Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Photo Credit: NBA Entertainment

RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson appeared on CBS Sports Radio’s “After Hours” with Amy Lawrence and discussed Nets Slammin’ Planet. Press play below to listen!

I began my journalism journey at 12 hosting Nets Slammin Planet with Albert King, Lynn Wilson and Evan Roberts on both 1660 AM AAHS World Radio and 620 AM One on One Sports. The show was produced by Chris Carrino and Amy Scheer.

Press Play above to listen to my chat on CBS Sports Radio.

Also check out the feature on my show on NBA Inside Stuff with Ahmad Rashad and Willow Bay. It appeared 20 years ago on NBC!

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The post Scoop B: How I started in journalism at 12 years old hosting Nets Slammin’ Planet appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Man, I will not forget Jayson Williams.

Warm, kind and accessible. I first met Williams in 1997, during my time as co-host of Nets Slammin’ Planet, the Nets’ official kids radio show I co-hosted on 620 AM One-on-One Sports here in New York City with Albert King. 

Williams, a nine year NBA veteran during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers and the then New Jersey Nets averaged 7.3 points and 7.5 rebounds in his career. He was an All-Star in 1998 and was once the NBA’s leading rebounder.

Williams’ career was cut short after a freak leg accident in-game during the 1999-2000 season.

He would retire and then do light TV work on NBC. He transitioned properly. He was Michael Strahan before the TV personality that Michael Strahan is now.

Williams’ world would change in an instant in 2002. On February 14, 2002, Williams shot his limo driver, Gus Christofi at his Alexandria Township, NJ home while providing a tour that included a look at a shotgun that Williams thought was unloaded. The gun went off in Williams’ hands and killed Christofi and according to reports, Williams wiped the gun off, jumped in his pool and asked one of his friends to get rid of his clothes.

Williams has had other scrapes with the law and has seemed to genuinely turn his life around, which I am proud of him for doing. Now living in Florida, Williams is working and living at Epiphany Rehab drug and alcohol rehab center. According to a recent conversation with Williams, he’s driving and mentoring patients who are looking to do the same. Williams once dealt with alcoholism and would drink “a fifth of moonshine” at the peak of his problems. He found the rehab center Epiphany and spent 30 days there and never left. Williams’ life rebound was the recent subject of a recent 60 Minutes special that detailed the relationship between he and former NBA Eastern Conference rival Charles Oakley.

Although Williams has made mistakes, I choose to believe that he is turning his life around. I also choose to remember him for his charitable work while a player and the way he put a smile on people’s face. Williams was a recent subject of my Scoop B Radio series. Scoop B Radio is a time capsule that highlights some of my best interviews from childhood through adulthood. Give it a listen.

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The post Scoop B: Jayson Williams is Rebounding His Life Off The Court appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Kendall Gill had a 15-year career in the NBA. Gill averaged 13 points, four rebounds and a shade under 2 steals while suiting up for the Seattle Sonics, Charlotte Hornets, New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Honestly, Gill’s best career came in the 1999 season where he was the NBA’s steals leader, averaging 2.68 per game. In that season, he locked down all types of players from Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Allen Iverson, Alan Houston and Larry Johnson.

Gill was a man on a mission that year, for real. He took joy in guarding players from positions 1-3 and he sometimes even guarded tweeners like now retired power forward, Kevin Garnett, who later was his teammate with the T-Wolves.

”If I asked Kendall to play power forward, he would do it,” former Nets coach John Calipari once said about Gill after practice. ”Look at him. He is still at it.”

Gill relished in playing against a young Kobe Bryant. “Kobe didn’t reinvent the wheel,” Gill told me in a recent interview. “He studied a lot of what Michael did and put a little bit of his own spin in it and became one of the greatest players that played the game. You can’t argue with that. Then when he leaves the game with 61, I mean who does that? He really put a stamp on his legacy when he did that.”

Gill’s name surfaced recently when former NBA coach George Karl released his book, Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection.

The book garnered much attention presumably because of the excerpts detailing his relationship with his former players, J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and retired NBA player Kenyon Martin. Karl also included Gill. Karl said that Gill was a bad teammate. Gill played for him in Seattle from 1993-95.  “I was always a good teammate,” Gill told CBS Sports Radio’s Tiki and Tierney. “Always, always played within my team. As a matter of fact, George Karl himself said I was too unselfish to become a superstar. He told me that. And now, what you’re telling me – that he said I was a bad teammate – I take that personally. You can ask anybody that I’ve ever played with. Was I selfish? I was never any of those things. For him to come out and say that about me is simply wrong.”

As a member of the press, I’ve always had good dealings with Kendall Gill. Retrospectively my Scoop B Radio series chronicles some of my best interviews done from past and present. Kendall Gill made the cut. He always talked reverently about Muhammad Ali and Walter Payton being his role models growing up and enjoying reading Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God book.

On a slow news Monday, take a listen.

Check out Kendall Gill and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

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The post Scoop B: Catching Up With The NBA’s Unselfish Player, Kendall Gill appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.