-Dallas, TX (March 1, 2012)

In short, this is kind of how I imagined my time in the Shark Tank with Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Forbes current resident of spot #546 on the list of the World’s Billionaires, going in the weeks leading up to our lunch meeting.

“Kenny, I absolutely LOVE what you’re doing at mevsMJ.com!  After lunch, let’s go shoot some hoops, and while we’re on our way to the American Airlines Center, I’ll call Michael (as in Michael Jordan) and get something set up so you guys can play!  In the meantime, tomorrow you can play Dirk and maybe JT (Jason Terry)!”

In between all of that, there would have been great food and friendly banter.  We would exchange contact information and in the end, I would have the unwavering support of one of the most influential individuals on this green and blue marble we call home.

Overly optimistic?  Perhaps.

But if I were writing this story, my time with Mark Cuban would have been the chapter where the dream of playing hoops with Michael Jordan became a reality.  The time where it was proven that with faith and hard work, all things are possible!

This journey of mine to play basketball with MJ however, is no Hollywood creation.  My meeting with Mr. Cuban didn’t include an underlying section of inspirational music placed there to make your eyes leak.

Instead, it was 100% real.

It was uncensored, eye opening, thought challenging, inspiring and so much more than I ever expected.

Here are a few of the stories from our time together.

*I will in no way fully capture the moments that I do share, but honestly that’s on purpose, so I apologize ahead of time.  Unexpectedly, a lot of what happened was so personal, that I’m just not willing to share.  Still, I feel it’s important to offer some sort of update to all those that support me.  I appreciate you all!

“Oh yeah, I know about your site!”

After some initial greetings and conversation, I began telling Mark about this journey of mine to play Michael Jordan.

Within moments, he responded, “Oh yeah, I know about your site!  You’ve played the guy that played in Brazil, the 6’4″ guy at VT, the tall high school kid…”

To which I interjected, in an almost shocked tone, “Yeah!”

We spoke more in depth about my journey, why it began, where I currently am in the process and there was no doubt that Mark Cuban had a firm grasp on what I was looking to accomplish.

I was amazed that he, himself, had been to the site and knew so much about it!

He even shared that he had attended the Senior Flight School (the Jordan camp I was going to attend before it was canceled last year) twice himself!

Challenge, Resistance & a Solution

Mark then went on to challenge nearly every aspect of this journey, offering more resistance to the idea than I could have ever imagined.

For what seemed like an eternity, he spoke with brutal honesty on every reason that he felt my game with MJ wouldn’t happen.

I pressed back, offering my own rebuttals to each issue, but his mind had been made up.

Then he offered a solution for me to get the game with Jordan.  He broke it down, detailing exactly what he would do and while I won’t share at this time what that discussion entailed, I will say, it made a lot of sense!

A First Bump and a Nice Video!

Weeks prior to my get together with Mark, I had been working on two pieces for our lunch meeting.

Keep in mind, I had no idea exactly how much time he would have, so I had a marketing piece and video created, just in case our meeting was cut short.

The marketing piece was the mastermind of my buddy, who runs a marketing company here in Orlando.  The idea was to take Mark down memory lane, from the very beginning to several key points in his life.  This was to be achieved through the use of a custom folder with a cutout section in the front.  Behind the front cover was a wheel, which had a picture and a word associated with each photo.  As the wheel was turned, the picture would capture something pivotal in Mark’s life and the word would then sum it up.  The final picture was a QR code linking back to a special video and message on my site exclusively for Mark, with the words “My Dream”.

After reading through Mark’s book several times, I made the selections on what I wanted to cover (powdered milk, fluffy towels, American Airlines, Bobby Knight (Indiana Basketball), and him holding the NBA Championship trophy) and the piece was put together.

Mark loved it!  A huge smile came over his face as he made each turn of the wheel, stopping after just the second turn to give me a fist bump and say, “Thank you so much for this, it’s great!”

As he worked his way through the piece we spoke briefly on each section, until he got to the QR code, which prompted him to say with a big smile, “Oh, nice!  Very smart!  You’ve got my interest piqued, so now I have to scan the code and check it out.  I like it!”

I then asked him, if he had another minute to watch the video I had produced.

He said, “Sure, absolutely!” and I handed him my iPad with the video shown below cued up.

httpvh://youtu.be/gZnpgqrKNWo

[Video Link]

While I’m currently working with another friend on a video series for this site (more on this soon), I wanted to debut the first one in the series exclusively to Mark.

The idea came to me one afternoon and I recorded the audio on my iPhone and sent it over to my buddy.  He then took it from there and put together what you see above, which I’m so proud of!

“Nice video!  Man I was waiting to see you play some!  Who did this for you??” came from what I took as a somewhat impressed Mr. Cuban.

Nice Stroke!  (+ some coaching from an NBA owner)

I then pulled up the video of me going 22 of 24 from 3pt land on my cell phone and handed that over to Mark.

He watched over three and a half minutes of the nearly four minute video, saying within moments, “You’ve got a nice stroke!”

He then identified what he perceived as a weakness (can’t tell you what that is, because MJ is probably reading this, haha), which had never been pointed out to me before.

I sat there thinking, this is crazy!  I have Mark Cuban watching me play hoops and critiquing my play!  The thing is, he was absolutely correct and I’ve already begun working on correcting the issue!  So surreal!

“As well as it could have without me setting up the game with Michael.”

With the lunch winding down, Mark said something to the effect of, “Well, I hope you’ve gotten what you wanted out of the time.”

With a smile, I said, “Well, yeah…”

To which he responded, “Let me guess, it’s gone as well as it could have without me setting up the game with Michael.”

I laughed and said, “Exactly!”

An Email from Mark and Tickets to the Game!

After finding out that we’d (myself and my buddy Karol) be in town through the weekend, Mark said he’d hook us up with tickets for Saturday night’s game!

I responded with, “Really?  That’s awesome!”

He confirmed, “Sure, not a problem.  Just email me!”

A bit baffled, I questioned, “Just email you?”

He said, “Yeah, just email me.”

Later that night, hours after the lunch had come to a close, I sent him a quick email thanking him again for his time and for the tickets.

Within five minutes, he responded back, confirming the tickets and closed his email with something that made me laugh.

He said, “Enjoy the game guys, and No asking any of the players to play 1-on-1!”

This is what I saw when I showed my ID at will call.

(The seats were floor seats!)

An Over 2 Hour Lunch with Mark Cuban

In the over two hours that Karol and I spent with Mark, we discussed everything from hoops to dancing with the stars and everything else in between.

I challenged him to a push-up contest, shooting contest, we invited ourselves on his upcoming trips, asked if he wanted to play some hoops and of course asked if he would call or put in a good word for me with MJ.

He took it all in stride.

While we were unsure of how much time we would have with Mr. Cuban (the charity had said up to 75 minutes), we were both blown away at his unrushed willingness to hang out and talk about any and everything.

Once we realized how long he had been with us (over two hours), we both thanked him for spending so much of his time with us, to which he responded, “Not a problem.  I like you guys.  If I didn’t, I would have been out of here in 10 minutes!”

After lunch, he walked us out to our car, took a picture and was on his way.

As he walked away, I yelled out, “Don’t forget to scan that QR code!”

To which he quipped, “Uh, huh!”

Great times for sure!

The Journey Continues!

So there was no call to MJ.  No game has been set up.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Mark Cuban, including his challenging of what I’m looking to accomplish.

The great thing with being challenged is that it strips away everything and leaves you with the pureness of what the journey is all about.

I’m proud of how I handled myself and while I can’t read Mr. Cuban’s mind, I feel he was impressed as well.

I put forth effort in preparation, just as I have on this journey, and did all I could do to make the most of the opportunity.  I think he knows that.

I learned, was inspired, and truly had a great time.

Hopefully he did as well.  (Yes, Mr. Cuban, we can hang at the end of the month when the Mavs play in Orlando. ;-))

I WILL play Michael Jordan!

This past Tuesday I was back to training, back to making new connections, still hopeful that someone will be willing to help me prove that ALL things are possible with Faith and Hard Work.

I will play MJ.  I’m determined to succeed.

I must admit the depth of this journey has far exceeded my expectations.

Mark Cuban last week…what is coming next?  Only time will tell!

me vs MJ…the journey continues!  As always, thank you for following along!

PS:  Mark, I look forward to seeing you at the game WHEN I play MJ (even if I have to make what we discussed happen, haha)! – Thank you again! – Yes, I know you’re reading this!

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Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

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If you’re new to the site, I set out in August 2010 to get a game of 1-on-1 vs. my childhood hero Michael Jordan.  This site is about that journey…through every valley, to every mountain top of triumph!

IT’S OFFICIAL!

On March 1st, at 11am in Dallas, Texas, I will sit down and have lunch with Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks!

The How

If you’ve been following along on this journey of mine to play Michael Jordan since day one, you know that Twitter has been good to me!  From Jeff Jordan to Tracy McGrady, Damon Jones to Coach B Meyer, I’ve made numerous basketball connections through the 140 character social media platform.

I can now add Mark Cuban to that list!

I currently follow 158 people on Twitter, with one of those being billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban (@MCuban).  Just over two months ago, on the afternoon of November 3rd, I opened Twitter on my phone and saw this retweet by Cuban himself.

At first I didn’t really think much of it, figuring the odds of “winning” a lunch with someone like Mark Cuban would be highly unlikely.  So I skimmed through the rest of my Twitter feed and went on with what I was doing…for a moment.

Then curiosity got the best of me.

I went back to the tweet a few minutes later, clicked the link and read that the lunch would go to the highest bidder of an auction taking place on eBay, with proceeds going to charity.

Again, my initial thought was, this will most likely quickly get out of my “giving” range, but the optimist in me, read on.

As I read through the details, the actual prize was a lunch for two with Mark Cuban.

I immediately thought, who could maximize my giving potential?  Who loves hoops and or Mark Cuban as much as I do and is as crazy as I am to go for it?!?!

A minute later, I sent an email to my buddy Karol and just moments after that, he was in!

Do You Really Want To Do This?

A day or two before the auction was due to come to a close on November 11th; I was out for a run when I received a message from Karol asking if I still really wanted to bid on the lunch.  He said he was definitely in, but would leave it up to me.

It was gut check time.

I had then just recently returned from Las Vegas, and Impact Basketball’s Competitive League and while I loved the idea of having lunch with Mark Cuban, I wasn’t sure it made the most sense financially to make an unplanned charitable contribution at that time.

I continued on and finished my run, thinking about what I should do the majority of the way.  I got home, took a shower, while still thinking of all that could be and could come from such a meeting.

Then with just under 24 hours of opportunity remaining, the dreamer in me, said, YES, WE’VE GOT TO GO FOR IT!

On November 11th, thanks to some great bidding by Karol, we won by just an $11 margin, with a final bid in the closing seconds!!

The Million Dollar Pitch

This may come as a shock to most reading this, but I don’t plan on pitching any “money making” ideas to Mr. Cuban.

I know, I know, most people would kill for an opportunity to share their ideas with someone like Mark Cuban, because he has the ability to make dreams come true.

All I want to do though, is get to know him a little, talk hoops, tell him about mevsMJ.com and my journey to play Michael Jordan and ask him one major question/favor.

I plan on asking Mark:  Will you call Michael Jordan and ask him to play me?

That’s it!

In a Position to Succeed!

I can’t control how the upcoming lunch will go.  While I am hopeful that Mark Cuban falls in love with what I’m doing here at mevsMJ.com and wants to make it a priority of his to make my dream a reality, I just don’t control that.

I leave that in HIS hands.

All I can do is work hard and do my best to continue to place myself in positions in which I can succeed.

That’s all any of us can do.

Hoops Instead of Lunch?

Through email we’ve actually asked to shoot hoops with Mr. Cuban as opposed to lunch, but have yet to hear back on that just yet, haha!  If that happens, you know he may just sign me after seeing me shoot the ball!!

Anyway, as the trip gets closer and more details come my way, I’ll be sure to pass them on!

I’m just happy now that it’s confirmed, to finally be able to share with everyone something I’ve known for two months!

me vs. MJ…the amazing journey continues!  As always, thank you for following along and for your continued support!

Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

Congrats to the Mavs and their first Championship!  Well deserved!  Superbly played!

So many were beyond excited by the outcome of Sunday’s game and many weren’t even Dallas Mavericks fans.

No doubt the Mavericks bandwagon was filled beyond capacity here in the NBA Finals.  When there was no more room, not even one inch of space, people were still clawing and scratching just to get on board.  I have no issue with that whatsoever, as bandwagon jumping is a part of sports.

What I have an issue with is the WHY.

Typically teams attract “so called” fans late in the year based upon their play.  They pick up the sports fans who want to have a dog in the fight, as well as, some people who don’t even watch sports, but fall in the love with the drama that makes athletic competition at the highest level so fantastic.

All of that is cool.

What isn’t cool or acceptable is when HATE for another is the sole reason for which cheers and support are cast and given to the other team.

The Mavs had a lot of people in the “I HATE LEBRON JAMES, SO I WANT DALLAS TO WIN” category this year and that’s sad.

This series unfortunately became more about LeBron losing than Dallas winning.  More people were excited that LeBron didn’t play well than they were that Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and JJ Barea played SO WELL.

Facebook and Twitter were ablaze with Mavs support from many that could tell you very little at all about the game of basketball, yet they all had one thing in common:  They HATE the Miami Heat and more importantly they HATE LeBron James.

When did rooting for someone to fail become acceptable?

When James did the decision?  When the Heat held the preseason celebration?

I would bet almost every one of us has left an employer for what we thought was a better opportunity.  We didn’t do “the decision” of course, but then again we don’t have the voice.

You know, I can’t recall one letter of hate mail or even one negative comment thrown my way when I went from one bank to another over eight years ago.

The preseason celebration, not the best idea, but it is what it is.  The city of Miami and the fans were ecstatic!  They held a celebration because the city, players and organization were excited!

Shame on them I guess.

We don’t do such things of course, unless you count tweeting and facebooking (including pictures) every single great thing that happens in our lives.  We don’t hold an official “celebration” because again we don’t have the voice, but if we did, well just look at your “facebook wall” and tell me what you think would happen.

FACT:  LeBron James is not perfect.

But guess what, neither are we.

I know if I had to endure what James is going through, the good days and for most of this past year, the bad.  If I was followed around with cameras and asked tough questions over and over again.  If every little thing I did or didn’t do was judged by the masses, it would be tough, and I would MAKE MISTAKES.

Honestly, I make mistakes all of the time.

TRUTH:  We ALL make mistakes.

Matthew 7:5 of the Good Word says,  “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

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Sunday night, amongst family and friends, I was rooting for LeBron James like never before.  I was rooting for the 26 year old young man with the weight and hate of the majority on his shoulders.  I wanted to see him smile, because I haven’t in quite some time.  I wanted him to feel joy, but more importantly I didn’t want him to feel anymore hate.

Enough is enough.

LeBron James has shown he isn’t perfect.

Unfortunately, we have also shown how equally imperfect we are as a society.

It’s time for us all to grow up.

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me vs. MJ aka Michael Jordan Update:

MJ has yet to agree to play me 1-on-1 (if anyone reading this knows Mr. Jordan, please tell him I’m looking for ’em…haha), but I’m still working hard and getting better every day.  I’m really hoping that all of the work translates to the court when I play my next opponent, professional hoopster, Andy Gebru later this week.

Pray for me! I may need every single one of your prayers!

me vs. MJ…the journey continues!  As always, thank you for following along!