Mike Looks Back

Came across this New York Times Q&A with sportswriter Vincent Mallozzi from when I first joined YES.

How did you get the nickname The Czar of the Telestrator? 

That came from my first-ever broadcast with Marv on NBC. We had been working on some stuff in the weeks before we went on the air, and I guess Marv appreciated the way I was able to handle the Telestrator, so that’s how he introduced me to the national television audience that first day. I had no idea it was coming

Who was the greatest player you ever coached?

Dominique Wilkins. He was a great competitor who had such a zeal for the game of basketball. He was a phenomenal dunker who loved it most when one of those great dunks really got our fans going. Before Dominique got to Atlanta, we had sold about 3,300 season tickets and averaged about 5,800 fans per game. By the time I left seven years later, the Hawks had 13,000 season tickets sold and average attendance was 15,000 per game…. Keep Reading!

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