B. Mitch at Finley, 106-7, the fan. Pretty excited right now to jump on the rude guest hotline and talk to Mr. Pete Babcock.

Pete has been around the NBA all of his life, basically. Sports and basketball in particular have long brought people together, and few have seen the impact up close like longtime NBA executive Pete Babcock, from protesting to supporting social justice

movements. His four-decade career shows how sports can drive real change. Pete, thank you for

joining us, man. How you doing? My pleasure. I'm doing fine. Thank you. So you obviously

have the new book coming out, Courts of Life, A Life in Basketball and Activism.

Kind of what, after working in the NBA as long as you did, what drove you to write this book and why do it now?

Well, I originally wanted to write this to record my experiences, my unlikely journey from being a high school coach into a lifetime

of 42 years in the NBA and all the experiences that I had and had also how the game

had helped became a vehicle for integration, brought people together, broke down barriers.

And I wrote it for my kids and my grandkids.

And then it just evolved into one where it was something we wanted to get published.

And so we published it in September to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the integration of the NDA.

Did you, a lot of people always talk about the athletes that they aren't like the athletes of old.

And I think because a lot of the people of old, they help the guys out.

But there are still guys that go out there and fight for certain causes. Did you notice that?

Absolutely.

Jalen Brown's a great example with the Celtics.

I spoke with Jalen last fall.

Got him a copy of a book because he appreciates all that and he works tirefully in the community.

And then he's one of many, many players who are doing an awful lot to give back to their communities,

but also work really hard for social justice.

Pete, I'm curious as you look around the NBA now, work really hard for social justice.

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