PLAYMAKERS: A CONVERSATION WITH BOB IGER & CHRIS PAUL
AHMAD RASHAD: Okay, welcome back. How was your break, Bill?
BILL MURRAY: My break was eventful. I was told repeatedly and sternly that I would be remiss if I did not reintroduce the subject of the highlight reel of avatar Ahmad. Could we bring up the highlight reel of avatar Ahmad, please, one more time, please. Yeah, guy in purple, moving so slow.
AHMAD RASHAD: That's pretty good, isn't it? You see that, Chris? You see that? Huh? I do need a ten day. That's what I'm doing.
BILL MURRAY: Okay, just know that all of you can do that on the app when it's available. We don't have to watch this too many more times today, this week, or this year. I hope.
But there's only one man that can follow that remarkable replay. He's a man who's made moves as an entrepreneur and investor. Does a lot of work around his community. But he's best known as being the star of the Phoenix Suns, Mr. Chris Paul
(Applause.)
AHMAD RASHAD: And Chris will be joined by one of the most important CEOs in the world. But for me, Bob Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, are family. Bob and I go back 40 years, which is amazing, since I'm only 39. So I can't quite figure how that works. But Bob Iger is our next guest too.
(Applause.)
BILL MURRAY: And the guy who's going to make it all possible, the facilitator, if you will, he's come to us all the way from New York, from the tri-state area, from CNBC and "Squawk Box," everybody give it up for Andrew Ross Sorkin, please. He's hyphenated. The guy is hyphenated. Come on.
(Applause.)
AHMAD RASHAD: Take it away, take it away.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Thanks, guys. What a privilege it is to be with two guys who need no introduction, so I'm not going to even try. But you might be sitting there saying to yourself what is it that we're doing here all together? This is like a little bit of like The Odd Couple situation.
And I think we should just start and level set with the room, which is you guys have a very special relationship that I think most people probably don't even know too much about. So I thought, before we get into everything else we're going to talk about this morning, I want to just start with how do you even know each other.
BOB IGER: You take this one.
CHRIS PAUL: Sure. Sure. So 2011 I got traded from New Orleans to the Clippers, and I was in L.A. -- and I'm from the East Coast, so anybody in here been to Disney World? Yeah, I've been.
BOB IGER: I've been.
CHRIS PAUL: Of course you've been. But I used to go to Disneyworld all the time as a kid. So I had children on the West Coast, and I wanted to go to Disneyland. I'd never been. Lady for the Clippers, Alice Shing, put me on email with some dude named Bob Iger. And he set my family up to go to Disneyland. And we had a great experience. It wasn't bad. Good job, first of all.
BOB IGER: Thank you. Did I charge you? Did you pay or not?
CHRIS PAUL: You probably did, knowing you. But, no, we had the best time. And afterwards, through email, Bob asked about going to breakfast one day. And we went to the Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills Hotel, one of those hotels. And we had breakfast.
And I remember, when we finished breakfast, he was like, "Have a good day, I got an earnings call." I didn't know what that was. I said, "Have a good day." You know?
And I remember afterwards I went over to CAA, I went over to Howie and Steven, and I told them that I just went to breakfast with a guy named Bob Iger, and they started trippin'. And I was like, "Why? Who is he?" You know? And they sort of told me a lot about him.
And then the relationship just sort of grew. And we would talk, and the rest is history. I would get out of practice when I played for the Clippers and drive over to Disney and sit in his office and just watch him work.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: You guys talk how many times a week now?
CHRIS PAUL: A lot.
BOB IGER: It depends.
CHRIS PAUL: What he got going on.
BOB IGER: We talk every week.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: About?
BOB IGER: Everything. Everything. We share a lot, we -- I know, you said it, it's hard to understand where the connection might be, but I think Chris didn't really fill in enough blanks about how we met because what he missed is, first of all, he gets traded to the Clippers. I have season tickets to the Clippers, of course. So that's --
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Let's just -- you're a Clippers fan. You're not a Lakers fan.
BOB IGER: I grew up in New York as a Knicks fan.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Right.
BOB IGER: And in the late '60s, early '70s, the Knicks biggest rival were Celtics and the Lakers.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: You could not --
BOB IGER: But you move to L.A., if you take on the Lakers, you're just -- you're a turncoat. You just can't do that.
So I adopted the Clippers, which happened to be great because the seats were about a tenth of the cost of the Lakers seats. And Chris gets traded to the Clippers in what became a pretty damn good era for that team, with Blake and DeAndre and that group.
And we connected because he was interested in going to Disneyland and had breakfast, but what he didn't say is he presented himself as not just a basketball player, aside from the fact that he was warm and friendly, he was unbelievably curious. He must have asked me 50 questions, including what are earnings, I think.
And I think at one point we talked about mentoring relationships, and Chris seemed interested in having an ongoing dialogue. And I said, well, it's got to be two-way, it can't be just, hey, I want a mentor, and nothing more.
And we talked about things that I read and things that I watched. And one thing led to another, and he took it very seriously. The curiosity that he expressed, he acted on. That was impressive to me.
Over time we became really good friends. We talk about everything. We talk about business. We talk about sports, obviously, basketball. We talk about politics. We talk about our families. As you would expect from two good friends, almost anything is on the table. Even though I'm older than Chris's dad.
CHRIS PAUL: Hey, man.
BOB IGER: By a few years. Son.
(Laughter.)
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Where did that come from, though, for you, when you had that breakfast? But you instigated the breakfast?
BOB IGER: I think I had heard that he was interested in meeting me, and, yeah, I think I said I'd be glad to have breakfast with you if you'd like.
CHRIS PAUL: Yeah, I probably instigated it. Who knows.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: But what were you looking for at that point?
CHRIS PAUL: Man, you know what? I joined the executive committee for the union my third year in the league. So I got a chance to be a part of the CBA negotiations then. And at that point, I don't think I was the president of the union at the time, but I was just always interested.
When you're a kid and you're trying to make it to get to the NBA, you don't shoot jump shots in the backyard, like, Man, I can't wait to learn about business. Right? You don't think about the TV deal. You don't think about all the intricacies of the game. But at that point I was, but at the same time I didn't know that he was involved in all of that.
And so I think what also drew me to Bob was I've been fortunate enough to meet a lot of very successful people, wealthy people, but for him, it was -- I've always wanted to be involved in business and want to be successful. But I have a family. I have a wife, and I have kids. So I've always tried to learn from people who have that balance, who can strive to be the best in business but make sure they do right by their family.
And he would never talk about it, but I would call Bob at times and be like, "What you doing?" And he'd be like, "Oh, I'm headed to Shanghai for the day to go check on Disney." And I'd say, "For the day?" He'd be like, "Yeah, Max has got a game tomorrow.
You know? So to know how important Disney is to everybody, he still always kept and still keeps his family at the heart of everything he does. And I appreciate that.
BOB IGER: There's more commonality between a CEO of a big company and a high-performing athlete than you'd expect, obviously. There's the need to constantly practice, to constantly be in shape, to constantly be knowledgeable about what it is that you're doing.
There is that work-life balance, which we've probably talked about more than anything else. How do you do it? How do you maintain both successfully? There was a lot of that.
There's the need to be driven by curiosity all the time because we both work in businesses that are constantly changing, constantly evolving. And staying on top of things that impact that business is vital, as you know.
So it's interesting looking back, which we don't pause to do very often, there's far more in common than you'd expect.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: I want to get into a lot of that, but let me just ask you one thing, because you just said balance. It's something that I think everybody in this room is always trying to figure out, which is can you balance? Is balance a real thing? Is it a myth?
Is the balance something that happens every day, or is the balance something that happens week by week or month by month? Meaning a month will go by where you basically put your, dare I say, family over here and your work over here? And then other months family comes -- how does that work? Especially, I'm curious how you think about it as a CEO and then when you're playing.
BOB IGER: Well, I'll take it first. I don't think it stays in balance all the time. Because work ebbs and flows. Particularly in Chris's case, in-season versus out-of-season, playoffs versus non-playoffs.
Similar with me. There are times when it's just impossible to maintain that balance because of the pressures on me and the company at a given time. But it's making sure, when that time ends, you still know where your priorities are and you really strive to bring that balance back into your life.
So it isn't a constant. I think being aware of it, being committed to it, and really trying hard. Look, it takes quite an effort to compartmentalize at times where your mind is on one thing, but you're home with your family, and you're thinking about some controversial thing or challenging thing work-wise, but you've got to be present in that moment with your family, and that takes a lot of work.
It's just being conscious of the fact that you're needed in a certain place at a certain time, and your mind -- you can't allow your mind to be elsewhere
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Before I go back to Chris, did you like the balance part of the retirement, which we'll call the intermission, of the last year?
BOB IGER: If only it lasted longer. Yes, I did. I ended up in the eleven months that I was out of Disney, after having been there for 48 years, by the way, ABC and Disney, which is crazy, I ended up designing a life, some things fell into my lap, that had plenty of stimulation and zero stress, which is something I highly recommend for people.
I didn't know what that was like. I didn't know what it was like waking up without a lengthy to-do list and the pressures of running a global company in a changing world.
So of course I liked it. And I was not bored, and I didn't feel that I was no longer worthy or important. Never mattered to me.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: And you guys were talking throughout that whole period, because there were a number of investments that he was making that he was helping put you in during that period.
CHRIS PAUL: (Indiscernible) say it like that, but -- but we talk. You know? And so, I mean, I'm in my 18th season. We've had conversations. Because your first year as CEO was '05, right? And that was my same year I got drafted. And so we have these real conversations about what's next or whatnot.
And, I don't know, I checked on him all the time. I remember his last day in the office, like his last day. And we talk all the time. And when you got a friend, you worry about them. You know what I mean? Not that he's going to be bored or whatnot, but when you've been doing something for a long time, it's like me, I always say this, I don't care what businesses I got lined up when I get done playing, when I get done playing in the NBA, check on me. Check on me. Check on me. Because I love it that much.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Were you more worried about him retiring or more worried about him going back to Disney?
CHRIS PAUL: Retiring. Retiring.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Did you guys talk about the return?
CHRIS PAUL: Remember that night?
BOB IGER: Yeah, we didn't talk --
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: You want to share it with everybody?
BOB IGER: I didn't talk about it with anybody but my wife before I did it. I got a call on a Friday, by the way, and we announced it on Sunday night. So it's not like I had time to talk to the world about it, nor could I.
CHRIS PAUL: He ain't talk to me about it. I'll tell you what happened. So I had a game. I'll tell you what happened. That Sunday I actually had a game. And I got home from the game, and I was actually on the phone with Adam. Me and Adam was on the phone for like 20 minutes talking about something. And we had literally just talked about Bob.
My parents were in town. I went in the kitchen to sit down and eat. My phone was right there. And Carmen -- anybody who know me know Carmen. Carmen texted me a link or whatnot saying that he went back to work. I started trippin'. I literally started trippin'.
I called you on FaceTime right then with my parents, and I said, "What's going on?" I said, "What's going on?" And you was there with Willow and Will. You was in New York.
And I don't know, I was just as surprised as everybody, but happy for him too. You know what I mean? So sometimes you do find out things like that. But, I don't know, if he happy, I'm happy.
BOB IGER: We talked a lot about what it was like to leave.
CHRIS PAUL: Oh, yeah
BOB IGER: To step down. And that was actually an interesting conversation. At some point it ends, and it takes -- it's jarring, in terms of your life, in my case, working almost 50 years pretty much for one company, and Chris has played now for 18 years, and at some point you've got to deal with that.
And so we -- and he was very curious about what that was like too, so we talked a lot during that year. That night was just, I don't know, kind of crazy.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Chris, watching him for the last year or in the retirement phase, what was the lesson for you as you think about whatever you think the future is for you post playing?
BOB IGER: What was the lesson?
CHRIS PAUL: I don't know. I don't know. We still sort of in it. You know, you're just sort of going through it. He came and see me play a little bit more than he used to. You know?
But it was cool. It was cool seeing you going to visit Will. You went down to Texas and all that stuff like that. I don't know. I think it's an ongoing process, just the conversations and whatnot, and watching.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Do you have a balance system during the season, by the way, a family balance system?
CHRIS PAUL: I wish. I'm a work in progress too. This is my fourth year where my family lives in L.A. So there's certainly conversations that you can only have with people that know what it's like.
I got my brother, and my brother is my ace, my right-hand man. I talk to my brother about my everything. But there are certain conversations that I can only have with other guys in the league, you know what I mean?
Like sometimes me and CJ McCollum and Kyle Lowry might be on the phone. DeMar DeRozan is a really good friend of mine because when he lived in San Antonio, he lived without his family. And so there's certain conversations that I have with Bob that I know that he can relate to, and I'm just appreciative of it.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: I want to ask you about one of those conversations because one of the things that I think leaders are grappling with right now is when and if to step into what might be described as controversial, social, political dialogue in the public. And I think players are being asked to say things that they weren't being asked to say before. You've been asked to say things that you weren't being asked to say before.
2014, you came out quite publicly around the Don Sterling controversy, and you were very outspoken about it. Take us inside the room, because I know you guys also talked about it in sort of what to say, how to say it, how to deal?
CHRIS PAUL: Man, that seems like so long ago. It was definitely a tough time because we were in the playoffs at the time too against Golden State, and I remember my phone just going crazy. Everybody was calling, saying you should do this, you should do that.
And I just remember talking to my parents, but talking to my teammates. I'm sure we talked over that time period too. But when you have kids, things change very fast. And so whether you want to speak out or not, I think I always think about my kids and if you don't say what you believe, then they're paying attention to that too.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Were you surprised at how fast that whole situation moved?
CHRIS PAUL: I think so. There's been so much that happened since then, man. I have to look at the timeline. It did move pretty quickly. But like I said, at the time, I was president of the union, so I'm trying to do that, but I'm also trying to be the point guard of a team in the playoffs. So it was such a blur at the time.
BOB IGER: I wasn't surprised how fast it moved because really it was a situation that Adam and the league knew they had to deal with right away. And it's interesting asking us when you weigh in on things, and I think you create your own standards.
And that may not, by the way, be consistent with what everybody else's standards are, but you're getting paid to represent certain values for the organization that you're responsible for running.
And I think what Adam did was he established what the values of the league needed to be and acted on those values with great speed. And some care, but great speed. And I think you have to give him a tremendous amount of credit for doing that.
So the reason the situation moved fast is not just because of the controversy and how fast that moves in today's world but because someone, applying a set of values, acted on what he believed was the right thing.
CHRIS PAUL: But you know something else too, just to cosign off that? Adam was amazing, but I think for me being in the league as long as I have been, the dopest thing to me is just being able to see the players. You know what I mean? Like seriously to see the players and see the impact that we have because we're aware of everything.
And I think Adam has done a great job of making sure he communicates with us and making sure that our voices are heard. Because a lot of things that you guys see are a lot of times us and it's reflected of our views and how we feel as players.
Once upon a time, that wasn't the case. But now, you look at our executive committee, you look at CJ is president of the union now, like our guys are some real business. We're not just basketball players or athletes. Guys know what's going on in society, and we know what this league is supposed to look like and what we want it to look like.
BOB IGER: Hard to stay silent in today's world.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Well, that's where I wanted to go with you, Bob, because it is hard to stay silent, and you've -- Disney has been a microcosm of so many different issues, especially over the last couple of years while you were on that intermission, if you will. Your predecessor stepped in, lots of things that created problems in Florida and elsewhere, you're now trying to fix some of those things. I don't know if you guys talked about any of that stuff together.
BOB IGER: Well, I don't want to get into too many details about what my predecessor did there, but, again, in jobs like this, and Disney is different in a way, or similar in many respects to the NBA, you're a big global brand, and everything you do is in a spotlight, is on a stage. Everything you're being scrutinized for.
And sometimes that means that you, obviously, have to choose your words and your timing very, very carefully. But I think it always means, I said earlier, you still have to do what you fundamentally believe is right. And that means speaking up on things like injustice, for instance, obviously, racism, varying forms of societal abuse that staying silent is considered being complicit.
And it's hard because companies I don't think should weigh into matters -- I didn't say politics, by the way, because racism is not politics, as a for instance. You have to weigh in on subjects that have relevance to your employees, to your consumers, your audience, and to your shareholders. You just have to do it.
And, again, determining what's right and wrong is something you get paid to do. That doesn't necessarily mean you're being judged equally. In many cases I know, I've heard people say, well, who are you to tell me what's right or wrong? I'm not telling them, I'm representing the company on a subject.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Talk about teammates and hiring or how you assemble the right team. I think you've got to not only pick your own team, your current team, but you have to pick your next successor. That's an unusual thing --
BOB IGER: The board will do that.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Right, but part of the role, and you've said it, is to try to find the next person, I assume. You deal with, in a creative community, lots of super talented people who are super crazy.
BOB IGER: Notice I didn't nod my head when you said that.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: And I imagine that you deal with some super talented players who might be super difficult. We won't use crazy. Super difficult. Super talent often -- do we think that super talent often comes with a complicated thing and then how do you deal with that? Do you agree with that?
BOB IGER: Super talent is in all cases ultra committed to whatever it is they're expressing, whether it's art or whether it's athleticism. There's a commitment level that is required at the highest level that's extraordinary. And it comes from deep within them. It's who they are.
And I think in terms of how we interact with super talent, you have to have empathy, and you have to keep in mind that they're putting themselves out there and all of themselves almost at all times.
And if you don't appreciate that, then you fail at managing super talent. It's not about tolerating craziness, it's about understanding what drives them.
In my world, in the creative world, ideas, whether they're movies or television series, whatever, come from within so deep within them that it almost is part of them. And how you relate to them in that regard is -- takes a fair amount of understanding of who they are and what it is that is on the table between the two of you, that it's part of who they are.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: What happens when it gets difficult? Because sometimes if you have such an ownership feeling about whatever that creation and that passion is, you can become -- it can be complicated. And so the question is how do you push and pull that, and is there a time when you say, "Enough. You may be the most talented person in the world, but I just can't do it"?
BOB IGER: Well, there are certain behaviors you don't tolerate no matter how talented people are, first of all. Secondly, you can be worn down over time by super talent. And sometimes it just is counterproductive. It just takes too much of your time. But that hasn't happened all that much.
CHRIS PAUL: I think sometimes too, depending on your job description, and me as a point guard, my job is to bring out the best in others. One of the things I learned from Bob, and he probably don't even know, just from me paying attention, is how important it is to delegate.
Because since I was a kid, I've usually been the best player on my teams or whatnot, and you sort of dictate everything that's going on. Agnes that used to work for you, Agnes Chu, I think she went on to run --
BILL IGER: She's at Conde Nast right now.
CHRIS PAUL: What was she for you at one point?
BOB IGER: She was running the programming for Disney+. She was my chief of staff.
CHRIS PAUL: Yeah, chief of staff. Yeah, all these different people that I've got a chance to meet over the years that worked with him, and I would see how they would move up, but I would just see -- I remember Alan Horn was with you at Disney, but he would always say, "I can't micromanage all of these people. You try to get the best people and let them do what they do."
And I think that was one of the biggest things that helped me with the union. And even though I was the president, we had a super talented executive committee. You've got to let people do what they do.
And Andre Iguodala, I talk about him all the time, all the things that have happened over the years and things like that, as far as the bubble and this and that, all that stuff would have never happened without the team of players.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: And you helped him when you guys were broadcasting that during the bubble, right?
BOB IGER: Well, Chris and Adam and I and some folks from the league, Mark Tatum and others, were involved early on in trying to figure out how to salvage an entire NBA season. And it was suggested that perhaps playing all games in one location was the way to do it.
And there aren't too many locations that are controlled by any one entity that are large enough to handle an entire -- well, it turns out it wasn't the entire league, but it was most of the league, and it was suggested that Disney World might be the place to do it. It was shut down.
CHRIS PAUL: I think everybody in here that's involved in business, when you see a merger happening with a company, a lot of people on the outside will see it happen, but people who know, they'll be like, oh, such-and-such runs that company and such-and-such runs this company. They went to college together or whatnot. That's how that works. A lot of times partnerships happen because of relationships.
I think the bubble is one of the biggest situations of why relationships are important. Through the union, our relationship and the players, but me, Bob, and Adam, that relationship I think helped a lot.
I remember during the pandemic you came over to my house you was going -- just about every day he was going on long walks. He was going on walks. So he said he was going to come over to my house. And it's a big hill right by my house. I don't know why we walked up that hill. But we went on like a two-hour walk to talk about --
BOB IGER: Talk about the bubble.
CHRIS PAUL: To talk about the bubble and how we could figure out a way to make it work. Because all of the employees, everybody, the players, when we're going to get down there, how all that stuff was going to take place was pretty cool.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: You talked about delegation before, and you talked about it in the context of the union. I'm curious about delegation on the court and how you think about lifting up the other players and when you think about passing the ball to certain people. Are there certain times where just to make everybody feel the right way you're thinking about --
CHRIS PAUL: It's easy to delegate now, I got Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
(Laughter.)
CHRIS PAUL: That's real easy. You got it.
BOB IGER: By the way, your assist stats better go up. They better go up. You're about to be tested big time.
CHRIS PAUL: All right, now, FanDuel in here? What you got going on about it?
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: That's a question. You mentioned FanDuel. How do you feel about gambling?
CHRIS PAUL: What?
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Gambling.
BOB IGER: Betting.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Betting.
CHRIS PAUL: Betting.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: How do you feel about betting on basketball? This is probably the biggest fundamental shift in terms of the business of sport in the last several years.
CHRIS PAUL: It's interesting. I did one of the Tech Summits before with Vivek or whatnot. Or it might have been one of the calls. I don't know. I just know that soon, probably soon, like put a jump ball -- I know this is Vivek's vision, and it's probably coming at some point, you're probably going to be able to press a button saying who you think going to win the jump ball.
I just know as an actual player it has definitely changed fan interaction. Like your whole social media feed -- I went out to eat with my family or something the other day, and everything is about gambling. "Oh, man, you messed up my parlay last night." "Dog, I'm with my son. I'm with my kids."
You know? I'm so serious. Any player will tell you that. That's the only thing fans yell at you now.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: How does that change the way you think about -- does it change the way you think about the game at all?
CHRIS PAUL: No, I'm trying to win the game.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: No, I know, but does it change what you guys talk about? Do you think over time this changes anything about the game?
CHRIS PAUL: I don't think so. I hope not. I hope not because, at the end of a game, you're playing. You play the clock out. You're not thinking about that. You're thinking about making your next shot or whatnot.
But then you've got ESPN over here with a whole segment on Bad Beats. You know what I mean? Like seriously. I don't think it's going to change the mindset of the players, but I'm just telling you it definitely has changed the interaction with the fans. Everywhere you go, that's the only thing people say something to you about is what happened.
BOB IGER: I actually think it might be a good thing.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Well, you're doubling down at ESPN --
CHRIS PAUL: He's not playing in the games
BOB IGER: Yeah, that's true. I just care about -- I just care about ratings --
(Laughter.)
BOB IGER: Look, obviously, I worry a bit about America's youth, and I don't know to what extent it could be regulated to protect America's youth in that regard. It's harder these days, as we know, because of technology and how it interacts with -- or enters kids' lives.
I do think it increases fan engagement, though, and basketball is a great sport for that. And anything that increases fan engagement, that grows interest in the sport is actually a good thing if it is, obviously, managed carefully. And that's an interesting question.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: But you think -- I mean, I heard the earnings call a week ago, and you doubled down and said ESPN is a central component of Disney. Do you think you would have felt the same way without the gambling piece? Do you think the gambling piece has changed the dynamic?
BOB IGER: I don't think it changes our outlook --
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Betting.
BOB IGER: -- about ESPN, no. I think is it an opportunity for ESPN? Disney is not about to go into sports betting, we're not going to facilitate betting, but --
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Is that a brand thing for you?
BOB IGER: Yeah, it is, it is. It's just not a business I think -- and maybe a successor of mine will think differently, it's not a business I think Disney should be in. Interesting, we have five cruise ships, and there's no gambling on any of our cruise ships.
CHRIS PAUL: Really?
BOB IGER: Yeah. Sorry.
CHRIS PAUL: Didn't know that. I went on a cruise right after I got drafted. I went on a cruise when I was like 18 or 19, and I could gamble. That was pretty cool.
(Laughter.)
BOB IGER: I guess there's not a Disney cruise in your future.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Before we wrap up, I wanted to talk about investing for a moment because both of you, during your retirement in particular, but you've been investing throughout, and we were talking about the Oura Rings that you were wearing, you're an early Oura Ring investor, Gopuff, I do think you got him involved, and you got Beyond Meat. There's a whole plethora of things that you got involved in. How does that play out, and how do you guys -- do you guys invest together?
BOB IGER: No, we talk about investments, though. We have over the years. I think both of us --
CHRIS PAUL: Different checkbooks over here, all right?
BOB IGER: I don't know about that. Funny that you say that because whenever Chris would do a new deal, my kids would say, "Does he make more money than you?"
CHRIS PAUL: No. The answer is no, Max, Will.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: By the way, do you help agent his trades, or no? He's been on five teams. I actually wanted to know. When you do those trades --
BOB IGER: I don't help. No, I do not. I am not his agent.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: How much negotiation do you get to be involved in that?
CHRIS PAUL: I did, I did a thing with ESPN called Chapter 3 that was actually about when I left the Clippers to go to Houston. And I went and sat down with Bob, I went and sat and talked to him for a long time, just talking about the pros and cons of if I stayed or if I left.
BOB IGER: That was hard for me because I was a Clipper fan and the last thing I wanted was for him to leave the Clippers. But I tried to be objective about it. And we talked about why he thought it was time to leave and what his opportunities were and who he would be playing with and who were the other players and et cetera.
I don't think I was very popular in what was then Staples Center because I guess I was accused of having advised him to leave, which is not quite the case.
CHRIS PAUL: He didn't do that.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Final question. What's the chance that both of you team up and buy an NBA team in your future?
BOB IGER: Together
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Together.
BOB IGER: I think it's something we would love to be able to do.
CHRIS PAUL: 1 percent over here. Half a percent.
(Laughter.)
CHRIS PAUL: The way them teams going right now. But, listen, that would be a huge goal of mine, you know what I mean? And especially to do it with him. Because, I don't know, like mentor, friend, whatever you want to call it, man, I love this guy to death.
And the sports have definitely brought us together. We talk about basketball day in and day out, trades happen, this happened or whatnot. When KD got traded to us the other night, we was on the phone. You know what I mean? So it would definitely be cool.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Chris Paul, Bob Iger, thank you so much.
BOB IGER: Thank you.
(Applause.)
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Very, very special. Thank you. Thank you, guys.
(Applause.)
AHMAD RASHAD: All right, many thanks to Andrew, Chris, and Bob. Thank you very much.
BILL MURRAY: Good job. Let's wish them all a lot of luck in the playoffs, all right?
(Applause.)
BILL MURRAY: Let's take a break. We'll see you all back here shortly. Enjoy yourselves. Continue to have a good time.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports