lee film “He Got Game”, just two of his 60+ Hollywood roles. And then, when mainstream sports was barely paying attention to esports, despite its championships getting more viewers than the Super Bowl, he became a team owner, and one of gaming’s most prominent figures. After we sat down to record in Beverley Hills prior to the pandemic, he made another big jump and co-founded a game studio called High Def, working to develop a new game for the Metaverse.
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Show Notes
Early Sports [2:00]
Facing Family Expectations [2: 32]
Moving from the Bahamas to Indiana [3:46]
Dealing with being a fish out of water— culture shock [6:00]
Legal Troubles— not being able to play senior year [7: 40]
Getting scouted [9:10]
Suiting up and showing up mantra [9:54]
Competing with “The Greats” [11:14]
Shifting away from the glory years [13:00]
A new start with the Lakers with Kobe and Shaq [14:07]
Sports career coming to an end [16:55]
Facing identity shifts head-on [20:25]
Basketball as physical expression [21:00]
Storytelling via entertainment [21:50]
Breaking the mold of cable television [26:15]
Balancing two major careers at once [28: 13]
The mental trap of “being too much” [29:50]
What drew Fox to e-sports [32:50]
The next wave of professional sports / making the jump [35:40]
The massive industry you’ve barely heard about [37:15]
The new biggest spectator sport [39:20]
Responding to e-sports criticism [40:50]
Allergic reactions to the changing world [43:30]
The new Rick Fox: carrying a new industry’s responsibility [45:35]
What people need to know about esports [48:18]