Mario West, Former Georgia Tech & NBA Player
That Was Awesome
English - May 04, 2020 08:00 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBSports Music Music Interviews sports music punk movies interviews design graphic design pop punk georgia tech sports design Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Today’s guest is Mario West, who started his basketball career at Georgia Tech in 2002 as a walk-on. He later earned a scholarship and was a member of the 2004 team that made it to the National Championship game. In 2007, he won the college slam dunk contest and earned a spot on the Atlanta Hawks roster. After four seasons in the NBA, he played professionally abroad for five years and played one season in BIG3. He then worked for three years as the Director of Player Personnel on the Georgia Tech basketball staff and wrote a book, Defend the Dream. He is now the Director of the Off the Court program for the National Basketball Players Association.
Mario and I discussed going from being a walk-on to the NBA, challenging Chris Bosh to a game of one-on-one to wear the number 4, the 2003-04 season and run to the National Championship game, the rest of Paul Hewitt’s tenure at Georgia Tech, the toughest player he guarded in the NBA, playing professionally abroad, his new job with the NBPA, and his book, Defend The Dream.
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