This is from an old blog, but wanted to share it here as well.

The moment LeBron broke the NBA scoring record Tuesday night nearly everyone in the arena had their phone out to digitally capture the moment for themselves. Everyone, that is, except for Phil Knight.

The iconic Nike founder was sitting with LeBron James’ two sons underneath the rim as Lebron surpassed Kareem to become the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. He was just sitting calmly with his hands in his lap, watching the moment live. The image was captured. While the surely-to-be epochal photograph shows a quintessential LeBron fadeaway – with a sea of outstretched smartphones from the crowd – what I saw was this lone basketball fan in the front row absorbing history live, with his own eyes.

This brought me back to April 1st, 2017 - my Phil Knight story. I am a proud University of South Carolina alumnus and diehard Gamecocks fan. That year the team went on a winning streak about a month prior to March Madness, earned a bid into the tourney, and battled all the way to the Final Four in Phoenix. After upsetting Duke in the second round on the way to becoming that season’s Cinderella story, a dear college friend who now lives on the West coast (thanks Joe) insisted we make it out to the Final Four if our Gamecocks did, too. After another USC friend called with the same sentiment, the decision was made. My wife, and even my young daughters, know that being an avid Gamecock fan is hard and that this Final Four moment might never come again. And so, I was Phoenix-bound.

Fast forward to the first semifinal game, my Gamecocks vs. Gonzaga. About 20 minutes before tipoff, I’m at the urinal in a very packed restroom when I feel everyone's eyes staring right at me. I turn to my right and say to the guy next to me, "they can't be looking at me, I'm Jewish, they must be looking at you." The guy smiles, and says, "that is the funniest thing I've heard all week." I replied, "it’s more true than funny, and my new friend bursts out laughing. At the sink he continued our brief conversation by asking, “do you think your Cocks (no pun intended) have a chance?" As I replied with, "I think so, we made it this far," I notice his Oregon Ducks hat – I then realized I was speaking with the legendary Phil Knight.

Over the years I have been around and worked with many famous people, from Grammy winning musicians, F100 CEOs, to hall of fame athletes, even U.S. Presidents, and usually am never starstruck. This time was different - it was Phil f***ing Knight, the founder of Nike, perhaps the most legendary and successful sports entrepreneur of our lifetime. I still had a few minutes before the tip off, so I decided to head over to the concession stand. Sure enough, Phil and two other guys come right behind me. Phil taps me on my shoulder and says, "looks like we have a few minutes, how about some more comedy?" I never wanted a concession line to last longer! I asked him what he is doing with the "common folk,” to which he said that the best way to be in the moment and a part of the game’s momentum is to be in the thick of it with the general audience.

Had I already begun my career in venture capital (ironically I now am a GP at a Sport Tech focused growth equity fund) I would have leapt at this opportunity to pounce. Instead, I wanted to learn as much as possible about Phil Knight, from the man himself, for my own self - not from a book or a podcast. So I told the founder of Nike that we crossed paths in this moment for a reason, and that I’d love to know whatever he could teach me about business in the limited time we had standing in line together. He was awesome. As we moved to the front of the line, he told me about several of his most impactful failures and mistakes and offered advice how to dodge icebergs. As we got our food and made our way over to the condiments area, he told me he appreciated that I wasn’t shy, and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation, and that he was pulling hard for my Gamecocks, I replied, "but we’re an Under Armour school and not with Nike. Why are you pulling for us?" Always the competitor at heart, he simply said, "I have extreme confidence we can beat you in the finals, not so much the Zags." We shook hands, high five’d and took a picture.

Phil could have ignored me at various moments during our exchange. But he didn’t; in fact it was his openness and willingness to engage with “the common fan” that still stands out to me to this day. I realized then that kindness, humility and an ability to be ever present in each of life’s moments were not below Phil Knight, the business icon – but in fact were core to his very persona. I try to carry those qualities with me in all facets of my life – in the boardroom, at home, and all in-between – because life is but a series of small, seemingly insignificant moments, people and conversations strung together.

As I reflect further on the photo of LeBron and my own encounter with Phil, when I find myself drifting or taking for granted the amazing sights in front of me, I always remind myself of Phil choosing to be in the moment even if it was a little less comfortable.

Thank you, Phil, for all you’ve done for sports, and for how you continue to live life – always in the moment.

Both of our teams lost and did not make the championship game.