My Isiah Thomas Story

In 1985, I was nine years old at my first Detroit Pistons game. It was at the Pontiac Silverdome. My dad had somehow managed to get us courtside seats. I still remember how enormous the players looked from that close. My dad leaned toward me and said that Kelly Tripucka was the best player on the team. I told him that I liked number 11, Isiah Thomas. My dad replied with something about Isiah being great in college, although he thought he might be too short for the NBA and had not yet proven himself. Time would show that Isiah knew exactly how to answer critics.

When the Pistons moved to the new Palace of Auburn Hills, my family bought a partial season ticket package. That became a treasured part of my childhood. I started going to about a dozen games each year and Isiah quickly became my favorite player. I watched him carry the team through the playoff runs in 1987 and 1988. Then came the unforgettable back to back championships in 1989 and 1990. Seeing him hoist the trophy with Chuck Daly and the entire team is still one of my clearest memories from those years at the Palace.

After Isiah retired following the 1993-1994 season, after suffering a career-ending torn Achilles tendon in his final home game with the Detroit Pistons, I saw a different side of him. My father’s tech company (which I took over in August 2010) was hired by Isiah to help with a new business idea he was developing. My dad built a database for a project Isiah was working on with a group of investors. They wanted to sell gift certificates at Somerset Mall in Troy that could be used at any store throughout the mall. At the time I wondered why one of the greatest point guards in NBA history was not coaching, running a front office, or doing television commentary. What I did not yet understand was that Isiah was a true entrepreneur. Looking back, he was not the only one from that iconic team. Bill Laimbeer went on to help grow his father’s company, Laimbeer Packaging. Vinnie Johnson launched Piston Automotive, which eventually became a billion dollar supplier in the auto industry.

Isiah’s entrepreneurial work has been impressive. One example is his champagne company, Cheurlin Champagne, formed through a partnership with one of the oldest champagne houses in France. He became the first African American to own an international champagne brand and brought a focus on healthier wine production with lower sugar and no chemical additives. It is a remarkable shift from basketball legend to beverage industry innovator.

Today, Isiah leads a growing business portfolio under the name Isiah Enterprises. The company, based in Troy, has gone public and represents the evolution of what began years ago as One World. They now operate in sectors that include consumer goods, sports and entertainment ventures, and strategic global partnerships. The public offering reflects both the stability and the ambition of the company. Recent press releases highlight their plans for continued expansion along with a renewed confidence in the leadership Isiah brings to the business world.

Several years ago, I had the chance to interview Isiah in Las Vegas. It was a memorable conversation, not only because of his accomplishments but because of his warmth and humility. Here is that interview:

Congratulations to Isiah. He remains one of the greatest point guards in the history of the NBA, a gracious person, and a hardworking entrepreneur. Detroit should be proud of everything he continues to build.

Reflecting on CES 2018

In early January, I made my annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). A couple days before the official opening of the largest tech expo in the world, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) puts on an event called CES Unveiled to provide a small taste of what attendees can expect to see at CES. As I walked into the hotel ballroom for CES Unveiled this year I saw a photographer taking a photo of the CEO and president of CTA, Gary Shapiro, who commutes from his home in Franklin, Michigan to the CTA offices in D.C. Shapiro jumped off the ground as high as he could as the photographer managed to catch him many feet off the ground in mid-air.

That photo was appropriate because it summed up Shapiro’s excitement for the 51st CES – the largest show in CTA’s history. Trying to put into words everything I saw and experienced at this year’s CES is an impossible task. The most common question I receive after I return each year from CES is: What was the most impressive new technology there. That is no simple question because wherever you turn, there are impressive tech innovations that will revolutionize our world.

The show has grown over the years and now seems to take over the entire Vegas strip. More than 3,900 exhibitors showcased world-changing technologies that spanned more than 2.75 million net square feet of exhibit space across Las Vegas. Shapiro’s excitement for CES was shared around the world as there were close to a million tweets about CES 2018 on Twitter. This year’s CES will be remembered as the year when a blackout shut down large parts of CES for over an hour, but overall this was a minor interruption in an extraordinary event. As news reports correctly pointed out, the Amazon Alexa and Google Home technology is becoming commonplace in most home appliances and tech products. Kohler even unveiled an Amazon-Alexa controlled toilet. Yes, a toilet! Intel even got itself into the Guinness Book of World Records when its advanced software fleet of 100 drones that were controlled without GPS by only one pilot put on a spectacular light show over the water at the Bellagio Hotel.

While the big news coming out of CES was about the billion-dollar brands, like LG, Samsung, Google, Amazon and Panasonic, that showcased their latest consumer products, what I always enjoy the most is visiting Eureka Park at CES, which has 900 startups reflecting the vibrant future of the global tech industry.

I loved learning more about tech innovations like virtual/augmented reality, 5G, smart cities, digital health, and artificial intelligence. What I was very excited to understand further were autonomous vehicles. Before CES officially opened on the first day, I headed to the area in the parking lot where the ride service company Lyft was offering complimentary rides around the Vegas strip in autonomously driven BMWs. I inquired as to how I could get a ride and was told to use my phone at exactly 10:00 AM to order an autonomous Lyft ride.

I then headed to a conference session on the state of artificial intelligence featuring Deepu Talla, the vice president and general manager of Autonomous Machines at NVIDIA. Talla discussed the future of autonomous cars and the artificial intelligence breakthroughs from various industries. He documented the rise of artificial intelligence from early tech periods beginning with the advent of the personal computer to mobile technology and then cloud technology until the current era of AI, which will include autonomous vehicles.

At the end of the session it was 10:00 AM so I took out my phone and ordered my autonomous Lyft ride. The modified BMW 5-series was outfitted with Aptiv’s autonomous driving technology. A human driver sat in the driver’s seat and a representative from Aptiv (formerly Delphi Automotive) sat in the passenger seat. Nandita Mangal from Aptiv explained that according to Nevada law the man in the driver’s seat would actually drive the car while we were on private property (the parking lot of the convention center and any hotel parking lots), but when we were on the street the car would go into autonomous mode. Mangal is in charge of the user experience when it comes to Aptiv’s autonomous driving technology. We had a fascinating discussion about the pros and cons to the consumer when autonomous vehicles become mainstream.

Remembering CES Maven Neil Gandler

I usually spend the Sunday following the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas reflecting on all of the amazing new tech products I saw over the previous week. Of course I have a lot on my mind as this was the best CES I've experienced yet, but today I will put those reflections on hold because the tragedy of Neil Gandler's murder takes precedence.

Neil Gandler, founder of VegasTechShows.com

Ever since I began attending CES, like thousands of other attendees I came to depend upon a website of resources called VegasTechShows.com. This website was created by software engineer Neil Gandler as a labor of love. It was a roughly built site that more closely resembled a bulletin board (BBS), but even without a flashy, modern look provided detailed information for CES attendees. Neil offered a place on the Web for attendees, media and exhibitors to post helpful tips about travel to Vegas for CES, which hotels to stay at, meetups, dining options and parties. While the site is called Vegas Tech Shows, its function is only for the one week of CES. As the "senior editor and platform developer" of VegasTechShows.com, Neil was always granted a complimentary media pass to CES each year and 2016 would have been his 15th show.

A few years ago as I was preparing my yearly travel plans for CES I consulted Neil's website and had a specific question so I emailed him. I received an immediate response from Neil informing me that we already knew each other. Little did I know that Neil had attended the University of Michigan for graduate school and was active in the Jewish grad student and professionals group at U-M Hillel, where I served as the campus rabbi and associate director. Neil reminded me that he had attended a "Torah on Tap" program for grad students I led at a local bar in Ann Arbor. It was great to reconnect with him, and over the past couple of years we continued to keep in touch about interesting events surrounding CES.

This past October during the Sukkot holiday I received an email from Neil on a Friday afternoon. The subject was "Shabbat Shalom from Michigan" and Neil let me know he was in Ann Arbor and would love to see me over the weekend. I immediately wrote back, inviting him to our home the following day to have Shabbat lunch in our sukkah. He was excited to join us. Over lunch, Neil spoke about his experience in Silicon Valley, the prohibitively high cost of housing there, his plans to invest in tech startups and his love of food. A true foodie, he told us how much he enjoys trying new restaurants and remembers every meal he'd ever had. While in the Detroit area, he asked for suggestions of local kosher restaurants he should try in addition to some of the well known Detroit area restaurants he'd heard about.

Jon Stewart and Jon Hamm Make a Minyan (or Minion)

Jon Hamm was the guest on last night's episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. Hamm came on to plug his new movie "Minions" and things got about as Jewish as they ever have on The Daily Show.

Jon Stewart opened the dialogue by telling Jon Hamm what he assumed Minions is about: "Here's what I hope this movies about, okay? Nine Jewish men looking for a tenth so they they may celebrate Shabbos!"

Hamm then offers up that he knows the common English transliteration of the Hebrew is actually spelled "minyan."

The two go back and forth riffing on the minyan-minion pun, with Jon Stewart offering to be the designated "minyan maker" in a road movie saying that he'd go around to groups of nine Jewish men saying "What do you want some tefillin?" and "I'm the Minyan Man!"

The minyan pun on the animated characters called minions is nothing new. Back in January I was in Las Vegas outside Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino and took a photo with two minions, posting it on Facebook with the caption, "If you need to say Kaddish, it's not difficult to find minions in Vegas!"

With the Minions movie about to be released, there are a lot of other minyan-minions images circulating on the Web. Here are a few:

Jon Hamm is not Jewish, although his long time girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt is Jewish through her mother, meaning their children would be counted in a minyan along with Jon Stewart. So, if you're looking for a minyan (or minions), just ask Jon Hamm or Jon Stewart!

Watch Jon Stewart and Jon Hamm mix it up here: