St. John’s HC Rick Pitino collabs renowned writer Asher Perlman after “prove it” segment in the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
St. John's men's basketball coach, Rick Pitino, appeared on an episode of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." The show's writer, Asher Perlman, met with Pitino to learn how to dunk in the "Prove It" segment, which was shared on Instagram on Thursday.
The video showcased the personal training session that went down at a St. John’s University gym between Pitino and Perlman.
“Are you close to dunking a basketball?” Pitino asks.
“I would describe myself as not close,” Perlman admits.
Perlman showed the Red Storm coach a video of himself making three unsuccessful attempts to dunk, to which Pitino hilariously said:
"His vertical right now is that of a junior high basketball player."
Pitino then asked if he could help Perlman work through some drills to learn how to dunk, which the writer eagerly accepted. Perlman's task was to leap toward the backboard and make contact with it, without letting go of the basketball, and then repeat the process.
Perlman did it, but could not hold on to the basketball in all three attempts. However, he successfully got Pitino, whom he called “the king of the motivational halftime speech,” to make one of his trademark motivational speeches.
"So, right now, you're handling your adversity very well," Pitino said. "You're failing ... miserably, because you're not even close to dunking the basketball. But you have time to get it done. You have six weeks to get it done. Every ounce of perspiration that comes in you, you must put forth right now."
Impressed, Perlman asked for a hug from the basketball Hall of Famer, which he got.
Rick Pitino shares thoughts on New York Knicks coaching job
The NBA's New York Knicks have one of the most high-profile jobs in the league. The team is looking to fill the head coach vacancy, which has generated a lot of reactions from both basketball experts and fans. St. John's coach, Rick Pitino, who was a former coach to the Knicks, also shared his thoughts on the vacancy.
He endorsed former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson for the job.
"I obviously coached our rookie of the year, Mark Jackson." Pitino wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "I believe he spent 18 years in the NBA as a player. Great coach with the Warriors and one of the brightest minds I've coached. Would love to see the Knicks bring Mark Jackson home!!"
Jackson made his NBA debut with the Knicks under Pitino before moving to the LA Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.
He had two stints with New York as a player and appeared in 500 games for the franchise.