Joey Graziano: NBA Head of Event Strategy for 73rd All-Star Game

The NBA 73rd All-Star Game Weekend in Indianapolis (2/16-18) promises to be the biggest and most fan-friendly EVER! Joey Graziano (NBA Head of Event Strategy and Management) talks up the Crossover Concert w/ Lil Wayne, T-Pain and DJ Zedd. Keith Urban and Walker Hayes will perform at the NBA Experiences Saturday Pregame Concert prior to State Farm NBA All-Star Saturday Night.
Butler grad Gunner harasses Joey about his Georgetown Hoyas and begs for an NBA SENIOR 3-Point Contest!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Well, it is such a pleasureto have with us the NBA Head of
Events, Strategy and Management ahead ofthe seventy third NBA All Star Game right
here in Indianapolis on Sunday, Februaryeighteenth. Hey, Joey Graziano, how
are you? What's Joey Graziano?I love it. I could not be
more excited. Don You're a legend. I've been looking forward to this one

(00:21):
all day. Thank you guys forhaving me. It's such a cool event
that we're going to be having herein Indianapolis. And I mean, I
think when you talk about the threemost crazy basketball states, Joey, I'm
sorry New York is out of it. I'm going with Kentucky, North Carolina
and Indiana. We've tipped off AllStar with the Indiana State Fair, so
I've learned there's nothing like basketball.With the we Grow Basketball Here Indiana campaign,

(00:47):
there's nothing like it in the state. Yeah, you know what you
know, Joey, A friend ofmine went to the All Star Game in
twenty twenty two at the United Centerin Chicago, and the guy has never
been the same. All Star Gamewill change your freaking life. You know
what I'm saying? It is goingto be an incredible week plus of events

(01:08):
that we're going to have in themarket. The pacers doing their full tip
off right at that bi centennial UnityPlaza on the fifteenth, and it is
going to be action packed from literallymorning until late into the evening because we
don't mind the party here at theNBA and so we're bringing one hundred and
twenty five thousand people into downtown Indie, fans for more than forty eight state,

(01:29):
twenty nine countries all coming to Indieto showcase what Who's your Hospitality really
is like. Man, it isgoing to be incredible. NBA All Star
weekend and again the game is onFebruary eighteenth, but activities are going to
be going on through the entire week, including the NBA Crossover concert series.
Joey Grazziano is with us. Joeytell us a little about the music.

(01:49):
Yes, certainly. Our NBA Crossoversare fan event live at the Convention Center.
It tips off on Friday the sixteenth, and we will be live.
Is three hundred and fifty thousand squarefeet of activations and experiences through our partners
like Jordan and Starry State Farms,and what we'll have there be It's gonna
be more than forty percent bigger thanany fan event we've ever put on because

(02:12):
things are just bigger in Indie,and we are going to have the best
musical performance lineup we've ever had.We'll have names like Zed tipping us off
on Friday with a Mick Ultra concert. We've already announced Keith Urban happening on
Saturday during the day, and we'vegot a big lineup of additional names,
more than nine other artists that areabout to be announced. We're incredibly excited
about about that opportunity and what weknow is going to be an incredible week

(02:38):
of fan opportunities. NBA events dotCom is our fans are able to get
tickets and access, and we knowthis is going to be the biggest events
fan event in the history of theNBA all start. So do we know,
Joey, whether Keith Urban is bringingthe wife or not. Any I
can promise you're going to see acelebrity lineup across all of our events,

(02:59):
starting with the Rising Stars Game onFriday and our Celebrity Game happening at Lucas
Oil Stadium. We want to makesure that all of our celebrities across fashion,
art, technology, music, They'reall going to come down and you're
going to see them sitting courtside atour various events happening with Live. We've
got over sixty player and legend appearanceshappening at Crossover, all of these musical

(03:20):
performances happening. So this India isgoing to be the place you want to
be that weekend. Joey Graziano,you can find him on Maulberry Street in
New York City, NBA head ofEvent Strategy and Management. Can you throw
a couple of names out there onthe celebrity team? Well, I was,
I promised my PR team I don'tbreak news, but I okay,

(03:42):
is that there are going to besome names with some Indiana ties, maybe
some current athletes, maybe some formerathletes. You're gonna want to see this
list. You may also find someESPN type talent being around this. But
I can't drive games, but maybeI can can just leave you with a
little bit of breadcrumbs to help youget to the right place. Man,

(04:04):
Larry Bird Gunner, Larry Bird's gonnabe there. We broke it, you
heard well, you know it.Larry Bird's gonna be on the team.
Now. You know what I think, Joey, I always thought because everybody
loves a three point contest. Obviously, everybody shoots threes in the NBA now
and in the college game, itwas a big deal. I mean,
like even the Celtics back in theday with Bird, you'd only shoot,

(04:26):
like, you know, eight ornine threes a game. Have you guys
ever thought about doing a senior's threepoint contest? I would love to see
that. I mean, well,the three point contest to me is one
of my favorite events. Obviously thisyear, one of the things we did
was put it in Lucas Oil sothat more fans can come. We launched
ten thousand, five hundred twenty fourdollars tickets brought to you by the Simon

(04:47):
family, and that sold out inthree hours. And so what are we
doing next? For about to putfour tickets on sale for All Stars Saturday
night? Because we've got the greatestthree point shooters in the world that are
gonna come out and show out onthat night. And I think you may
even see a WNBA three fourth starjoin us. So I think we're excited
about what that has nice. Yeah, I mean, when you get guys

(05:09):
out there shooting threes. Everybody lovesthe long ball. Joey, I want
to ask you personal question because whenyou have a position like you do,
how do you how do you personallygo about collecting memorabilia? Because there's got
to be a protocol. You can'twalk around with jerseys all the time in
basketballs. How do you, JoeyGraziano collect your memorabilia? I focus on

(05:31):
the fan. To me, thegreatest thing that we get an opportunity to
be is watch our fans light up, to take them into a place,
to give them insights or access tosomething they could out their y see.
So, if you ask me,the greatest memories I have are the expressions
on our fans faces. And that'swhat I collect. Man. I love
it. It fires me up everytime to be able to see our fans
get to be a part of ourgame. We know our fans are interested

(05:54):
in what our players are interested in. Our players are there fashion designers,
they're artists, they're musicians, they'rethese incredibly multi dimensional leaders. And to
be able to use this event togive our fans access into it, it's
gonna be really special. There yougo, Joey, Graziano, NBA Head
of Event Strategy and Management. Alot of people think that this jockey's like
myself and Gunner, you know,we have the greatest job in the world.

(06:15):
This sounds like the greatest job inthe world to me to go hang
around, run around with the NBAstars and just set up events all over
the place having a great time.And you've got dj Z coming as part
of the Crossover Concerts series. AndI don't know if you know, there's
a lot of people don't know this, Gunner, but I am the personal
agent of DJ Jed from Hancock County, Indiana. Oh really, yeah,

(06:38):
you can spin so yeah. Youknow, if you've never heard a Leonard
skinnerd song mixed into a Molly Hatchettsong at an NBA event, I can
hook you up with this. Thereyou go. It's gonna be big.
People are gonna love it. JoeyGraziano, Hey, I gotta ask you.
Adam Silver, good boss. He'san incredible boss. I think you

(06:58):
know. To me, the bestleaders I've ever met or take are able
to take really complex problems and simplifythem. And I've never met somebody on
earth better than Adam. And yousaw that with our leadership around the n
season tournament completely transformed our season andgreat to be a part of that.
I've been a part of I wasthe first person on the ground for the
NBA bubble. So I've had acareer here at the NBA that has seen

(07:19):
from first and it's always been ledby Adams leadership. Before we let you
go, did you grow up inNew York, Joey, where'd you grow
up? I did. I grewup in Queens, New York. I'm
the son of a New York Cityfireman. I take a lot of pride
in New York. Absolutely moving toIndie tonight and I consider India a second
home. So I'm really excited abouteverything. Well, I'll tell you what.

(07:40):
You know, we got some ofthe best memories of the Pacers,
Reggie Miller going against the Knicks andyou had Spike Lee and you know that
was the era. It was theHicks versus the Knicks, and that is
some of the best memories I've everhad. And you've probably got those as
well when you were a kid,of course. I mean I was broken,
my heart was broken from a coupleof those memories as those were the

(08:03):
greatest teams though the next back thenRashid and Detroit. I mean, that
was the best NBA of all timefor me, Yeah, it was absolutely
I mean and I certainly. Igrew up in Queen, so I grew
up a Saint John's fan. Iended up becoming a Georgetown fan. But
also thinking about ron our Test andsomebody I cared a lot about at Saint
John's and watching what he did withthe Fiacers and the incredible words of flying

(08:26):
time. You could not be afan if you love basketball. Those Pacers
teams all right, Well, thenI got to throw this out here,
Joey Graziano, NBA Head of Events, Strategy and Management. I'm a Butler
grad and I will still contend.I will still contend. One of the
greatest accomplishments outside of a championship isButler University going to the NCAA Championship Game

(08:48):
two years in a row, eventhough they didn't win. Incredible for a
small team. The Gordon Hayward.I mean that those teams were incredible.
And you know, I'm a hugefan of the Big East. Bath Ball
in val has a long history.Here is the commissioner there, but Blue
and Gray forever. I'm rocking myGeorgetown couplings right now. I was a
Georgetown baseball player. Uh, soI'm uh, we're coming back. We're

(09:11):
coming back, I can promise you. Oh you guys are Yeah, you
got yourself a good coach. Yougot Ed Cooley came down from Providence.
I love Ed Cooley. And uh, it's fun to see Thad Matta out
of a Big Ten and now inthe Big East. I mean, I
think the Big East is the bestbasketball conference on Earth. The competition,
the way which we showcase the players. There's still nothing like the Big East

(09:33):
Tournament at Madison Square Gardens. Sowe're you know, I've I've loved the
biggest basketball since I've been since I'vebeen a kid. So I now follow
it as a as a Hoya.Well, you know what, this has
been a great pleasure. Joey andyeah, you get here, you get
here to Indy. You got togo to a Butler game with me.
We'll figure out a Butler Georgetown gameat some point down the road. That

(09:54):
would be great fun. That soundsgreat. You tell me where, and
I'm with you. At want takethem over Iris too. They got good
Italian restaurants in New York. ButIria is the number one mind. I
had my first meal in an eyeeshairat Iria, same family since the nineteen
twenties. You'll love it. We'lltake you over there and we'll get you
hooked up. We got to tellthat, sir, our All Star Awards
program at three hundred and fifty currentsmall businesses where you can earn All Star

(10:18):
Awards point and that's not part ofit. Over a plate of deal and
chicken parm We may need to addthat in. Oh yeah, we got
to get that in absolutely. JoeyGranziano, the NBA head of Events,
Strategy and waste management. Oh waita minute, management, I got confused.
He's Italian. Attention to him.Joey's a stuna. Thank you,

(10:39):
Joey, and we will see youhere for the seventy third All Star Weekend
in Indianapolis, and that's gonna beFebruary sixteenth through the eighteenth. We'll talk
to you, Joey. Sounds great. I'll talk to you then,