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Leon Kogut and his family moved to the United States from Ukraine more than 30 years ago.
Here, he and his son, Marat, talk about Marat's decision to pursue a career as an NBA referee.
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Piece Description
Leon Kogut and his family moved to the United States from Ukraine more than 30 years ago.
Here, he and his son, Marat, talk about Marat's decision to pursue a career as an NBA referee.
Broadcast History
NPR Morning Edition 6/10/11
Transcript
Marat Kogut: Most kids grow up dreaming that they could hit the game-winning shot of a championship game. But I was the one that said I want to be the referee that blows the whistle and says the basket was successful. It was weird.
Leon Kogut: When you told me someday you’re gonna be an NBA referee, I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’
MK: You were always supportive, no matter what I said. If I told him I wanted to be a ballet dancer he would say, ‘Oh, good!’ But mom was totally against it.
LK: She wants to see you as a doctor, as a lawyer, ya know.
MK: Her main concern was to marry me off: Who’s gonna take a guy like that who’s gonna be a referee, what kind of a job is that?
LK: I always remember when you ask me, ‘How many lawyers do we have in this country, what do you think?’ I said, ‘I dunno, maybe 3, 4 million?’ ‘How many doctors?’ I say, ‘About 6, 7 million doctors.' 'How many NBA ref...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:The Dallas Mavericks (or Miami Heat) beat the Miami Heat (or Dallas Mavericks) last night in Game 5 of the NBA finals...
And today from StoryCorps... we'll hear about one boy's journey from Brooklyn to the NBA -- but NOT as a player.
Marat Kogut (mah-RAHT KOH-gut) is a NBA referee.
At StoryCorps he spoke with his father, Leon -- an immigrant from Ukraine who owns a barbershop in Brooklyn.
They remembered how Marat had his career in mind from a very early age…
OUTRO:Leon Kogut and his son, NBA referee Marat Kogut, at StoryCorps in New York.
Their conversation will be archived with ALL StoryCorps interviews at the Library of Congress.
Get the podcast at NPR Dot Org.
Additional Credits
NPR, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Principal Financial Group
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