76ers CEO key to success: 'Be where your feet are'

Scott O'Neil, the CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils joined Yahoo Finance to discuss the NBA Playoffs and his new book that highlights lessons he's learned through out his rise in the business industry.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: Let's talk sports. The NBA playoffs are underway. And last night, defending champions, LA Lakers, they were eliminated. One team, though, that's still in contention for the crown is the Philadelphia 76ers and my hometown team. So very excited about that.

We want to talk not only about what's going on in the NBA, but the NHL and the sports world at large with our next guest. We have Scott O'Neil. He's the CEO of the Sixers, as well as the NHL's New Jersey Devils. He's also author of the new book, "Be Where Your Feet Are."

Scott, it's great to have you here on Yahoo Finance. We certainly have a lot to talk with you about today. Let's start, though, with the NBA playoffs. We have the Sixers starting round two of the playoffs on Sunday-- lots of hype there. Just talk to us first about what this season has been like, as we've seen the restrictions begin to ease. And fans now are back in the stadium.

SCOTT O'NEIL: Well, Seana, thank you. And I love Sixer fans. I will say it's been bizarre to say the least. A year ago today, I was sitting in Orlando in a bubble. And I went to an NBA game. And I was the single only fan in the arena. Come back. We open the season. And there were 10 of us watching the game.

And then to see that go from 25% to 50% to 90% last game gave me the chills. It has been we need sports. We need entertainment. It is the one thing that can bring us together and create community. And this world of isolation, come out of COVID, this is our anecdote.

SEANA SMITH: And Scott, speaking of that when we have fans back in the seasons, we've seen some ugly behavior from some. And I bring that up because I'm curious just to get your thoughts on why that is. And it's not only the 76ers that have seen this at their games recently, but it's been across the league.

SCOTT O'NEIL: Unfortunately there is some behavior like that. I just want to make sure we keep in perspective. It's one person out of 20,000 at our games. And it's been one person out of several games. So you're probably talking 1 out of 100,000 people.

And it's despicable behavior. It's not acceptable. We have some of the great superstars in the world on the court. And we need to create an environment that's safe. But I will tell you, I do love the crowd. I love the passion. I just want it to be channeled the right way. And 99.999% of our fans do that.

JARED BLIKRE: Scott, I want to ask you about your book. Title is "Be Where Your Feet Are-- Seven Principles to Keep You Present, Grounded, and Thinking." What made you decide to write this book? And what's behind it?

SCOTT O'NEIL: Jared, thanks for the thought. My best friend, unfortunately, took his own life a couple of years ago. And it had me thinking. I was speaking at his funeral that he'll never be able to deliver those life lessons to his five children. It spiraled me into a little grief. And I healed by writing. And the healing was about the recognition that life is messy.

And the Instagram, Facebook world we live in, which is wonderful that I know that your two-year-old daughter crawled across the room. Or your son scored the winning goal. Or your best friend got into Yale. Good for you and God bless America. And I'd love to see those things.

But when you take a little peek behind the curtain or peel back that onion, what you find in most of our lives, including mine, is that I ran a company into the ground. I was fired from Madison Square Garden. I've had-- oh, I've been broke to the point of getting foreclosure notices. I've had issues with my children as a dad. And I think all of us once we understand that we can be a little more vulnerable and be a little more open. I think that will help others in situations when they find themselves.

SEANA SMITH: And Scott, speaking of that, what's your advice to other leaders out there who may be struggling, because a lot of people like you, they have a very, very demanding job. They work all the time. But also, their family life is very important to them as well.

SCOTT O'NEIL: Well, I remember coming home one night from-- we were going through the process if you're a Sixers fan, you know we had some tough seasons. And I came home very kind of grouchy one day. And Lisa, my wife said, what are you doing? [? Last ?] time one we lost by 20 points.

And she said, hey, this isn't going to work. It's not going to work for me. It's not going to work for this family. And I think you don't have to be a CEO of a basketball team to have had a tough day or to be stressed or to be upset. And I got to tell you, for me, I [? used it ?] to ride home. Everybody needs a decompression point.

But when you walk in that house, you got to take your phone, stick it in a drawer, turn it off, be a dad or be a mom in some cases, be a husband, be a partner, be a friend. Like, we have to be better and do better. But it has to be a conscious effort.

How many times have you been at dinner where we look around and we're at dinner with our friends we haven't seen in a year in some cases coming out of COVID? And we're sitting there on our phones. What are we doing on our phones? Are we clicking to Twitter? Are we watching TikTok videos?

We don't have enough time. Time's our most precious resource. When we were with our children, let's be with them. Let's be where our feet are. Let's be present. When with our friends, let's choose to do that.

And by the way, my wife has a great line when I'm not being present because I'm not perfect at this. She says I'll wait, which means, hey, hey, my man-- get your head up. Phone down. Head up. And let's connect.

JARED BLIKRE: Well, I want to ask you about another project you're involved in-- the Sixers Innovation Lab. Can you give some background on that and what your goal is through this organization?

SCOTT O'NEIL: Sure. The Sixers Innovation Lab is in the basement of our incredible training complex in Camden, New Jersey. It's run by Seth Berger and Rhyan Truett, two extraordinary executives. Seth is the founder of AND1, this basketball sneaker company. And we incubate early-stage companies.

For us as an organization, obviously, they're going to be very good investments. They're very early stage in most cases. In all cases, pre-revenue. In some cases, pre-business plan. And it brings energy, life, and enthusiasm into our office. It brings new ideas. And it's definitely part of our DNA. But it is a lot of fun.

SEANA SMITH: Scott, I'm curious to get your take. This is obviously a huge story in the sports world. Something that we've covered here, Yahoo Finance, when Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open there.

There was a lot of calls that the tennis community should have treated this issue a little bit differently, that they shouldn't have been so harsh on her just in terms of the threats that some of the grand slams had imposed or had threatened her with before she had pulled out of the French Open.

But I'm curious just to get your thoughts on that as a CEO and how you deal with players who obviously-- they have a massive life outside of the sport. And you can't always control what also goes on there.

SCOTT O'NEIL: Yeah, many of us, including the two of you, are public figures. So I won't talk about any specific player issues. But I can tell you with no uncertainty that mental illness, mental health challenges and anxiety not only just in my own house, but in our organization.

And for me, the simple formula is do something for your mind, something for your body, and something for your soul every day. Get a full night's sleep. Practice gratitude and be with your feet or put your phone down and get your head up.

The gratitude part, I love all your watchers, all your listeners, all your followers to understand this. It's like, pick up your phone. You want to use it for good? Text your mother. Tell her you love her and appreciate her. And if she sends you a note back that says, Hon, is everything OK? You're not doing it enough.

We have times when we're in the gutter, when we're in the [? goalie ?] when we've tripped and fall. And that's where we have to reach out and help each other. And I'm seeing it at work. And I will tell you if you follow that simple formula, life gets better over time.

SEANA SMITH: [INAUDIBLE] isn't and is so important for so many people to hear right now. Scott, just real quick. Now, that we are at 16 months into the pandemic, obviously the pandemic had a devastating impact on so many industries. But from the franchise perspective, how are you? Or what shape are you in right now in terms of revenue?

SCOTT O'NEIL: We got hit hard just like everybody in our business did. I guess the way we look, we're-- you know what. Listen, working for Josh Harris and David Blitzer Michael Rubin, we're very well capitalized. We had plenty liquidity. So we didn't have a run like some did.

But for us, we were focused on can we keep the machine intact, get one of the best sales and marketing machines in the world of sports. And so we kept that intact, fortunately. And we're looking at '21, '22, which will be better than a pre-COVID 1920.

And '22, '23 is actually exceeding our five-year plan. So it doesn't hurt to have the best team on the planet when you're marketing and selling that product. But it's been very good to us in terms of a very quick V-shaped rebound.

SEANA SMITH: And Scott, I have to ask you since I'm a Sixers fan. And I have you right in front of me. Do you think we're going to see Embiid back on the court this playoff round?

SCOTT O'NEIL: Well, I sure hope so. The good news is we didn't him last game. And you saw what Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris, Steph Curry, and Danny Green did. So I can tell you this. He is a warrior. And he is the best big man I have ever seen. And if he's got a shot to come back, he'll be back. He wants to get on that court.

SEANA SMITH: I certainly hope we see him soon, Scott O'Neill, always great to speak with you. CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers, CEO of the New Jersey Devils. Also author of the new book, "Be Where Your Feet Are." We hope to have you back on Yahoo Finance.