# Talking to GOATs by Jim Gray - Blinkist

What’s in it for me? Discover the inside stories of the most memorable sporting moments

For more than 40 years, Jim Gray has built a reputation as one of the most influential sportscasters in the United States.

Whether it’s Muhammad Ali speaking candidly of his struggles, the emergence of Tiger Woods, or the brilliance of Tom Brady, he has been present at many of the most memorable sporting moments the world has seen.

In these blinks, you will discover anecdotes that didn’t make it to the sports broadcasts, and inspirational accounts about the potential of human achievement.

If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes on in the locker room in the aftermath of a sporting event or in the days leading up to a big match, then these are the blinks for you.

In these blinks, you’ll learn  how an impromptu interview led to Gray’s big break; how he took on sportswear giant Nike; and his role in the Kobe-Shaq feud.

The year was 1978.

A chance interview with boxing icon Muhammad Ali kickstarted Jim Gray’s broadcasting career.

Jim Gray was an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Colorado and a sports intern at a TV station in Denver.

He was editing a show early one Monday morning when a panicked assignment editor asked him to go to the airport and conduct an interview with the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.

Ali had arrived two hours early for an interview with one of the station’s sports anchors.

In an era before mobile phones and beepers, there was no way of letting the anchor know about the change.

Gray didn’t have time to prepare any questions before setting off for the airport.

In fact, he didn’t even have a notepad.

But he was surprisingly prepared.

The key message here is: A chance interview with boxing icon Muhammad Ali kickstarted Jim Gray’s broadcasting career.

Gray was an Ali fan and knew everything about the three-time world heavyweight champion.

For years, he had watched his favorite sports broadcaster Howard Cosell banter with Ali after bouts, so Gray decided to model himself on Cosell.

When Ali met the author, he was surprised at how young the interviewer looked, and asked if he was still in school.

He nonetheless proceeded with the interview and, after a few exchanges, remarked that the budding sports reporter was like a local Howard Cosell.

Despite having no prepared questions, Gray recorded a 32-minute interview with Ali.

He had two topics to discuss: Ali’s upcoming rematch with Leon Spinks, and his proposed exhibition bout with a Denver Broncos American football player.

So how did he manage to keep the interview going for so long?

Gray simply asked him questions based on his previous answers.

The result?

Ali discussed his global initiatives, his hopes of another “Rumble in the Jungle,” and what his Muslim faith meant to him.

That day, Gray learned the secret to being a good interviewer: listening.

Back at the TV station, Gray planned to edit himself out of the interview.

But the news director had other ideas and decided to run the interview on the air that very evening.

His first on-air appearance would change Gray’s life forever.

This chance interview with Ali gave his career a boost in other ways, too.

He and Ali became friends, and industry people noticed.

Boxing promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank was among them.

He would send Gray to fights to conduct interviews.

So would Don King, another renowned boxing promoter and erstwhile rival of Arum’s.

Gray, then, had the unique distinction of being among the select few who worked for the two bitter rivals at the same time.

Gray saw firsthand some of the racial discrimination endured by record-breaking baseball player Hank Aaron.

The career home-run record of baseball player Babe Ruth, arguably the United States’ most celebrated sportsman, stood for 39 years.

Then, on April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron broke that record.

On that day, a 14-year-old Jim Gray realized the importance of records in sports.

Babe Ruth was such an icon that many people were disappointed when his record was broken.

But as Gray eventually discovered, the truth was that some people simply didn’t like that the record had been broken by a Black man.

Here’s the key message: Gray saw firsthand some of the racial discrimination endured by record-breaking baseball player Hank Aaron.

Gray had always been impressed by Aaron.

He was a talented baseball player, and a man of integrity.

Whether facing death threats or other forms of overt racism, Aaron always handled it with dignity and grace.

For example, the author remembers bumping into Aaron and his wife in a very smart Hudson River eatery on New York City’s waterfront in 1991.

Gray and his group were seated immediately – even though the Aarons had arrived before them.

Forty-five minutes passed and the Aarons were still not seated.

Gray was perplexed because the restaurant was half-empty.

They were seated only after Gray complained to the restaurant manager.

Even then, they were escorted to a table at the back.

Gray again spoke up and finally they were given a table on the waterfront.

For Gray, this incident was shocking, particularly as it happened in 1991.

But he was also impressed with just how much Aaron kept his cool.

Shortly after this incident, Gray had the opportunity to interview Aaron.

He was particularly keen to talk about race and baseball.

Gray knew that even though Aaron held the loftiest, most prestigious record in the game, he had struggled to get work.

Rather than being revered as an elder statesman of the game by the sports governing body, Major League Baseball, Aaron was mostly unknown to younger fans.

Aaron spoke candidly in the interview about his achievements being ignored.

He also spoke of other Black players who had been treated in a similar way.

Gray expected praise from his CBS boss for this forthright interview.

Instead, he was pulled from network coverage of the World Series that year.

Gray was surprised, particularly given the same boss had approved the interview before it aired.

Gray concluded that the MLB commissioner must have complained.

Reporting on the steroids scandals that rocked the world of sport, Gray won an Emmy.

The name Ben Johnson is synonymous with cheating in sport.

At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Johnson defeated his archrival, Carl Lewis, to win the most prestigious track and field event: the 100 metres.

He even set a new world record with that gold medal.

Within 24 hours, though, Johnson failed a drug test for the steroid stanozolol, and was disqualified.

Lewis was then awarded the gold medal.

This event proved another significant moment in Jim Gray’s career.

This is the key message: Reporting on the steroids scandals that rocked the world of sport, Gray won an Emmy.

The author was one of a group of ambitious journalists hired by NBC to cover the Seoul Olympics.

Their boss, Mike Weisman, called them the Seoul Searchers, and their job was to hunt out the best, most interesting, and most important news stories during the Games.

For Gray, this was a big deal.

It was his first assignment for a television network.

After Johnson's victory in the 100 metres, Gray’s boss woke him with a call in the middle of the night.

Weisman had just been tipped off that Johnson was leaving Seoul and returning to Canada.

He wanted the author to go to the airport, find Johnson, and get the story.

When Gray arrived, there were a number of reporters and crews already there; clearly, NBC hadn’t been the only organization to get the tip on Johnson.

Luckily, the NBC crew was set up in the right place, with the camera pointed at the perfect angle.

So they were the first to catch the disgraced sprinter as he entered the airport terminal.

Johnson didn’t stop for an interview.

But as he walked by, Gray asked if the International Olympic Committee had stripped him of his medal because of the failed test.

Johnson glanced at Gray and gave a half nod, without saying anything.

Gray took it as a yes, NBC broke the story, and Gray went on to win his first Emmy for the report.

But Ben Johnson wouldn’t be the only disgraced sporting cheat.

Baseball had its own steroids scandals in the mid-2000s implicating, among others, home run king Barry Bonds.

That scandal would include track and field athletes like sprinting great Marion Jones, winner of three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Olympics, who would eventually serve a six-month sentence for lying to prosecutors about steroid use.

Gray first interviewed golfing prodigy Tiger Woods at age nine.

Tiger Woods emerged on the world stage in spectacular style in 1997, when he won his first major tournament, the US Masters, by an incredible 12 strokes.

He was just 21.

Gray’s first meeting with Woods had been 12 years earlier.

While working as a freelancer in Los Angeles, Gray saw a report in a local newspaper about a nine-year-old named Eldrick Woods who had hit a hole-in-one.

Gray thought it must have been an error, so he followed up.

The key message in this blink is: Gray first interviewed golfing prodigy Tiger Woods at age nine.

In fact, when Tiger’s dad, Earl, agreed to an interview, Gray hired a camera crew at his own expense to investigate.

Gray marveled firsthand at Tiger hitting balls out of a sand trap– at least four of which rolled right into the hole.

In the interview, Tiger displayed his youthful ambition, saying, “I want to win all the big tournaments, all of the major ones, and I hope to play well when I get older and beat all the pros.

” This would go on to become a famous quote.

Gray pitched the story to ESPN, and they aired it a few months later.

As Tiger grew, he garnered attention with his record-breaking amateur performances.

So it was no surprise when he signed an endorsement deal with Nike in 1996.

As part of the deal, Earl Woods handed over his entire library of videotapes and photos of his son – including a copy of the ESPN report that Gray had produced all those years ago.

When Nike released Tiger’s first commercial, it featured the quote about Tiger’s youthful ambitions taken from the interview Gray had conducted 11 years earlier.

Gray owned the copyright, and the quote had been used without permission.

Lawyers for the young golfer’s management company, IMG, disputed the claim, so Gray hired a high-powered Washington firm to resolve this issue.

In the end, Mike Thomashow, Nike’s head of business affairs, accepted the mistake – and paid Gray for the footage.

This incident did not diminish the reporter’s appreciation for Woods’s talent, or his cordial relationship with the family.

And Tiger’s predictions did come true: He won all the majors, and did “beat all the pros.

”  Unforeseen, however, were the scandals and injuries that later derailed Woods’s career.

Gray was convinced that Tiger would never win again.

But Tiger eventually rallied to win the Tour Championship in September 2018, followed by the Masters in April 2019.

The author ranks this as one of the greatest comebacks in history.

The drive and determination of quarterback Tom Brady impressed Jim Gray.

No player in the history of American football has played in more Super Bowls, or won more rings, than Tom Brady.

No surprise, then, that he is considered by many to be the best quarterback ever to play the game.

What drove Brady to reach nine Super Bowls, winning six of them, and to play well into his 40s?

Well, having a great team around him helped.

But as Jim Gray found out, it also involved Brady’s quest for perfection.

Surprisingly, Brady was fairly anonymous during his college career at Michigan, spending stretches of time on the bench.

He was only selected by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft; he was the 199th pick.

Here’s the key message: The drive and determination of quarterback Tom Brady impressed Jim Gray.

In his second season as a pro, Brady had his opportunity to shine when the Patriots’ number-one quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, got injured.

It was then that the author first became aware of Brady.

Brady would lead the Patriots all the way to Super Bowl victory that season, becoming the youngest quarterback then to do so.

Today, Brady is known for his healthy lifestyle.

His TB12 diet is made up of mostly organic, local, and plant-based foods.

He has also placed huge emphasis on hydration and flexibility.

But this is not the Brady who won the 2002 NFL Championship.

Back then, he carried a few extra pounds, and ate like most people do.

He enjoyed cheeseburgers and liked to have a good time.

But then, as now, he had a steely determination to succeed.

He prepared obsessively, and engaged in constant repetition until he got things right.

Brady would prove that he was no flash in the pan, leading the Patriots to two more Super Bowl victories over the next three years.

Three Super Bowl rings would be a massive achievement for most players.

Not Brady.

He wanted more.

But it would be nine years before he would win another championship ring.

It wasn’t that his team underperformed – in fact, they excelled.

They won every game during the 2007 regular season, before losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

The two teams also faced each other in the 2011 NFL championship, only for the Patriots to lose again.

But his hard work would pay off when Brady led the Patriots to three more championships in 2015, 2017, and 2019 – becoming the oldest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl.

Beyond sports figures, Gray interviewed world leaders, including nine US presidents.

When the author’s wife, Frann, asked what he wanted for his fortieth birthday, he requested an interview with Mikhail Gorbachev, then-leader of the Soviet Union.

With the help of their friend, broadcaster Larry King, Frann was able to fulfill this request.

The interview took place in Gray’s hometown of Denver, Colorado.

The Soviet leader related how he first became active in the Communist Party as a youth.

He also revealed that traveling abroad transformed his mindset, and helped him realize that his country needed to change if it were going to reach its potential.

But Gorbachev would not be the only statesman Gray would interview over his long career.

The key message here is: Beyond sports figures, Gray interviewed world leaders, including nine US presidents.

Larry King was also instrumental in Gray meeting and interviewing the South African statesman Nelson Mandela.

They met when King invited Gray to attend a taping of his show in New York City.

Gray and Mandela socialized over breakfast and in the green room.

Gray particularly enjoyed hearing some of Mandela’s prison anecdotes.

The South African leader discussed the warm relationships he developed over the years with some of the guards.

For some time, Mandela was permitted just one visitor a year.

And he could only send out or receive one letter every six months.

One day, the warden told him that he could invite his wife for a conjugal visit.

Mandela requested not just his wife, but also 85 other female visitors.

Confused, the warden told Mandela to think more seriously about the offer.

Two months later, the offer was repeated.

This time, Mandela requested visits from 87 women in addition to his wife.

Mandela explained that there were 87 others in jail with him, and that as their leader, he wanted them to enjoy the same privileges as he did – including conjugal visits.

The author would also interview every US president from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump.

When he met Bill Clinton in 1994, he was instantly charmed by him and the two men developed a warm relationship.

He recalls being invited by Clinton in 1999 to attend a dinner in Atlanta to honor the home run king, Hank Aaron, on his sixty-fifth birthday.

Coincidentally, Clinton’s impeachment trial in the US Senate was taking place on the very same day.

Despite having a very good reason to excuse himself from the dinner, the president attended.

Gray was impressed with how important Clinton felt it was to honor one of the greatest baseball players ever.

As one of just a handful of people, Jim Gray witnessed the Dream Team’s greatest game.

One of the most memorable moments of the 1992 Olympic Games was the performance of the Dream Team, the star-laden US basketball team.

Despite being a dominant global force in basketball, the country’s Olympic performances had been very much hit-and-miss.

Why?

Because USA Basketball had a rule prohibiting professionals from participating in international competitions.

But this changed for the Barcelona Games.

The author had just switched networks, from NBC to CBS, so he didn’t get to cover the Games.

But he still made it to Barcelona as the guest of his best friend and Dream Team coach, Chuck Daley.

The Dream Team put on a spectacular series of displays, winning each game by at least 32 points.

But according to Gray, the team’s best performance took place behind closed doors.

This is the key message: As one of just a handful of people, Jim Gray witnessed the Dream Team’s greatest game.

The Dream Team brought together not just the brightest and best NBA stars at the time, but of all time.

It featured megastars like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley, to name just a few.

The team’s pre-Olympic training camp took place in Monte Carlo.

They beat France 111-71 in an exhibition game, but the team performed poorly, and their coach was concerned.

So he called another practice session, just 12 hours later.

He wanted the players to challenge each other and themselves.

John Stockton and Clyde Drexler had injuries, so they didn’t participate.

The remaining ten players were divided into two teams.

Jordan led one, and Magic led the other – two of the greatest players ever, but at two different points in their careers.

One was at his peak, while the other was winding down his career following an HIV diagnosis a year earlier.

This was no ordinary scrimmage.

This would be the team’s most competitive game of 1992, and before the Olympics had even started.

Both sides wanted the win and bragging rights.

Jordan’s side would take the honors with a 40-36 victory, and he let Magic know that a new king had been crowned.

He even interrupted a conversation between Magic and Larry Bird, announcing that “there’s a new sheriff in town.

” Jordan would later tell the author that was the most fun he had ever had on a basketball court.

Shortly after, the team would arrive in Barcelona and take the Olympics by storm.

It was Jim Gray’s interview that exposed the rivalry between LA Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

Jim Gray first met basketball megastar Kobe Bryant when he was just an infant.

At the time, Gray was working as a scout for the San Diego Clippers, where Bryant’s dad, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was a player.

Kobe would become one of Gray’s closest friends in the sporting world.

Kobe was a high-school phenomenon, and he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers straight out of school.

He had a fairy-tale start to his 20-year career – but there would be struggles to come.

Here’s the key message: It was Jim Gray’s interview that exposed the rivalry between LA Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

To build a title-winning team in the NBA, a coach needs to assemble a cast of superstars.

But if those egos collide, it creates problems.

With the Lakers, those stars were Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal.

The tension between the two erupted in 2003, when Bryant telephoned the author and said he wanted to talk.

In that interview, Bryant gave full vent to his frustrations with O’Neal, revealing all his shortcomings – like coming to training camp overweight and out of shape, blaming others for the team’s failures, and so on.

Bryant even went so far as to say that “the guy selling donuts at 7-Eleven has more pride and dedication to his job than Shaq does.

”  But Gray felt this comment went too far, and told Kobe that he would cut it from the version for air, which he did.

He also had a good relationship with Shaq, and many of the Lakers players, so Gray called O’Neal ahead of the interview’s broadcast.

O’Neal was angry, later referring to him as “Traitor Gray.

” It would be years before they reconciled.

Meanwhile, Gray never had a great relationship with the Lakers’ coach, Phil Jackson, and their dealings took a turn for the worse after the interview.

When Gray turned up one afternoon to do a pre-game interview with him, Jackson rudely declined.

Gray and Kobe remained friends even after the latter’s retirement.

Gray describes January 26, 2020 – the day Kobe and his daughter Gigi died in a helicopter crash along with seven others – as one of the worst days of his life.

Gray once asked Kobe how he would like to be remembered.

He responded, “As a talented overachiever.

Blessed with talent, but worked as if he had none.

Final summary

The key message in these blinks is this: During his 40-year career as a sports broadcaster and interviewer, Jim Gray has witnessed the triumphs, scandals, spats, rivalries, tantrums, injustices, and egos that make sport such a compelling spectacle.

Having interviewed nine US presidents as well as an assortment of world leaders, Gray also provides some insights into the world of global politics.

This book is not just a collection of anecdotes; it is a significant contribution to the history of American sport.

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