Various athletes gathered in Michael Jordan’s “The Steakhouse NYC” on a rainy Tuesday morning to promote a new form of collectibles released by Steiner Sports – leading producer of authentic hand-signed collectibles – called “In their Own Words™”.
When it comes to sports collectibles, we typically think of autographed memorabilia. Brandon Steiner, the C.E.O. of Steiner Sports, went further with the idea by having notable athletes describe an iconic moment in their careers – captured in photo – in their own words, hand-written and signed. “Game-changer in sports memorabilia”, as he calls it. Here are some examples of what these babies look like:
Pretty stunning, they are.
“Collecting is all about having a piece to recall your fondest memories,” says Steiner. “’In Their Own Words’ will change the business. It used to be about the moment, now it’s about the entire story. The players will describe in their own words how they felt at that magical moment.”
To help promote these items, NBA legends Magic Johnson and Dennis Rodman were at the scene to discuss some of their memorable moments at the height of their careers. Johnson recalled the All-Star game after he was tested positive for HIV and how Rodman’s approach in that game against him helped the world understand his condition a little better.
“Dennis and I, we played a big part in it: When I came back and played in that All-Star game and Dennis really was all over me and was physical, he actually, both Commissioner Stern, Dennis, myself and the other guys that played in that game helped the world understand that it was okay to play against me. Nothing was going to happen. I think that single game changed the mindset of the world when you’re dealing with HIV, so I want to thank Dennis again as I told him in that game because he came out, was the same Dennis, played physical against me, and I think we went and changed the world with that. That was one of my greatest moment, in terms of [dealing with] a challenge.”
Rodman also chimed in on the particular story.
“I just wanted to play basketball so much. Even though I didn’t have any knowledge about HIV or AIDS – I knew it was a deadly disease – but I didn’t care because I wanted to play so bad and play against Magic Johnson. I just said you know what? I don’t care what’s going on, man. I still love you, brother. I’m gonna play against you no matter what, brother… We are a family organization, it’s a family atmosphere and Magic has taught me a lot.”
