Former NBA centre Jim McIlvaine talks about his current pursuits, and reminisces about some of his memorable moments as a player, including blocking nine shots in one game against the iconic 1996 Chicago Bulls.

Our 2nd Marquette alumni is on the podcast today! Jim McIlvaine joins us on our 60th episode and shares so many great stories about his AAU, High School, College and NBA playing days. McIlvaine is truly one of the most underrated rim protectors of his time. He is the ALL-TIME leading shot blocker in Marquette basketball history and its not even close! His 399 erased shots is well ahead of second ranked Amal McCaskill with 175 blocks. McIlvaine was the NABC Defensive Player of the Year and Great Midwest Player of the Year in his final college season. The Washington Bullets selected McIlvaine with the 32nd pick in 1994 NBA Draft. He spent some time with the Seattle Sonics before ending his career with the New Jersey Nets. 

Jim shares so much great information about the business side of the NBA and has great insight about the professional life that the casual basketball fan might not stop to think about. He is truly one of the most genuine and open guests that we have had on this show and we couldn’t get enough of him. He also has a podcast called “Marq’d Men” if you can’t get enough of him either. 

Enjoy! 

Jim McIlvaine used to play professional basketball but now he runs the social media and web-presence for Optima Batteries. While playing basketball, Jim would do freelance work for magazines where he would meet people and attend events across the country. After Jim left the NBA, he eventually joined Optima Batteries as their “E-care Manager” where he created the Facebook page and began answering questions or comments on web forums (You may be familiar with his forum handle OptimaJim on almost every forum in existence). Today, you will see him at many automotive events taking pictures, streaming videos, and answering questions from customers about Optima’s products.

Jim says it is extremely important to gathering as much information about your potential customers as possible. The most important thing is to obtain an email address which can be used in Facebook to target an audience similar to this specific person (likes, location, age, sex).

Jim McIlvaine joins me to remember a successful stint of games in Washington, paints the picture of the analytics an NBA team had in the 90s, discuss the Bullets' You Da Man rap song and tell some anecdotes from his time in the league.