On the Road with Mike

Caught up with some members of the Cavs family past, Wayne Embry, Jim Paxson and Danny Ferry, at the jersey retirement ceremony for Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

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On the Road with Mike

Last night friends, family and teammates gathered for a dinner in Cleveland to honor longtime Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose #11 jersey will be retired tonight at The Q. I was the head coach when Big Z signed with the Cavs in 1996. His mother, father and sister all flew in from Lithuania to help him get settled. I invited them over to my home and told them not to worry, that I would take care of their son. Hard to believe it’s been almost two decades since Zydrunas began his impressive NBA career.

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On the Road with Mike

Inspired by the 2014 Winter Olympics, I took to the ice at the Serpentini Arena in Lakewood, Ohio and got some partner skating pointers from the 1996 U.S. Figure Skating Championship silver medalist and 1998 Olympic team alternate Tonia Kwiatkowski. No falls for the Czar!

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After my lesson, I schooled a young pupil in the intricacies of world class hockey.

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On the Road with Mike

Flew into San Antonio for Tuesday’s Nets-Spurs matchup on YES and got a chance to spend some time with the architect of the most envied program in the NBA, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

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On the Road with Mike

Was great to catch up with some friends in Cleveland this week before heading to Ukraine. Grabbed breakfast with my multi-talented broadcast partner Matt Devlin, who was in town for the Blue Jays vs. Indians series. Also had a terrific dinner at Chef Rocco Whalen’s restaurant Fahrenheit with Hall-of-Fame Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. And I met up with legendary MLB shortstop Omar Vizquel at restaurateur Terry Tarantino’s La Dolce Vita.