Club Shay Shay - Hawks AF - Hawks CEO Steve Koonin on touring the aquarium with Beyoncé, team's future, & ATL's best

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Koonin joins DC at State Farm Arena to talk the team's young core of players, that time he guided Beyoncé on a private tour of the Georgia Aquarium, his favorite places in the city, and how he strives to make an impact on the community in his role as CEO.0:00 Intro2:20 Zacch, Dyson, and Jalen3:42 An epic Beyoncé story5:50 Celebrities coming to Hawks games7:05 ATL traffic8:19 Fav place to eat in ATL9:50 Chocolate Chip Cookies10:20 Serving the ATL community12:05 We goin' to the Blue Flame @ ClubShayShay @ Nightcapshow_ #ClubSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart podcast. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of 2B. We dive into the competitive world of streaming. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core? There's so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen.

Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the fall of 1986, Ronald Reagan found himself at the center of a massive scandal that looked like it might bring down his presidency. It became known as the Iran-Contra affair. The things that happened were so bizarre and insane, I can't begin to tell you. Please do. To hear the whole story, listen to Fiasco, Iran Contra on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I know the people at home like, is he the president of the United States? I wish. I wish. As a matter of fact, I think he's going to run United States? I wish. I wish. And matter of fact, I think he gonna run in the next three years. Today's guest is an OG. An OG from Atlanta, born and raised, UGA graduate. He worked for Coke.

He worked for Turner. He's the chairman of the aquarium. He's the CEO of our very own Atlanta Hawks. Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for Steve Cooney! Come on y'all! That was an amazing introduction. Just a reminder, it's an empty building behind us. That's what I'm trying to tell you, but we got a little crowd in here Steve. Okay. As the CEO man, like what is the number one job for you when you enter this arena, this establishment? Because I done saw you a couple times Steve. You be chillin' Steve.

Oh yeah. You be acting like you ain't who you is. You know, I just see everybody move out the way, you just sit down. But what's your number one go-to when you come in here? Like what's on your mind? I want people to have the best experience that night and it starts at the Hawks game. I wanna excite Atlanta, entertain Atlanta,

and we want people to come here and it demonstrates Atlanta, which is all of us who are different come together and celebrate one thing, and that's a Hawks victory. Now, I want to know, because everybody have probably not been through this, what's a player that we got rid of that you wish we wouldn't have? I'm gonna try to go back so it's not under any administration.

Come on, Steve! You know, it's interesting. I'm not sure there have been a lot of All-Stars developed on other teams that have come from our roster. I'm not, you know, I don't have that, you know, Kevin Willis was with us for a long time and ended up playing 22 years and Kevin's been a great friend of the organization.

But in contemporary times, you know, you don't look back. You make the moves and you keep going. So at this state, what do you think is needed for the Hawks? Well, I think you see Reese Shea. He's had a fabulous rotation. He's doing his thing. You know, he's 19 years old. Yeah, he's a kid.

19 years old. He's a kid. Then you got Dyson Daniels, who's in the conversation for comeback player of the year. Talk. Defensive player of the year. Talk. He's 22 years old.

Mm-hmm. And then Jalen, just 22 years old. Mm hmm. And then Jalen just 23 years old. Mm hmm. So, you have three players that are definitely on the rise. Mm hmm. Now, but you know, we we we like to do a little digging and we end up doing some some some digging Steve. You are an investigator. We all submit. We do do some investigation. Uh who is Stephen Kay? Oh, I'm a grandpa now. Fun as hell. They're at three kids under four years old. Yeah, four, three and three from my two kids. I am hopefully one of the biggest cheerleaders for Atlanta.

Right. I am somebody who wants to give back to the city that's given me so much, and that's the aquarium and Metro Chamber and other things I'm involved in. And I love my friends and I like to have fun and I am a monster sports fan. But see Steve, like I said, you keep down playing your role, man. We been, we gonna keep digging. We gonna keep going in the past. Now, like you say, you keep down playing your role, man. We been, we gonna keep digging.

We gonna keep going in the past. Now, like you say, you over there at the aquarium. Now, only somebody with this type of status can pull moves like the move I'm about to say. Now you got Jay-Z and Beyonce. They don't even know they wanna come down here, but you know what? I just wanna go see some fish.

I toured her last summer at the aquarium. Nobody there. Nobody there. It's her and her family, and possibly the largest human being I've ever seen. It's her bodyguard. Right. And she was lovely. We spent three hours. Her kids had free reign of the place. Right.

We did very well in the gift shop that night. Right. kids had free reign of the place. We did very well in the gift shop that night. No discounts, they don't need it. And what the aquarium symbolizes to me is the resurgence of downtown. So I've been, you talked about where I've worked. I've worked within a mile of this arena my entire career, between Coke, Turner, CNN Center,

and now where we are at State Farm Arena and The aquarium started to lift downtown now. There's restaurants on Marietta Street now. There's multiple hotels now We've started centennial yards across the street from here who have two towers that have come out of the ground and a lot more Coming in fact, you know, there's gonna be a great concert venue there that I know you can fill this place but on your off nights you go fill that place yes sir work on new material and put some dough in your pocket yes sir and mine you talk you talking that talk I know now cuz everybody contributes to the community in a different way and to hear you contribute into all of these you know these monumental things that we have that's for our city.

Explain to the people the process of saying, okay, this is what I've done this for. This is what I came back to contribute for, for moments like Jay-Z and Beyonce. They're coming here and having experience. He didn't wanna go see the fish, she did. Who? She did. Jay-Z stayed in the hotel.

He stayed in the hotel. All right, well Beyonce did. She did. Oh, she did She was here so so and her mom so explain to the people like this is the reason why like you came back to Contribute for these type of moments for people to have about our city Yeah, I mean I want to show this city off to anybody and everybody, you know Will Ferrell's coming here to shoot a movie in a couple of weeks. Mm-hmm We reached out and said love to have you at a game.

In fact, he's pretty good Hooper. He definitely will. Come on now. You know, we need somebody to back up. Try anyway. Here you go. You're thinking the same way. I say you want somebody young, so I don't think we'll.

Well, but I didn't go as far as having them on our active roster for the play. Okay. He can't go to the sky hall now. Man, their season's over. I was thinking if you know putting together some you know practices over at the practice facility right or having Will come to a game and you know. You know him at Adam Sandlick in ball too. That's true. Right. It's true but you have a celebrity game

Steve. That's kind of what I'm thinking. You know I got to be the coach now. You work with us now. You're gonna be a captain. You're not gonna be a coach. Captain. You're talking about on the team, Steve. You're gonna be on the fantasy team I'm making up as we talk. Is this recorded? Because I don't need nobody to go back on their word. There's nothing in these cameras, sorry. Oh my goodness, Steve. Hold up before we gotta go because I don't want to hold you up too much time. No, take your time. We got some real on the go questions right now. And we want to know your input. Worst traffic in Atlanta? I'm sorry, I didn't understand the question.

Worst traffic in Atlanta? I'm sorry, I didn't understand the question. Well, what we hear- There's bad traffic in Atlanta? Yeah. Well, that's because everybody wants to be here. Why? Because we the best? I told you I'm the cheerleader for Atlanta.

I'm not going to take the bait on this shit. Come on. I see where you're going, Steve. That's my traffic. Hey, Steve, I've been interrogated before. It's Narnia in Atlanta. Right. And the traffic in Narnia sucks. OK, here we go. Because a lot of people don't know the back road.

You know, I'm from the West Side, Steve. I know the back road. I can take you to a couple of back roads. Can you get I'm from the West side, Steve. I know the back road. I can take you to a couple back roads. Can you get from here to the airport without getting on the highway? Yeah. OK. I'm going straight up Haightville.

Right, to Stewart Avenue. Right. Yeah. Steve, what you know about Stewart Avenue? Hey, Steve, we got to go to Blue Flame after this, Steve. That be interesting. Now, do you know about Blue Flame? I'm going to pretend I don't.

Is that? Oh, my boy, Steve. Is that something the gas company puts on? Georgia Natural Gas gas? No, what do you get hot in else? Yeah, see what you're going. I see where you're going and I'm running the other way My first day. Okay, here we go. Okay favorite place to eat. Oh That's tough cuz I go to a lot of places to eat but I Love what Geo does. Oh, but I love what Gio does. What does he say?

That's on the corner. Antico pizza, Gio's chicken, right at the end of the street. Gio's right by the cross street from the gas station. Exactly. Right, you can eat outside. Yeah. They got the lemon pepper chicken. Yeah.

Yes sir, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, that good taste. Yes sir, that boy in the streets. That boy Steve in these streets. Here we go. How do I get into the owner's lounge though Steve? Ask. I don't know why I just ain't,

I've been asking the wrong people. Yeah you have. Love to have you. So basically I just need to say go get Steve. Yeah. Say no more. Or send me a text and say I'm gonna be there tonight and I'll say okay I'll meet you in there.

Just don't walk past me Steve cause they gonna make me look bad. No I will come get you. My teeth, say no. I know where you sit there. J don't walk past me, Steve, cause they gonna make me look bad. No, I will come get you. My, see, say no. I know where you sit. You used to sit next to me, then you moved, you dumped me. Did I not just say all that? I said, I used to sit next to Steve, Steve,

just telling. We need to upgrade. I gotta get closer. So I get away from him. No, I love you, Steve, but I gotta get closer so they can hear me. I'm sorry, we were on the third row. We was on the third. And I can't hear you you and you were funny as hell

But it's I feel like y'all put like a blockage for the players or y'all trained them tonight Talk to us. It's a basketball game. Not a comedy show. The show comes after the game No, but they got a feel we threw some seven-year-olds out for screaming Trey Trey Trey Trey Yeah when they were in the huddle, yeah, they can't keep doing that. No, seven-year-olds gotta behave. I understand that. Can't come here and cause trouble. So check this out, because I'm a fair favor to these. Have you tried the chocolate chip cookies?

You the CEO. Oh, yeah. Them chocolate chip cookies. They are my death. They are. I eat a corner of one. If you're a diabetic, do not sit down now. No, we got good cookies.

And in the owner's lounge, they're even better. They're even better? They're even better. Homemade here. All I gotta do is ask. Just ask me. What? I'm not asking nobody else but Steve.

Okay, here we go. Best thing about being a CEO of the Atlanta Hawks. Is that I can help bring the community together. We can support things. The mayor has a midnight basketball program for young people. They believe in the fact show that it helps kids get off the street. Conflict resolution. Boom.

One phone call. Yes, Mr. Mayor. We're going to support that and we're there. When COVID hit, we took our 28 courts that were in Atlanta, and we turned them into pop-up grocery stores and fed many communities. And when we got great feedback for feeding communities, but we heard the seniors couldn't wait in line to go get their food, we pivoted to a home delivery service. We did something we called healthcare heroes. After you work the shift during the first weeks of COVID, you work 14, 16

hours a day, the last thing you have time to do is go grocery shopping and make food at home. And a lot of frontline workers were actually being booed in grocery stores. People were scared. They didn't know what was on them because they were in hospitals, but we Assembled a bunch of restaurants here turned them into commissaries and provided the meals to take home to feed their families So sports are the thing that brings people together brings you and I together most likely I wouldn't know you Except in the TV business because I think you're wildly talented and want to put you in ten shows Yeah, I know, can't go back. But we're in a position where we can do a lot of different things that make this city better.

Yes, sir. And writing checks and giving money to charity, super important, but doing things is the essence of what we do. Yes, sir. And that's what I'm the most proud of. Well, OG man, I wish we could talk all day, man, because at this point, I feel like we best to pass.

Because all I'm going to do is ask for Steve. I'm not talking to nobody else in this building. We will change phone numbers. And I see on my screen, DC Fly. And I'm pulling up. Tell them to pull a couple of cookies and put them. Put a couple of cookies in there them, put a couple of cookies. Yeah, what you saying? I'll give you my share. You said I need to eat. I'm saying you need good

cookies. I do need some good cookies Steve and then after that, when you look out for me, I'm gonna look out for you once we lead the game, we're going to the flame. Oh. Yeah, number one. And guess what? I'm Steve Kuhn in it now. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I wish you well. Yeah. That's what I'm trying to tell you, but look, from the city, man. Is that what AF stands for after flame? See? My boy Steve, hey, you see him.

After, Hawks after, come on, man. Cause that's a permission slip for my family. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Steve, I don't want this to be your last time pulling up on me, man. Why would it? We here. We're here.

This city appreciates you, man. We got your support. And we support you and appreciate what you do for our city. You're playing this building soon. That's all we wanna do. We just wanna keep bridging the gap and building up the community. Absolutely.

That's what we doing, man. Hey, America, ladies, gentlemen, none other than the CEO, man, Steve Cooney. We're going to the flame. Come on, Steve. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of Free Seaventures and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of 2B.

We dive into the competitive world of streaming. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. There's so many stories out there, and if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In the fall of 1986, Ronald Reagan found himself at the center of a massive scandal that looked like it might bring down his presidency.

He became known as the Iran-Contra affair. The things that happened were so bizarre and insane, I can't begin to tell you. Please do.