Brian Burnsed: Shawn Bradley wrestles with life at

For anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the NBA, you know who Sean Bradley is. The seven foot six guy who was very unique player one year out of B1, he keeps a very well known player. Always seemed like such a nice guy and it's a media of him that I consumed. It's though hearing about someone of that stature, what it happened to him. It

shook me definitely because you think about what that would have done to the rest of his life to his family and you have started asking questions and obviously you feel bad, but as a reporter you start thinking immediately about maybe one day he's going to want to tell this story about what's happened to him. I found out like the rest of the public and that was

very intentional in the Bradley's part. They were able to keep it under wraps for quite some time. Welcome to episode 129. Thanks for joining me. Today I'm pleased to welcome Brian Berns-Z. Brian is a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated and is based in Florida. In this conversation we do a deep dive into the process behind his brilliant yet sobering profile on 12 year NBA veteran Sean

Bradley. Existing fans of my show will likely know that I've been a big fan of Sean's since 1994. I briefly elaborate on my fandom during this chat. However, we largely cover how Brian's excellent profile came to be. His process throughout. It's impact on him and of course, how Sean's terrible accident has forever changed the course of not only his life, but that of his family. On

a lighter note towards the end of the episode, I'll share what may be the most amusing podcast review yet. If you can spare a moment, please add your review via Apple podcasts. See the reviews link on my website. Or your listening app. This is a great app of choice if it allows. It will be most appreciated. Show notes for this episode. And access to a huge

archive of past episodes are available at inallannis.com. Now onto the show. My guest today is a narrative journalist, sports reporter and storyteller. He's a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated and recently completed an in-depth profile on the plight of 7 foot 6. Sean Bradley. The number two is a great. I'm going to pick the 9.93 NBA draft. Bradley was involved in a terrible accident in 2021 after

a car hit his custom made bike. Just minutes from his home in St George, Utah. Brian Burnset. Thanks for joining me. Happy to be here. Thanks so much for your interest in the piece. I appreciate you coming on to talk about this. Fantastic. I've written peace. It's very sobering, but a great read. Even though he spent two years here in Australia and we'll get to that

shortly, I first became aware of Sean Bradley during the 1993 NBA season. He was regularly mentioned in broadcasts about the impending 1993 NBA draft. When do you first recall hearing Sean's name, Brian? I was a little younger then. So I didn't know him around the time he was being drafted, but I do remember vividly. I believe it was currently high school. So this would have been

around 2000 or so. I obviously knew of him before this. But the first time I saw him in person, I grew up in the same place. I grew up in Suburban at Lanna and was a hawk's and still in the hawk's path. And so I went to a game and it was Mavericks hawk's and Sean's on the Mavericks set. I think he was the starting center.

Maybe he's come up to the bench. He was still a prominent player for them. And I remember vividly and pregame warmups watching him stand flat footed and reach up with two hands and grab the rim to stretch. I played basketball in ice club that are on the sport a long time. And I was just stunned. I never ever in my life seen anything like that. Finally

enough when I talked to him. He said, yeah, he did it to stretch. But part of it was to intimidate as well to let the other team serve them as a reminder. Hey, I'm seven sticks. Just how high you're going to have to get it to try to be a little bit more of a intimidate defender. That's great. I love that. That's good to hear that

sort of stuff. 1991 was Sean's only season of college basketball. You play for Brigham Young University. And he averaged almost 15 points, eight rebounds and more than five blocks per game. And that was in 20, nine minutes of game time. He led the nation in blocks per game ahead of such luminaries, including at the college level, Shakila Niel, the Kimbae Matumbo, Jim McElvene and Australia's own

Luke Longley. Now Sean played 34 games in total with the BYU Cougars. They went 21 and 13. However, after that freshman season, he flew to Australia to serve a two year Mormon church mission. He is an excerpt from a 1991 associated press article, which was titled Bradley Picks Australia over MBA draft payoff. And it says quote, the mission made by most Mormon males at age 19,

means basketball will take a back seat, along with dating, television, movies and parties for the next 24 months. When you were speaking to Sean as part of this piece, did you speak much about his time in Australia and the impact that his Mormon fight has on his life, overall? We definitely did. That was definitely a big decision. You wrapped him off those college stats, just a

remarkable player. Obviously, I was going to be a high lottery that could have played more and developed his game in college. You just played the one season that opted for his faith, say, to take that mission trip where he'd been placed all the way in Australia, a long way from home, somewhere from small town, Utah. But he came to absolutely love it. He loved the people.

He loved his time there so much. So what really struck me on that front was that later in life with his new wife and the three children of her, he adopted. They went back because I think it made sense to your impression on. So yeah, Australia was an important part of his life. He didn't really play basketball then. It kind of got the way of what

he's known for, so to speak. But I think that speaks to who he is as a person holistically where life is a talented basketball player, along with a career that's not easy to do. But his life was bigger than just basketball. I think it's a great way to play basketball. I think it's just so much to lose. Perfect example of that. Now your SIP's is titled

Life After 7-Food-6. Sean Bradley paralysed in a bike crash. It'll never be the same. Post MBA career, Sean has largely been private and seemingly was very content with living life as normal as possible for somebody of his stature away from the spotlight. I first learned of his terrible accident. The crash itself happened in January of 2000. In 2001, it was my public in March. It was

such a shock when I first read it across Twitter. How did you actually first hear of Sean's accident at that time, Brian? Much in the same way you did. I found out I think it was on Twitter. I think it trended that day. It was obviously shocking. For anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the MBA, you know who Sean Bradley is. The 7-Food-6 guy

who was a very unique player, one year out of E1, he was a very well known player. And always seemed like such a nice guy and the bits of media of him that I couldn't. Hearing about someone of that stature, what had happened to him, it shook me definitely because you think about what that would have done to the rest of his life to his family.

You have started asking questions and obviously you feel bad. But as a reporter, you start thinking immediately about maybe one day he's going to want to tell this story about what's happened to him. So yeah, I found out like the rest of the public. And that was very intentional in the Bradley's part. They were able to keep it under wraps for quite some time. In large

part, thanks to COVID. Because access to the hospital was cut off and people were bunkered down. Around that time. So they were able to keep it private until they were ready to come forward. They didn't with the Mavericks in March. Just for a bit of background in 1994 with a group of other Australians, I headed over on an MBA to six games in two weeks. And

two of those games were Philadelphia 76's contest. So I got to see Sean play twice. Once against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago. And then once at Madison Square Garden against Patrick Ewing in the New York. Nick, so that was massive highlights on my trip. And I was so envious. I'm honored by Sean at the time that I purchased one of his champion jerseys number 76 for

Philadelphia. So I've always been a fan of Sean's going back to 1994. I had a particular attachment to him. And when I read that news of the crash, I was absolutely stunned. Just for context through your piece, Sean remarried in 2017 to a woman named Carrie. Now you write of Sean, quote, he has been a stable force in four lives. Previously, you beset by chaos. And

he's been a very adopted her three children. And he has six children from his previous marriage. However, you add that Sean is largely estranged from them, unfortunately. You alluded to it briefly a moment ago. But at what point did you consider reaching out to Sean and even as he's in a circle about the possibility of doing a profile on what actually had happened? That's a great

question. I have a wealth of experience with backling difficult stories like this one where you're going to walk up to something sensitive. Something private. And so I knew that's not something that they're going to be receptive to right away. They even said it in the press release. We hope this answers every question. We're not taking any media. For as it's time. And I respect that. I'm

not there to get the quick hit news piece. I'm there to do the the thoughtful feature well after the fact that they're ready to talk. So I gave it some time. I think maybe by that summer, I started putting some feelers out into this camp and got feedback faster than I thought I would that pay. We think he might be receptive to that. This at some

point as a means of one telling the story because everyone's asking. And two, as a means of connecting with others in comparable situations where we are just become defined by one secure taker once being taken care of or other people and bike crashes or help with other people, facing a bit. But it still took some time. It took until from this first you calls, feeling the

mal them feeling me out more importantly, until about the fall when I got the green light to get out of the fall. Sean and just have a little bit more. I will offer a record chat to know each other. If you've got proper with me. And thankfully he did. And so it's a little bit of my past work. And that's a wage haven't it is any

apprehensions added that we try to endless act ways we could. From there, was able to set up some trips to see an adult and a new thought. Great background on this. Thank you for sharing it. How long do you spend researching ahead of the writing process? What were you doing in advance of your first in person meeting with Sean and family? That's a good question. And

that's the most important part. As you start the process is research. So I run a pretty thorough search of news clips, magazine clips, newspaper as much as I can get my hands on. Is even though this story is a far reaching one. This is going to be zoomed in pretty intimately on the past year. So his life with the accident we were getting into the career

that that it became chronicle that wasn't necessarily entirely relevant to the story. Those some of the works. I still want to know who he is. What's been written about him. So I spend quite a bit of time reading, researching the family, everything into a single document that's in and encapsulation of Sean since he's been in the public eye. And I spend a lot of time with

that going in so that I feel like I at least have a sense of his public face. You don't know anyone to be a meadow. But I know who he is because you don't want to be caught what put it in. Lake the conversations. You want them to appreciate that you've done your work and your late work and you know what's publicly available up. That's step

one and then and then yes, you go and step two is start with the impression. For listeners who I get to read the profile, what actually unfolded on the day of Sean's accident? He's got a custom built bike. He rides it quite frequently and has since he's been retired as you could imagine. And as the case with most former NBA players there. The way it's knees

back start to ache. Just has a lot of pounding and it's even more so when you're seven to six 300 pounds. So you've got to find a way to exercise and he gains the weight after retirement. It fell in love with biking as a means that it helped him mentally as a way to decompress and it helped keep him in shape and keep his weight down

that he did a lot of 100 mile rides and he tailed off the more extreme ride. He's got to his late 40s but he still rode regularly breakfast in his home in St. George, Utah. It's a beautiful place. The weather's good year round. It's not snowy Utah. Like you might think of where the jazz are. Salt Lake and Southern Utah. Find it as a little more

temperate. And so it was January and beautiful day out. Suns out a little crisp out for one of his usual afternoon rides. He had just come through around about. It's a two lane road. There's a wide emergency lane on his right. There's a car park only in the emergency lane. But he's stretched out. Driving the far right lane and is worried. Oh, if there's someone in

that car and they open their driver door, that's bad news. That's going to be tumbling. I want to. So he signaled as you should that he was coming into the lane to get around the car. And there was a car behind him. Unfortunately, that driver was either not paying attention or say to hurry or mix with both and didn't give them the room that you're supposed

to as you're passing. Plumpt him that bumped him into the parked car. Current his route wheeled sharply to the right when the handlebar caught on the car. Then I'm caught up holding through the air. And he landed hard on the street. And that's where his bird race shifted. Final four bench. You visited the crash site with Sean and his family. And in a cruel twist. It's

only walking distance from the Bradley's home. What was that experience like? How did you prepare yourself to head to the scene of where the crash happened? That was interesting because I don't think they had not all gone out together to see it. Hearing the kids had done it as kind of a cleansing thing. I don't think they had done it until I went out there with

them. I want to be able to depict it accurately. And the piece I wanted to see it. And they. They walked out there and Sean went in as electric wheelchair along with us. And it was maybe five minutes walk or so. Really close down. They weren't emotional in that moment. I think that they were keen on really piecing together what happened painting a nice picture for

me to understand what happened where and that really helped me in writing the piece. So I think that they were so willing to tell me this is where this awful accident happened. They didn't seem terribly traumatized. But I think because they'd had time. I was with them not quite a year since the accident, but close to it. And they had that time to process and digest.

And that's a street that they all used coming and going. And they have to pass that for a while. Kerry said that she went around it. There's another way out of their neighborhood where they should go another way to avoid it. And eventually they came in terms with it. And that's something that they drive past. How important was Carrie in relation to this story? Carrie was

coming to be. I know that she provided several photos which have been used in the piece itself. What was her importance to the story, but also her importance to the family unit and her strength and caregiving now that she gives to Sean himself. I think that she was probably it's her mental behind the scenes and maybe nudging Sean to open up. She's such a relentlessly positive

person and was always searching for happiness and silver landings even in dealing with such difficulty. And she's so happy. She's so outgoing. I'm sure she had some apprehension. She'd never done any sort of media thing. And this is a pretty big first time you talk to someone who's for a more concentrated story that's going to get picked up across the world. She was very candid. And

I think her enthusiasm has helped Sean be comfortable and opening up to people like me into the world in general. He had to have a lot of time to reflect and get a custom to his new identity. But once he was ready to talk, they didn't hold back. And I think a lot of credit goes to her for that. He would say as much or they

just felt like they need to be open. And so that other people are situations like that can relate. And to your second question, she is just so essential to. I think the way we phrase it, the piece was not only keeping me alive, but making life for living because and he said as much to me where her constant happy spirit helps keep them going. He can

get really down and has especially early on as you're adjusting to this drastically different life. You're the tallest guy in the room. Every little except you. Now you're not. You think back to how do you cope? It helps to have a part. You will help you find the light and all that darkness all at log. If she's done that form and that's not to say it

doesn't wear on her. The many, many tasks her life changed to. She has had down moments along the way, but by and large, she's a positive person. Sean just feels so it get it. What was the most difficult part of the story to rot from your perspective? It's a good question. I think it was in reporting and writing it. And it's what I wanted to get

at the most in approaching the story is how does it affect marriage? Right? How do you do you with your partner? Those dynamics shift is simply overnight and no one is a caretaker and one has to rely on you in very different ways than you rely on someone in a marriage. And so having to ask them questions about how those dynamics have shifted and going to

therapy and how they have date nights and how do you maintain the spark? The reason you get married, the reason you stayed together and have that sort of relationship. How do you maintain even a sliver of that when there's just all logistics of care taking and responsibilities? That was hard to walk up to the question. So they were very open and honest about it. And I

appreciated that. And then in writing, that was something I wanted to be sure to try to capture and just probably the most emotional part of the reporting and writing process. Trying to get that just right. It's a sensitive subject. And I think a lot of people up there are in similar enough situations that can empathize with that. I wanted to get that right. How have you

found reaction to the pace? Frankly, overwhelmingly on the positive side. It's one of the most red stories Sports Illustrated has done in the last several years. And you don't write for clicks. You don't write to generate a huge audience. You're right to try to tell if it's for it. But I just think that speaks to how Sean and his vulnerability and his openness and honesty, along

with Carrie, how that is resonated with people. That's credit to them for being vulnerable and putting themselves out in a situation and letting others know that, hey, you're feeling down or you're in a comfortable spot like this. Someone like Sean with this charmed life. Yeah, he's going through it too. And here's what it looks like. Here's what it feels like. That's really blown me away. Just

the amount of well wishes that I have gotten via email are to better for people. They're saying, like, hey, can you reach out to Sean for me? Can you pass us along to Sean? Well wishes or ears. This medical device that might help them. I'm gathering all that. I'm missing them to the Brad. And I'm sure they've gotten ten times as much as I've gotten. And

any threat I've ever had. I've never gotten the speedback like this. Certainly you do interviews. You get stuff like that. But as far as the kind of human connection and feedback I've gotten for people that want to reach out and help the back. It's made me feel good as the writer who was able to break down. I think this is towards forward. But it definitely makes

me feel like I know they'll get to beat all that and hopefully it brings them all into a little. In the face of so much adversity, it is definitely a positive to hear that. I just like to quickly read a tweet from Jim McElvain, who's a former NBA veteran. He's a fellow big man played in the NBA at the same time as Sean. As a follow

up to your story, he wrote, and I'm writing him here. A woman effectively obliterated the life Sean Bradley knew. Sean has gone out of the world. He's way to conceal her identity and protect her from terrible and useless harassment. I wish more people in our country were strong enough to follow Sean's example and extend such grace to others. Now very strong quote there. And I agree

with Jim. Given your interactions with Sean and family, what does that say about Sean's immense grace in the face of so much adversity? I'm so glad you raised that of all the reaction I've seen to the piece that I was one of the strongest I think must win you. I think it says everything you need to know about who Sean is. If I was in that

scenario, if many of us were in that scenario, I think it would be or not to be angry all of the time. Some measure of vengeance. They didn't sue when the police opt to not to bring charges for whatever reason, despite the evidence being pretty clear that she had bumped him across the accident. But I don't that they didn't try to press charges or sue. They

didn't try to bring her name into the media. You can find it. It's available. We had it. We had that discussion. Sean doesn't want it out there. And as a means of conveying who he is, we all withhold a two to show you. Well, here's how Sean feels about it. Like he said the tweet. It shows you the grace. It shows you his personality. It shows

you he's just focused on moving forward and doesn't want to disparage others. Certainly he could have framed this very differently. And she could be going through a very different circumstance right now in the way of the story of his approach to that had been different is attitude for certain different. He up into move on which gosh given the circumstances, how in the world do you do

that? I think that's there's so much about movies. Excellent. He said the added dilemma that Sean faced following the crash was his incredible heart. It opened up unprecedented factors that need to be considered going forward. What is continuing to be involved in terms of challenges that Sean and family face day to day. Great question. That's at the order of the story. Okay. It's not just someone

that's now a drug legal that happens. Sadly, quite a bit, but it's someone who's quadriplegic that's also 7 foot 6 now up to about three to five pounds. How in the world do you manage that as a medical provider? They are pissed as a family. Right. That's struggle. We ongoing. It took him three months to get his custom electric wheelchair built that could handle his size

built to accommodate a size. And then it also tilts. He's got to do it to regulate his blood pressure. He had a tilts and so forth is wait safely together key in the chair with about 800 pounds. In normal situations like this, you know, you're going to be able to get a lot of money. You have a custom made van or minivan where you can have

a lift and pull someone in. Well, Sean's so big they have to buy a sprinter size carbovants in order to transfer custom made beds, custom made shower chair at his home. I saw it. It's massive. Even seated. He's taller than his wife. He's still in the cheek. It adjusts the height of six six. He's taller than me when he added all the way up. Sometimes he

cruise around with it lower, but just his hands and feet. He isn't massive massive human. It's tough to appreciate. Please see him in person and to see him in that scenario where maneuverability is an issue in that chair, right? We have that scene in this store where they try to go to the movies and carry us to go on a reconnaissance mission to figure out if

he can get out, but entrance the. And so because of his size, life is just going to be a string of logistics. Like that. It's already hard enough if you are a plegeocan electric wheelchair. That's plenty to face. But then when you have to worry about do even handicap accommodations work for me. Everywhere you go, it's just doubly difficult. One of the photos that was provided

by Carrie was shown in his hospital bed in the early stages and his feet extend so far over the bed and even perhaps like another table with some sort of soft cushioning on it. He's fed her over hanging that too. Yeah, it was remarkably. I was so glad I could speak with his position that was a treasure that. Because he gave me so much great detail

and you could just see it on his face. Just how he was still flabbergasted that he were able to improvise in so many different ways in that first four months that in the hospital. We tried to make life comfortable for him to make rehab safe. They had to recalibrate all their processes that normally they have a quick planning meeting in your office. They know what they're

doing. Their questions, but this took weeks of planning to figure out how to accommodate. It's sobering, of course, but fascinating to hear. They're behind the same things that go into making this story. How did your reporting of this story impact you personally, Brian? That's a good question. So you definitely. It makes you realize you need to not take anything for granted. So Sean, he had an

inviable life. He's retired. He's got this family that adores him. He has a beautiful home and a beautiful part of the country and has accomplished so much. Not just on the court, but he's worked as a vice principal at a school for trouble with use. He's done important things in basketball and beyond sort of life that we would all envy and then boom. In an instant,

it's totally different completely 180. I'd get back from those days reporting with him and I call my wife up from the hotel in Dallas or in Utah. I can just talk about what I'd seen and how thankful I was that we were healthy and that we were okay. And that's continued. So I've been found to impact on me every day. You just don't know. It's cliche.

I think cliche is as right. But you try to enjoy life in every moment every day as much as you can. That's a big take. That's easier said and done. You're going to get stressed. Life is life. But it definitely gives you perspective that if this can happen to Sean, Brad, the treasure would have seen what it's like when something like that is taken. I appreciate

you opening up about it. I know it's obviously a difficult topic to cover and you've done an extremely good job of doing that. I'll include a link in the show notes to this episode for people to go to the sports illustrator website and to your website itself. So people can find out more about you and your writing. Is there anything at all that we haven't covered

in the conversation that you'd like to make mention of, Brian? I would say that Sean, well, he didn't show away from the difficulties carried a show from the difficulties. They are from workably hopeful. Moving forward, they hope to try to have an impact in some way on other people that find themselves in these situations or on road safety for cyclists. There's still in the early stages

of looking at what shape that might take. There's still getting used to their own drastically different new lives. But I think the article and him wanting to get the story out is step one in many in trying to leverage what happened to him for some some measure of good, which given the character we discussed earlier that he is long shown. That's no surprise. But that's just

something that I'm going to say. I'm going to keep your eye on the story is not the definitive the end. The shine about these life. We can empathize and can't feel bad, but they're going to try to find some both and good. Definitely. It's been great just to have a chance to speak with you and going to depth about how this piece came together. I really

do appreciate your time today, Brian. And I wish all the best going forward and thanks again for just being a part of the show today. Happy to. Thanks so much for the time and for reading and for all the great questions. I appreciate the chance to talk about it in depth. Thanks for listening. A welcome your interaction with the show. Tap the microphone icon on my

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