Episode 47 Pickleballers Next Door - Herb Livsey Denver Nuggets Scout - Donovan from Mint Sports

Thank you for joining in, I'm Mike, I'm Kris Anna, we're the Pickleballers Next Door. Denver! Feel that energy? Professional Pickleball is here. Your hometown heroes, the Denver Iconics, are serving up non-stop thrilling action. We're more than a team, we're a community. Be part of the movement sweeping the Mile High City. Get the latest news, grab your gear, and join the Iconics family. The action starts at DenverIconics.com, that's DenverIconics.com. We are here with Herb Lipski. You are a scout for the Denver Nuggets, is that correct? Yes I am. Okay, and we want to go into that a lot with you, but we also know that you are a coach for Pickleball and you have, you've coached like thousands of people, is that correct? I have, I have. So tell us your background a little. My background? Yes. Okay, I grew up in, just outside New York City. So the great influence in my life was the fact that I could play PAL baseball right outside Yankee Stadium and then in the seventh inning the usher would always let us in free so I would sit behind Joe DiMaggio. In the winter, because of, it was a day in which I could go down to the Bowery and eat spaghetti with all the bums and I would be okay and I was 12 years old and they would put their arm around me and say how you doing young man and I would go up to Madison Square Garden and I would watch, well at that time it was BAA basketball, the NBA didn't come in until 49 I think, okay, so I would watch the Knickerbockers, it cost me a quarter and I was 12 and I would sit in the first row underneath the basket and at that age, I could never intellectualize it at the time, but I had a notebook and I would keep track of how Joe Lapchick coached his team to move on the court and so I was fascinated by the movement of 10 players on a basketball court. So as we move along in life, I played in high school and I, you know, you learn along the way you're never going to play in the NBA and I always wanted to be a coach. So after one year of sitting on the bench in college, I went to the head coach and I said, could I be an assistant on the freshman team? So that's where it all started. So I got into coaching and along the way, there's a gentleman that was with the Lakers by the name of Bill Burtka, who is still with the Lakers and he had a scouting service and I had a basketball school that was running Santa Barbara and he lived in Santa Barbara. So he would come over and he'd say, could I get you and a couple of your coaches to scout for me during the winter? And so we would do that even though I was coaching and I'm an English professor. So I taught English and coached basketball. Wow. And then, so that's how I got into scouting. Wow. And that kind of grew from there and I thought, I wonder if there's a day that I could get into the NBA because that was my dream. Your dream. Even though I was a junior high school coach, I was a high school coach, I was a junior college coach, I coached the four-year college level. And all of a sudden, what happened was, I retired in 1996 because I got called to go into a minor league, which was called the CBA, Continental Basketball Association, to work with players and help them get better and get 10-day contracts in the NBA. So I told my wife, since I'm going to be full-time in basketball, I'm going to retire. So I retired in 1996 from teaching and coaching and I went into working with players and I did it for two years and the Portland Trailblazers saw the work I was doing and so they came to me and they said, would you scout full-time for us? And that was 1998. Wow. And so I stayed with them for six years and I retired. I won't go into the reason that I decided to leave. Sure. But I retired in six years and three days later, the Atlanta Hawks called and said, would you come and scout for us? And I said, okay, as long as I don't have to live in Atlanta. And they said, no, you don't. You can travel from home. So I did and I stayed four years and I thought, I don't want to go through a new general manager. So I retired and ironically, three days later, the Denver Nuggets called and was a friend of mine and he said, I'm going to fire all the scouts and I need an ally and would you come in and be a scout for the Denver Nuggets? And I said, yes, and that was 18 years ago. Wow. And so I'm still there. Listen, right here today. Yes. And we are from Colorado. So we love the Nuggets. We do love the Nuggets. I've seen all the changes. I've been through five general managers. Oh my gosh. But I want to tell you that the greatest people to work for, in my experience, is the Cronkies. Wow. The one I'm closest to is his son. Josh Cronkie is one of my favorite people on earth, even though I don't see him much. He's the one that keeps me going and says to me, Coach, you work on your own terms. That's awesome. And so I've been fortunate and I get along with all the young guys that come in the office. I don't use my age or I don't say I know more. I don't ever do that. Nice. I relate to them, understand them, because they can't relate to me. They're turning 35 and 40 and I'm turning 90. There's a big difference. Yes. That's amazing. So anyway, that's my story in a nutshell as to what brings me to this table on a podcast with people from Denver. We love it. We love it. Thank you. And that is incredible. But now we got to get into your pickleball. What's your experience there? Okay. All right. This is a good story. My wife and I, my wife's a heck of an athlete, and before Title IX, and she coached volleyball and basketball at a junior college. And we were paddle tennis players. And a couple moved in across the street from us. They came from Surprise, Arizona, which, as you know, was the center of pickleball at the time. At the time, yeah. This was 25 years ago. Wow. And so they knocked on our door and they said, we saw you coming in with paddles from paddle tennis. Would you like to learn a new game? And so we, right away, we looked at each other and said, yeah, we'd like to learn a new game. So we took chalk and we went to the paddle tennis court and we drew, we put the proper lines in and they taught us pickleball. And after one day, I said, I love playing pickleball. Yes. So there was a tournament, they were going to have a tournament in Del Mar, which was the first tournament in San Diego County. And my wife and I and four of our friends decided that we would enter. And so we went home with all the gold medals. I was hooked. That's awesome. So you and your wife got doubles. I grew up and found teaching as my life's work. Yeah. And I said, I said to my wife, I said, I think we're going to start classes because I would love to teach this game. And so I went and I started studying the game and I could name some of the early people that were prominent. And they were my teachers, because if they had a clinic, I would go to it. I wanted to learn as much as I could about pickleball. I watch a game every night on TV. I tape pickleball games and I watch one every night after I scout on TV. I watch one game before I retire because I want to keep up with how are good players. It's just the same with teaching basketball skill. I always say, what do good players do? Don't tell me what coaches make up. I want to know what good players do. And how do I adapt that to my 70-year-old students in a retirement community? So that's how I've grown as a teacher in pickleball, by watching something every single night and taking notes and looking to see what causes unforced errors. And how can I get our 70-year-olds, 75-year-olds to concentrate and get better? And so I was teaching pickleball in two retirement communities, one in the desert and one here in Oceanside. And now we don't go back to the desert anymore. So I just teach in Oceanside. And I'm getting ready for a new class. I love it. We're going to start January 5th is our next class. And we'll have 27 people in the class. And they're all going to be between 65 and 80. And I really look forward to it. That's how I got into it, by meeting people that were the best at the time. But nobody knew about pickleball. Yeah, yeah. But I found out that in Southern California, in the desert and here, there were people that were prominent in the game. And so I just attached myself to them until I learned what I could and then found out now I can go in this direction and teach this way. I love it. And that fits me. I love it. He also was one of the first, some of the first paddles you were telling me, the first paddles that came out. Because it was made in Kent, Washington. And it was pickle-ball was the company. And the people that invented the game were behind the process because they had wooden paddles. Wooden paddles at the time, yeah. But that was the first one that was not wooden. And it was made by that company. And that's the first paddle I ever played with. And I have a couple of friends who still have that. Okay. And I have that paddle in my garage. I got to see that. We're going to have to come visit you and see it. That's awesome. I mean, and then today, he's working with paddle companies and he gets paddles to help people keep in the game, you were telling me, right? Yes. How does that work? We have, because I'm in a retirement community, there are a lot of people on fixed incomes. And paddles are getting too expensive. Definitely. And there are a lot of paddles from 12 years ago that are still very good today. Yes. I have my second paddle, which my paddle was a PaddleTek. PaddleTek, there you go. Yeah, with the waves on it. Oh, yeah. I know exactly which one you're talking about. And the next paddle was the one by Scott was his name in PaddleTek and the Sabre Pro. Okay. And that was the first elongated paddle I ever played with. And so I've gotten hooked up with Diadem and Onyx and Rhombus. And I'm able to get paddles that somebody has to pay $225 for, but I might only have to pay $95. That's really nice. Because I'm part of their business. Yeah. Like this. A Diadem. Okay. Yeah. And they're terrific people. I started with Onyx, and they're terrific people, and they really helped me. And I sell those paddles, whatever I paid for them, to our people. I don't want to make a penny in pickleball. I don't want to make any money. I want people to come to pickleball. Because new people move into a drier community, and they say, well, how much are their lessons? And I say, nothing. Afraid. Look at that. Oh, wow. We're in the wrong community. They don't pay $225 an hour. No. They're free. Free. And we're able to come down. My wife and I are able to come down on the court and work with you outside of class. And that's how we get them hooked in pickleball. You are so good. You're so good. That's amazing. It's just, what do you have passion for? Yeah, exactly. True. True. Very true. I have passion for my wife and family. I have passion for basketball. And I have passion for pickleball. I love it. I love it. Those are the three things in my life. I love it. Well, and we have some companies that we work with that we could probably get you some paddles donated to you. So there's people that can't get it. Some good paddles. Yeah. So pickle for the people. Pickle for the people. He makes his own paddle because he got frustrated with how the cost of some of the paddles were. He went to go buy paddles, and he says, I got to go get a loan to get a paddle. He didn't know. He's like, what do I got to do here? I've been in the game a long time. Yeah. I would not buy those paddles. Yeah. I'm not going to mention the companies, but I would not buy them. Yeah. Because I read about all the marketing. I read all that. Yeah. And I read about all the way the cores are done. I read about all that. Yeah. Then if I go on to court, and I use one of the paddles that I bought 12 years ago or 15 years ago, it's a good paddle. Good paddle. Yeah. It's still a good paddle. It never broke down. And people can play with them. And they can play. And the people at the level we play. Yeah. Yeah. It's perfect. They don't need to have $284. No. No. No. Well, Pickle Bar's next door. We'll be in touch with you. We'll give you some paddles. Okay. That way, you got something to give to some people that if they can't afford them, we have them for them. So we're going to keep in touch because I want to come see your paddles, and we want to come see you coaching. Yeah. So we're going to make a trip and come see you. Well, you're going to see us on the 18th and 19th. I'm going to be in Denver for our next meeting. The next meeting of the Nuggets. I fly in on the 18th. The meetings are the 19th and 20th, and I fly out on the 21st. Are those meetings still pretty intense when you have to go to the next meeting? Well, they're very informative. Okay. I mean, there are seven of us, and there's a lot we have to look at. And it's early in the year, and we're starting to break down now the players that we are most interested in. I was just telling Mike, I got a list this morning of 12 players in the West that we need to know a lot about. And so I looked at that, and I said, I'm so glad he sent it because I can do this by telephone or close by. I can fly to Sacramento. I don't have to fly to New York or wherever. Okay. So I can do this, and maybe I can still scout into age 90. I like it. I like it. Yeah, he's not retiring. So this morning, I was going to retire. I told my wife yesterday. Yesterday. You are not going to retire. We were at the pool. We went to the pool yesterday, and she's my physical therapist. So we were working out in the pool, and I stopped, and I said, honey, I think it's time I retire. 90 might be a little too much. And she looks at me, and she says, yeah, maybe that's a good idea. And then I got that assignment this morning, and all of a sudden, I changed my mind. I think I can do that into about 94. I like it. I like it. I like it. I think you can just keep going. I like it. You're amazing. You're an amazing person we have on here, especially we're all from Colorado. We love you because of what you've done with the Nuggets. Look at the Nuggets now, too. I mean, they're really doing well. You have the Kroenke family, and I can tell you that I've been with them for 18 years. And I had chances to leave, and Josh Kroenke knows that. I had chances to leave. And I would sit down, and I would make a list on the new team and what they wanted to do and the Denver Nuggets. And at the top said, the owners are basketball people. These are computer people. How do I fit in those two worlds? I don't fit in that world, but I fit in the world of the Kroenkes. And I'm not leaving. I don't care about title. I don't care about salary. I only care about our building, our roster, so that we can compete with any team in the NBA and the new general managers, the two of them, John Wallace and Ben Tenzer, are terrific and have retooled our bench, and we're right in the mix again. The Broncos, Avalanche, and the Nuggets, we are just taking us home. Doing really good. Well, we thank you so much. I mean, to have somebody and to go back. Like I was telling you before, people say, Pickleball, this is new, right? This is new. This is 70 years old, right? But you started 25 years ago, right? 25 years ago, he started Pickleball. 25 years ago, I started at Pickleball. Our fans and everybody out here appreciates you. We thank you so much to come out here today and visit us. You took the time to come here. And we want to come see you, so we're going to make a two-part of this. We're going to come see you when you come on the 18th and 19th. We'll get your number. I'll call you. And then we want to fly back out. I love coming to San Diego anyway. We're going to come back out, and I want to watch you coach. I want to film some of this. What I do is, I can't fall again. I'm like I am because I fell. I fell June 4th, 2024. And I was in the hospital for nine days, and I lost my balance. And I came out, and I can't fall again because I'm old and I'm going to break something. So, I have a staff of nine. I love it. Wow. We take 27 players. We put nine on a court. I put three instructors on a court, and we meet as a team. Our staff is a team. They're terrific. They're good players. They're good teachers. Over half of them are school teachers, which is one of the things I prefer because they've taught. They understand. And so, we go on the court, and it's a great experience. Watch them over a period of time improve. I love it. I'm going to come visit you. Yes. We've just become best friends here. You didn't know this, but that's what happened. You know, it's wonderful to someone of your stature, where you've been, where you're at, and what you're still doing. I just wish, I hope to be you. You know what I mean? Yes. I do. I do. I mean, we all want that to, you know, some of the stories you were telling about we can get into later, but some of the great stories you were telling about the people that you've helped with pickleball. Oh, my God. That's why it keeps me going. Yeah. Yeah. So, when I see them at the, at Abrevital Hall, where we have theater and all that, when I see them, I'm so glad to see them. Yeah. Because they came to pickleball not knowing what it is, and with illnesses that I didn't know about, and pickleball changed their lives. Saved their lives. Turned them around back to a healthy lifestyle. Amazing. Amazing. I mean, my, my secretary, the woman that really helps me with, with the computers and all that. Yeah. She lost 40 pounds so that she could be a teacher on our staff. I like it. Wow. Yeah. Wow. You help so many people. Her name is Jeanine Ferrari, and she's terrific. Yeah. Wow. I couldn't do it without her, and I wish she could hear this right now. Well, you know what? We will play this again. We'll get you a copy of this. You'll have a copy of this. Yeah. Okay. But, yeah, we will play this again, but everybody, again, pickleball is your health. Yeah. I mean, you don't need. It is. You get out here on a court, and you're going to be amazed what will happen to your health. So, you don't have to, you can play at any level, too. That's the fun part of pickleball. You don't have to be a pro. You don't have to be a pro athlete. You can get out there and hit a ball. I can put four ladies who are not athletes and teach them how to keep a score. I tell them how to teach them how to serve and teach them how to return to serve, and even though the rest of the game is awful, they have a great time. Yeah. They bring all their food. They sit on the patio. They talk to each other. They go back out on the court. Yes. They play again. They love what they're doing. They're smiling. Having fun. And they wouldn't trade it for anything. No. And you wouldn't trade it for the world to see that. And they get away from their husbands for all that time. Right? Wow. That's what I tell people. That's my exit of the world. When I go on a pickleball court, no phones, no computers, no traffic. Right. I get to leave the world and be with some good people. Yes. So it is a great place. Yes. Yes, it is. Well, we thank you again for coming out here today, making the trip, and telling all the fans and us about your great story. And it's not over now, because now I'm really fascinated with what you do and how you do it. Well, I love what I do. Yeah. And I love the people. And I love the people I do it with. And that's half of life. Well, and you know what? I think they love you, too. They do. What? They love you, too. Well, I don't know. I'm here sometimes. And a nice gentleman behind you. I don't want to take a class from him. He's too hard. Well, thank you so much for being on our show. And we will be talking to you soon. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Take care. Bye-bye. Okay. Holy, from football to tennis, relies on electrolytes to stay strong and recover fast. Why? Because sweat takes away more than water. It drains essential minerals like sodium and potassium. Without them, your body slows down, and your game slips. Pickleball is no different. That's why Holy is packed with the electrolytes you need to stay sharp, fueled, and ready to play longer. Visit holyperformance.com. That's H-O-L-E-Y performance dot com. And use code nextdoor for 20% off your order. Hi. We are Pickleballers Nextdoor. And I am Krisanna. I'm Mike. And I'm Donovan. And Donovan. And you are with Mint Sports, right? Mint Sports. Okay. So, yeah, it looks like you have a great paddle over here. This is a beautiful paddle. I have to say, I haven't got to play with it yet. But trust me, I've been fondling this paddle for a while now. So, I know it sounds a little sexy. What? I don't know. It's getting a little R-rated here. Sorry. And it's a beautiful paddle. It is a beautiful paddle. Thank you very much. Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah. And I love the name. I love the name. We just had that discussion. And so, tell everybody what the name represents for you. Well, I mean, the seven paddle, well, the 10 paddles that we have now, most have predominantly got French names. Yeah. And we designed those for a European market, you know, and it's only starting to take, how can I say, to take place now, whereas the names are actually recognized by the American market. Nice. Like, for instance, this one is Mon Ami. Nice. Which translates as my friend. And we've taken the essence of what it took to make these paddles and we've tried to, you know, to put it in a name. I like it. It's just awesome. It's really awesome. And then the mint part of it, right? The mint is like, it's nice, right? The top. Yeah. We struggled finding a name originally. And then my little brother's into vintage cars. And he said, you know, you get good vintage cars, you get beat up vintage cars, but then you get the mint vintage car. Yeah. And when he said that word, I was like... Ding. Yep. Ding. And you have a great logo. You have a great logo there. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. The logo is also something that comes from the heart. We're partnered with our rescue and they are very active against sexual slavery and child trafficking. And that's where the Spartan helmet came from, you know, and it's just to kind of, you know, an outward picture of an inward idea. Yeah. That's awesome though. Oh yeah. So, and we do everything that we can for them. We would like to do more in the future. And I think, yeah, giving back, I think is a great deal, you know, especially for the next generation and to try and protect children. Absolutely. Oh, definitely. And I think you're building from your heart. What we were talking about before is from your heart. This comes from the heart. You feel good what you're doing. So, I mean, why would it not grow and get bigger and better? Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that it's, you know, it's such a, you know, in a very competitive world, I think that, you know, we took the road less traveled. Yeah. We're all enjoying the game and, you know, we trademarked, we trademarked our main slogan, which is for the love of the game. And I think that's where it's at. I think, you know, you know, I've seen pickleball do so many things for people, you know, I've seen make people angry. I've seen, you know, people swear at each other, but I've also seen it heal. Yeah, absolutely. I've seen it heal. Helps so many people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And especially the kids, you know, I was just, just telling an old story. Which I've probably told like a million times before about the big jock, you know, on the other side of the court and he's got everything white and shiny and, you know, he's a pretty serious guy. I, anyway, and out the corner of my eye, this little 11 year old kid comes and he gets his paddle drawn. And then we're going to have a sign hit us. Oh yeah. About 11 year old. And the 11 year old kid comes and he looks like, you know, he's, he's, his shoes is four years old and his shirt is probably, you know, just a little younger than that. But anyway, so this 11 year old kid gets on the court and I could see his little angry face and I could see that there was something in his heart and, uh, you know, the kid fumbled a little bit in the beginning, but the moment that that child found his rhythm, he ended up breaking that guy's ego in two. That is like a lovely story, but the, the, the, the, the picture that is in my, in my mind constantly is that little face when he went onto the court versus that face where he walked off the court and, uh, you know, it's, I get very emotional, um, you know, when it, but I could see that in that 15 minutes that that game went on, there was a big deal of healing that happened in that transition. And that, yeah, that is, that is what made me fell in love with pickleball, lock stock and two smoking barrels. That's awesome. Yeah. I think you're also putting technology into your paddle too. I think the top of it is, is that you were telling me that, you know, a lot of us get a tennis elbow, other injuries with our over gripping our paddle and you've solved some of those problems. Yeah. Working on them. Yeah. So what we've basically done is, um, you know, to try and mitigate the whole problem of vibration. Um, you know, first of all, we're working with a softer, with a softer inner core on this particular pedal. But what we've done is, uh, we've got a system which runs the, the, on both sides of the grip. Um, it is two silicone strips that built into the mold that runs from, uh, you know, from, uh, from the elastic right down all the way down, all the way down that, that decreases vibration in a great deal. And then we've got our proprietary patent filed silly grip rings, which we've put on there as well. Um, so those two systems work in harmony and it gives you a paddle that is extremely soft and gentle in the hand. We've got a luxurious hand feel and it decreases your vibration with a minimum 30% that it increases your grip with 50. It's an incredible grip. I mean, I know it's, it's like smell a vision on here. It's can't feel it, but yeah, I haven't, I'm going to, but I mean, I put it on my other paddle. So what's neat is if you do, if you already have a paddle you love and everything you love about it, you love it. They make the rings that go on top of the paddles. So these are called silly grip rings. Um, and you know, this, this kind of solves the problem with getting that we were talking about it earlier. You know, the difficulties of getting a Hesicore grip onto your paddle. So we decided that there must be an easier way. So we developed these, which basically goes on and off. You can move them wherever you want to. If your hand is smaller, you can move them closer together to put your fingers in between. We've also developed this for golf. Oh, that's a really smart. Yeah. Feel that. It just fits your hand like a glove, which is pretty incredible. So you guys, this is a, you want to look at something new and inventive and sometimes it's going to take away some of your tennis elbow, elbow, your shoulder problems. I mean, it's going to help. I mean, it doesn't fix it. You gotta, you gotta play the game. Right. I thought I was going to turn into a 4.0 with this. You could be. Could I? You could. Maybe. Well, how do our fans and people out here find you? What's your website? Well, our website is www.mintsport.com. Okay. Okay. We are, our showroom is based in Carlsbad together with our warehouse. You can find us on Amazon. You can find us on our, on our Shopify website. Okay. We're open 364 days a year. Yeah. I understand that. We're going to be, we'll be talking to them. We'll get a place on our website for you guys. So if it's something you're interested in, we'll get their information and we'll be helping you out here. Anything we can do to help. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. It's all about being here and innovative and trying to make it a better sport. Yeah. And it's, and again, we love it. That's coming from your heart. Yeah. Right. End of the day. That's where this all comes. And the cause that you're doing for. Yes. It's very important. I mean, that is so great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We have to give back a little bit. I mean, you know, especially with, I don't want to get too way off the topic, but you know, everything that has happened on the, on the, on the border, there's some air rising horror stories and you know, someone's got to do something right. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. And one last thing that you told me about, they're actually Padel. They have their own paddle. That's all just coming out. Right. You have all the prototype right now. But yeah, we've got our, we've got our first, our first releases is now, is now in the manufacturing factory, manufacturing house. The prototype is out. We're very happy with them. Got to look at them. They look good. Yeah. The prototypes here. Yeah. The prototypes are, yeah. It's at our little booth. I didn't leave their booth. I was there like an hour yesterday. Yeah. I didn't get, did I see? I didn't see you. No, I don't think you saw them. But one thing that I must say is that the amount of people that, that, that is drawn to Padel now in the, in the pickle. Oh, it's. Yes. It's crazy. I'm just learning. I like it. I had a guy yesterday. I was just telling him earlier. So he picks up the two pedals. He picks up the pickleball pedal like this and he picks up the Padel pedal and he says, this is Jakers. This is Chase. Funny. I like it. I like it. I like it. Awesome. Yeah. That was very funny. That's a great person. If you're down here at the USA Pickleball. Yeah. Come see there. They have, they're running some promotions and fun things, but if you can't go out there and get on their website and try one of their paddles, if not get there. What was the grips called again? Silly grip rings. Silly grip rings. These are awesome. You have to feel them. I do want to try it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to come see you. Yes. Yes. Well, thank you so much. Thank you Donovan. It's been a blast and we're going to be talking more. Nice to meet you guys. Have a fantastic day. And I think what you guys are doing is absolutely fantastic. Thank you. And you aren't shy. See, you talk to us and all that. Yay. Thank you. I love it. Thank you so much. You're very welcome. Thank you guys. Have a wonderful day. You too. Thanks. Bye. Bye. Bye. Tired of the same old, same old? Discover a sweet sip, nano CBD sparkling sodas. We're the delicious, low anxiety, non-alcoholic alternative you've been searching for. When you're on the pickleball court and you need a calm, this is your drink. The most delightful flavor and a gentle calm. Try one today at DrinkASweetSip.com.