Episode 34: The NBA in WCW with author Pete Croatto

Not About Wrestling

On this week’s show, we take a deep dive into the year 1998 to discuss Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman’s involvement in Bash at the Beach ’98.

At the time, Malone and Rodman were arguably two of the biggest stars in the NBA and were slugging it out on the court in the most-watched NBA Finals to date.

WCW was in a clash of its own, fighting with the WWE for eyeballs every Monday night.

The NBA and WCW working together is not a surprise - especially given the connection with Turner Sports - but the idea that two marquee stars would step foot in a wrestling ring and risk potential injury.

We’re joined by author Peter Croatto. Croatto, the author of From Hang Time To Primetime, is the perfect third man in the booth. His book discusses the rise of the NBA from a sport to a billion-dollar global entertainment (and sports) business.

In this episode, we talk about polar opposites that are Malone and Rodman, the strings pulled to get these two players involved with WCW, Rodman skipping practice DURING THE NBA PLAYOFFS to go do a promo on Nitro, the incident between Malone and Rodman on the court that led to impressive pay-per-view buys for the wrestling company and why something like this will never, ever happen again.

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