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ESPN Daily

The Great Imposter and Me (Part 1)

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.63.9K Ratings

🗓️ 12 July 2022

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s a story so wild we couldn’t fit it into one podcast. If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember Barry Bremen. In the late 70’s, Barry was best known for dressing up as pro athletes and sneaking into televised sporting events…beginning with the 1979 NBA All-Star Game, where he shot layups on the court with stars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone. And while his “Great Imposter” persona brought him fame, an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and more adventures, Barry was also a totally normal family man…and a beloved dad. Bremen died of cancer in 2011, but his story didn’t end there. The latest E60 special “The Great Imposter and Me” reveals the most unbelievable part of the Barry Bremen story, which came long after he’d hung up his phony uniforms and disguises. Jeremy Schaap brings us this story in two parts, for ESPN Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Jeremy Shab, hello. Hello, Pablo.

0:03.6

You're here to tell us a story that I am struggling already to encapsulate in a sentence.

0:10.3

So, so where are we starting this, Jeremy? Where does the story begin?

0:15.4

So, Pablo, I guess we start in 1979 at the NBA All-Star game.

0:22.9

This, this, uh, ear in which he had Moses Belone and Julius Irving and Cremab Doolge Bar

0:33.2

and there's young player taking place in his first All-Star game,

0:37.1

Otis Bird song from the Kansas City Kings.

0:42.2

Ladies and gentlemen, let us now meet the Western Conference All-Star, making his first All-Star

0:48.8

game a second year pro from the Kansas City Kings, six four Otis Bird song.

0:55.2

And he described the atmosphere to me as really electric.

1:00.3

It was just unbelievable. The atmosphere, sell out crowd. A terrific environment for this game.

1:06.9

I was second year into the league, still young and excited to be around all those great players.

1:13.2

I mean, I've Doolge Bar and Moses Belone will shout it out. I was the only Kansas City Kings player

1:20.8

selected to participate in the NBA All-Star game that year.

1:27.2

And at half time Otis Bird song finds himself in the locker room. He finds himself alone

1:36.3

in the locker room. Just happened to be the last guy walking out for the warm-ups before the

1:42.4

second half. And suddenly the door to one of the bathroom stalls opens.

1:49.4

This guy comes out of the bathroom stall and he has on the Kansas City Kings warm-ups.

1:58.3

I mean, here's what's interesting. It wasn't someone he knew. It was someone he did not know

2:03.3

wearing a Kansas City Kings warm-ups. Someone he had never seen before in his life. And remember,

2:09.6

you know, it's hard to imagine a world, right? 1979, not like today. You couldn't just go on

2:16.1

Amazon and order a Kansas City Kings warm-ups suit. You couldn't go by one at the team store.

...

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