Canzano: An NBA title for Worldwide Wes (and the Knicks)
"Wes is running the NBA."
It wasn’t just a win for the New York Knicks. Not just a championship for a city that held its breath and waited since 1973 to exhale. That Game 5 victory on Saturday was a final bit of validation for the sports Illuminati figure known as “Worldwide Wes.”
William Wesley is a New Jersey guy all the way. He grew up in Camden, but got his career start working at a sneaker store in Cherry Hill in the 1990s. The story goes that he met lots of famous people in that store, including NBA players. Michael Jordan became a regular customer, then a close friend.
Years later, it came as no surprise to anyone who knew Wesley’s hustle, smarts, and charisma that he ended up in charge of throwing Jordan a birthday party attended by A-list entertainment celebrities and star athletes.
Wesley told me once, “It’s like the six degrees of separation. I’m just friendly. You’re friendly. We get to know people.”
Wesley networked masterfully. He was everywhere, too, hence the “Worldwide” part of his nickname. He began showing up at championship sporting events and popping up in locker rooms. I first met him decades ago in Portland, noting that he was walking around what was then Rose Garden Arena without a credential, dipping into both locker rooms like he owned the place.
He practically did.
“What did you do for work?” I asked him once.
“I’m a mortgage broker,” he shot back.