Throughout my (very young) career, Iāve noticed that there are two kinds of people: those who talk to the interns and those who donāt. In media, itās very easy to be too busy. Thereās always a deadline, always another meeting or story to whisk you away. Itās easy to ignore the nervous 20-year-old in the corner who doesnāt want to talk for fear of embarrassing themselves.Ā
Flip Saunders talked to the interns.
I had exactly one interaction with the former NBA coach, who passed away yesterday after battling Hodgkins lymphoma for two months. I was interning in the sports department of NBC4 the summer of 2011, and I accompanied one of our reporters to Verizon Center, where the Washington Wizards were introducing their draft picks.
After, we were led to a room where the reporter was going to do individual interviews with the new players. Shortly after me and the cameraman walked in, two men in suits followed. One was team president Ernie Grunfeld, and the other was head coach Flip Saunders.
Both walked into the room, a little confused as to why they were there. They mustāve had another interview lined up. But they both walked right up to me, hands out-stretched, and introduced themselves. I anxiously shook, and, thinking the interaction was over, took half a step back, prepared to fade into the background that had become my natural habitat.
āWhat school do you go to?ā Saunders asked.Ā
For the next 5-10 minutes, we chatted about school, degrees, upstate New York and my AAU days. He asked how my internship was going and told me I was on the right track. He was kind.
That sentiment was echoed throughout the day Sunday by WTOP Senior Sports Director and radio voice of the Wizards Dave Johnson, who talked about Saunders inviting everyone to his house for Christmas dinner in 2009 when the team was in Minnesota.
I didnāt know him well, but from the one brief interaction I had with him, I had all I needed to know.
He was a guy who talked to the interns.
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