But in the metaverse, it can bring athletes together and we can respect all levels of their development, whether it's a player that's actively playing, whether it's a great player like a Kareem, one of the greatest of all times, or whether it's a guy coming in off high school that we know is gonna be awesome. well, your jumpshot never gets old in real life. And so, what's wonderful about the metaverse is your jumpshot. But I'll tell you what, having been a player affected by it, not being able to use your name and likeness, having been a player that has seen my friends and other families get affected by it, I'm very happy to be on this side of it. I mean, we're not even a full 24 months in on this. So where are we gonna end up? I don't even know. Well, John, I mean, if you look at it right now, there's contracts with players or there's players that have received certain NIL contracts in which they've made millions of dollars and haven't even played a game yet. The Fab Five: Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, and Ray Jackson.įrom your vantage point, moving forward, what do you see in the trajectory of NIL in the coming years, from just a broad standpoint and from your position as president here? And I felt it was nothing better than to start with my collection and hopefully include a couple of guys from the Five. So we wanted to embrace that coming into this new game, disrupting it. But really, it's a wonderful time of year. And then maybe later share some of my high school and pro experiences as well. So, in dropping my first NFT, I thought that it'd be great, being that it's this time of month, that March Madness I'm so familiar with, had some wonderful times, the best of highs and lows in my career, to really start it with that. And so, not only did I want to embrace this position as president, but I wanted to embrace the position as an athlete. We have a great roster of athletes, of entertainers. You know, I thought that I really had to put my energy, my money, and my time where my mouth is. How did you decide on and approach that as the initial drop? There's a dope, full circle aspect to this partnership launching with a Michigan collection. Also the fact that, with sports, it's so unique, 'cause as a collector, not only do you want to collect, say, athletes' shoes, but you love to have that experience, and being an athlete myself, having had many experiences with fans across the country, I felt it was just a great place to come together and kinda change the way that the game is played, not only with NFTs, but kinda that interaction within the smart contract. And so, really what drew me to this space is, one, just the fact of the uniqueness of art and the fact that it can't be plagiarized or duplicated. I have a collection that I've collected, artifacts from across the world, as far as the narrative of Black history collections and things of that sort. Well, I think what drew it to me is that I love art, first of all. How have you viewed the NFT space leading into this partnership? What drew you to it? This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Ahead of Michigan basketball's Sweet Sixteen matchup with Villanova on Thursday, Webber also discussed Juwan Howard's college coaching tenure and the "underdog" success of Michigan's season. In the interview, Webber detailed his plans for the role in relation to questions about Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) statutes and his music production work for hip-hop legend Nas. In a Zoom interview with Insider on Wednesday, Webber discussed how the company plans to use its proprietary Digital Ownership Token (DOT) technology and the metaverse to bring fans, athletes, and entertainers together in "experiences." On March 28, Webber and Coinllectibles will launch with a University of Michigan DOT collection related to the Fab Five member's experience at the school. On Wednesday, NBA Hall of Famer and entrepreneur Chris Webber announced a new partnership with the technology company Coinllectibles that will see him leading the company's push into the sports and entertainment NFT space. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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