48 Minutes with hoop savant and author Amar Shah

0:00 ... Opening animation and welcome to Amar Shah ... a basketball savant, former colleague at ESPN, and longtime "brother and friend."

0:56 ... Amar's family immigrated from India and settled in Deland, Florida in the 1980s. His story really begins at the Phillips 66 gas station his father bought.

2:52 ... Amar first reached the national scene in 2018 when he wrote an Op Ed piece for the Washington Post where he wrote about his father, whom he compared to Apu from "The Simpsons." Amar explains why he wrote the piece. The story had more than 10 million engagements and resonated around the country and even the world.

6:18 ... As a 14 year old high school kid, Amar had an incredible opportunity to cross paths with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, which was his first encounter with an NBA icon. Amar shares the story of a "confrontation" with Bulls coach Phil Jackson. That encounter lit the journalistic fire in the skinny adolescent that has burned brightly for more than three decades.

11:25 ... Jackson was always fond of sending books to his players so Bruce asks Amar if he would send his books (he's published four) to the coach?

12:22 ... After the notoriety he received from his encounter with the Bulls, it helped "Teenaged Amar" to begin an incredible relationship with Shaquille O'Neal which eventually landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids with Shaq. This story is mind boggling on so many levels.

20:15 ... As a 16 year old, Amar also had an interview with Kobe Bryant and as is usually the case with Amar, there is a great story involved.

24:26 ... Bruce asks about Amar's newest book "I Wish I Was a Baller." The book is targeted towards middle school-aged kids and Amar discusses the lessons he hoped to share with his readers. He also explains how the book evolved from its original form into a graphic novel and the process involved.

29:52 ... Amar was a production assistant at ESPN back in 2004 when Bruce first met him. The advice Bruce gave Amar and others was to be "aggressive but patient." Amar explains how he cracked that code.

32:04 ... The ESPN experience for production assistants was incredibly demanding. Amar compares it to a "Hunger Games" type of environment and how it prepared him for everything that followed in his career.

33:57 ... Amar has succeeded in creating content on many different platforms, and he shares one of his most cherished future goals.

35:09 ... His film "The Patel Motel Story" was the story of how immigrants from the Gujarat area of India came to dominate the motel industry. Amar explains the history of how this happened.

37:30 ... Much of Amar's work celebrates how Indian immigrants grabbed onto the American dream and he shares his thoughts on the pride he has in telling these distinctive stories.

38:46 ... Amar's storylines about coming of age as a teenager have resonated and he explains what a privilege it has been to have the opportunity to inspire his readers.

42:30 ... Bruce wonders if it was easier or harder to write about his own stories in "I Wish I Was a Baller" than it was to write his "Play The Game" books. All of them are "personal," but in different ways.

44:17 ... As for fan mail from the kids who read the books, Amar describes how parents have shared stories with him about how their kids consumed them.

44:58 ... Amar explains how all of his experiences on different platforms have helped him in the way he tells stories in his books.

46:18 ... After all of his accomplishments so far, what goals does Amar have for the future?

47:59 ... Amar lets everyone know how to reach him and order his books.

48:59 ... Bruce and Amar say goodbye ....

TRT 49:20

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