Nicole Musselman comes from basketball royalty. Her dad, Bill Musselman, coached the Portland Trail Blazers, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. He also had nearly a dozen other stints with teams in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, and the CBA. Her brother, Eric Musselman, currently takes his shirt off and climbs into the crowd after basketball games in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He coaches the 18th-ranked Razorbacks and led the Nevada Wolf Pack to the Sweet 16 in 2018.
Nicole made Dallas her home after graduating from SMU. And she recently launched a new business that ties all these things together, starting with her dad’s insane goal to hold a team to zero points. He didn’t, but he set an NCAA record: in 1969, his Ashland College team held opponents to a season average of 33.9 points. Thanks to Nicole and her son, Henry, the niche luxury sneaker world now has a replacement for those fake-scuffed Golden Goose joints. They want you to put 33.9 on your feet.
Tim interviewed Nicole for the magazine, and they talked a lot about the shoes. When she joined us at the Old Monk to record this episode of EarBurner, the chat was more basketball and everything around it: a superfan named Crazy George Schauer, a canary-eating babysitter named Boot, some choice words she used as a kid to defend her dad to a jerk on a school bus, and how her father used pregame shows to attract fans. LeaguePass fans, you can see Bill’s influence at damn near any off-night local halftime show. After all, the Mavs really brought in a beatboxer before the All Star break.
After the jump, listen to the first new EarBurner in months. And learn how to keep your 16-year-old occupied while launching a new business that sells $295 sneakers.
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