John Salley: From NBA Champion to L.A. Original

In a Minute with Evan Lovett

Audacy

Places & Travel, Society & Culture

5.0 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John "Spider" Salley won championships with Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and the Bad Boys Pistons. But he's more than an NBA legend - he's a genuine, fascinating, wise human whose growth continued well past his playing career. I sit down with John 1-on-1 to discuss his origin story, his perspective on life, becoming a successful actor, vegan, and host of The Best Damn Talk Show Period. . .and why he always knew he'd end up living in and loving Los Angeles.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm watching magic and all of these guys playing Somerly.
0:04.0	Yeah.
0:04.3	And I'm like, oh, they go magic.
0:07.1	Oh, it's on and popping.
0:08.8	I cannot wait to get on.
0:10.3	And I was never afraid of people.
0:11.8	I always wanted to challenge myself.
0:15.2	And then at the end, everybody is all magic, magic, magic.
0:18.4	And I go, I go, where's the keys?
0:20.7	And he looks at me. He goes, what? I said, the keys to your car. What are you talking about? I said, you got a Roche, right? He goes, yeah. I said, you're not supposed to drive a Rojoice yourself. Give me the keys. So I go and get the keys and pull up and I'm driving Magic and Isaiah Thomas.
0:38.7	And they don't understand that I am, I'm driving a Rose Royce.
0:43.8	No, I'm driving the biggest piece of gold, diamond.
0:47.9	Like this is Liz Taylor, Eddie Murphy, Michael Jackson.
0:52.4	Everybody in one is Magic Johnson.
0:55.4	Because all the stars go to watch Magic perform.
0:58.9	That's the difference on being a Laker.
1:02.1	The stars watch the star.
1:09.3	Yo, welcome to another episode of In a Minute with Evan Lovett, coming to you live from the
1:14.4	IM Studios in the heart of Los Angeles.
1:17.4	Right now, we're here with the guest who has my heart, somebody who is all heart.
1:22.1	I'm talking about the legend John Sally, NBA superstar, a prototype podcaster before there were podcasts,
1:32.5	host of the best damn sports show period, actor, entertainer, but all around genuine
	...

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