About this episode

Tony Ronzone shares his unique experiences in basketball scouting, including his trip to North Korea to find a 7'9" player.

Tony Ronzone has scouted basketball in over 100 countries. He found Dirk Nowitzki before the NBA knew his name. He motivated Kobe Bryant to restore glory to USA basketball, and he once flew into North Korea on a USA passport, trying to sign a 7'9" player with a wheat deal. This week Mo and Coach Brendan Suhr sit down with Tony Ronzone - former Dallas Mavericks international director, three-time Olympic gold medal staff member with Team USA, and now an agent at The Team. Tony's career has taken him everywhere the game has ever been played, and his stories are unlike anything you'll hear on any other basketball podcast. If you ever wondered who the people behind the scenes actually are, the ones who built the modern NBA's international era before anyone was watching, this is that conversation. Listen or watch to the end: the North Korea story alone is worth it. Topics covered: How Tony helped Coach K and Jerry Colangelo rebuild USA Basketball after the 2004 Greece disaster The Kobe Bryant story: 13 clips of Barbosa scoring on him, and what happened the next day How Tony and Donnie Nelson scouted Dirk Nowitzki and engineered the trade to secure him at pick 6 Why you cannot evaluate…

People in this episode

Hosts: Mo, Coach Brendan Suhr

Guest: Tony Ronzone

Topics covered

• basketball scouting
• international basketball
• USA Basketball
• NBA history
• North Korea basketball
• Dirk Nowitzki
• Kobe Bryant

Keywords

• Tony Ronzone
• North Korea
• basketball scouting
• Dirk Nowitzki
• Kobe Bryant
• USA Basketball
• Yao Ming
• NBA history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dallas Mavericks, Team USA, USA Basketball

Places: North Korea, China, USA

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