All of which was why Rose was now telling Mike Dunlap, a longtime coach and one of his earliest clients, that he’d start with the simple stuff. He’d be patient with his roster. Build a relationship with team owner James Dolan. Come in asking questions and being ready to learn. And there was one more thing, Rose told Dunlap. Something he could bring to the table that no one before him could. “He thought Wes would be really important,” Dunlap said. Wes was William Wesley, a fellow South Jersey native known in sports as “World Wide Wes.” “Maybe the greatest connector I’ve met in my 50 years in the business,” said David Falk, Michael Jordan’s longtime agent. Whether you were a veteran general manager trying to defuse tension between a coach and a star, a rookie needing career advice, or a shoe executive wondering whether a kid was worth an investment, Wes was likely one of your first calls.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: “He thought Wes would be really important,” Dunlap …