Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley went on the radio yesterday and showed us that he clearly needs media training. A NBA owner whose been named to the Forbes 400 list should be savvier than this. With all the uh, um, uhhhh, uhmmmms in his speak, especially for the first five minutes or so of this interview, he made Beavis and Butthead sound refined. It almost reminded me of the Lou Piniella “on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on,” soundbite.
Heisley, who made his money in computers, was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, yet seemed to revert to a Canadian/Minnesotan accent during much of his verbal confrontation with Memphis Fox 730 host Chris Vernon yesterday. You’ll hear a few “a-boots,” “oot-sides” in his testy exchange. Maybe it’s because he bought the team when they were in Vancouver, and promised to keep the team in British Columbia, a year before he moved them to Tennessee.
And Heisley admits that he has not read the CBA, and is unaware of the clause allowing negotiating with rookies on incentive-based bonuses.
Unfortunately, Heisley doesn’t delegate that type of his business to his front office people. He makes those type of decisions himself. And when called out on this, he condescends to Vernon, calling him kid, and similar terms of non-endearment on occasion.
Listen to the whole thing here