SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Eddie Gonzalez didn’t see any of this coming. He’s a producer and co-host for Boardroom’s “The ETCs with Kevin Durant” podcast. Yes, the Kevin Durant.
Collaborating with the Suns forward on a regular basis to produce content is difficult enough for Gonzalez to process, but that’s not all he does. He also co-hosts FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back,” which focuses on the latest in the NBA alongside The Athletic’s Shams Charania, former ESPN host Michelle Beadle and former pro forward Chandler Parsons. Additionally, Gonzalez has become the social media personality known as “Bansky,” amassing more than 46,000 followers on Twitter.
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“I never thought media could be a path for me,” Gonzalez said, “but with the way social media is now and all that stuff, you can kind of make your own lane, and that’s what I did. But this job I do now, I wouldn’t have been able to pick that out the hat.”
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A look inside Kevin Durant's creative mind and growing business presence: The ETCs podcast
Gonzalez, 37, sat down with The Athletic for an interview. The following has been edited for clarity and brevity.
You grew up in Sacramento, Calif. How would you describe your experience coming up there?
I grew up like a lot of kids. We grew up in Section 8. We grew up on food stamps, welfare. But I never felt without, you know what I mean? I guess you’re a kid, you don’t know better. I grew up in Oak Park in California. Now, it’s known for (rapper and Sacramento native) Mozzy, but humble beginnings, I guess, would be the right way to say it. I always had fun. I always was in my own world, so I never thought twice about that type of stuff.
What sparked your passion for sports?
I used to play. I mean, I think it’s always rooted in that. I think a lot of my interests are rooted in music and sports — they always have been — and that’s kind of what led me on my path. I was always so informed and so curious about the way those two worlds worked. When I was a little kid, I thought I was going to be a baseball player for a living. And then you get a little older, and the cool sport is basketball, and it’s football, and you start doing that. But the camaraderie of that and then, obviously, watching the pros, it’s always been there, really. I was in T-ball when I was 4. It was like, “This is fun,” and it just went on and on.
You’re a fan of the Raiders, who were the epitome of the intersection of music and sports when you were growing up in the 1980s and ’90s because of their association with NWA and other rap artists and groups. Do you think that helped push your interests even more?
Yeah. I mean, my uncle (Louis), he probably had to steer me the most. He was a Raiders fan, but he was also the person who, when I’m in the car with him, he’s playing the music, you know what I mean? He stayed with us when I was younger, and we would hear his music from the back of the house, and we went from there. He was like the coolest dude alive to me, so it was like, “What he’s on, I’m on.” But as I grew older, I started liking my own stuff, and he wasn’t really into basketball, so I got him into basketball. When you’re from the inner city or whatever they call it, that’s what you’re into. That’s what’s around you. That’s your escape: It’s sports and music. And that was always the truth for me.
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Your first experience working in media was as a freelance writer at entertainment and culture website UPROXX in 2013. How did you make the decision to pursue that type of career?
I never thought media could be a path for me even when I was younger. … And once that possibility was opened, it was endless, but it was music-focused then; I just knew to get into sports media, I would have to be part of the fraternity and have to come up in a J-school (journalism). … But with the way social media is now, you can kind of make your own lane. That’s what I did, but this job I do now, I wouldn’t have been able to pick that out the hat. I sit down and I talk to KD, and then I talk about basketball with Shams and Chandler Parsons; I would have never been able to pick that out the hat.
I think my goal at the time when I really locked in was like, “Yo, if I could be a magazine writer or something” — and you know magazines barely exist anymore — but it was like, “If I could do features in magazines, that would be it; that would be my dream job.” Once I got going, though, that was a fleeting thing, and I just followed my own path from there.
On social media, you’re known as “Bansky,” and some people even call you that in real life. What’s the origin of that moniker? More broadly, how did you become a social media personality?
I learned about Twitter at this journalism conference in ’09. At the time, it was literally media people on there not even promoting — just like informing — so it was boring to me. I don’t know, I have this mind that just works in spurts. It was just natural for me to blurt out the most random, stupid s— that’s on my mind, you know? … To me, it was a promotional tool for a while, and I didn’t mean for it to be its own personality or whatever, but I want to say about 2013-14, I kind of realized like, “People are into what I’m saying, and people are paying attention, and people think it’s funny and they’re laughing at this.” A lot of it was rooted in LeBron (James). For a long time, it was pretty much a LeBron fan account, but people were showing up to hear my thoughts and stuff and asking me like, “What do you think of this thing?” And I was like, “Damn, you really value this.” I realized when people start calling me “Bans,” when they meet me and they know me as that, I’m like, “Oh, now it’s taking on a life of its own.”
As far as the origin of that, it’s a made-up name. I like (artist and activist) Banksy, but I was saying “Banksy” wrong, and my friend was letting me say it for the longest and I dubbed myself that. He let me be wrong for, like, a year and a half. Finally, it was like, “Yo, you know you’re saying his f—–g name wrong,” and it was too late. Like, now it’s got a life of its own.
Your first full-time media role was in a social media position with ESPN. Around that time, you also met Kevin Durant on Twitter. How did you get involved with Durant, his agent Rich Kleiman and their company Boardroom more so on the talent side of things?
It was at Kevin’s urging and then Rich’s convincing as well. And I’ve enjoyed it. I never meant to be frontward facing in any way. I never meant to be that. I just wanted to be a writer. And you know what a writer is, like, I hand this stuff in and an editor tells me it’s s— and then we go through it a couple of times, but you don’t see me. I’m done. My thoughts are out and I’m over it; I’m on to the next thing. But, yeah, they saw something in me and it’s working. I mean, we’re like a year into that, and it’s working. I’ve got a studio TV show, I have other opportunities and so I’m just trying to enjoy it.
Have you allowed yourself to just sit back and appreciate how far you’ve come?
Not really, probably because it’s surreal. Like, if you just say that out loud how that came about: I was tweeting, it was entertaining on Twitter and KD noticed and now we’re doing a show? It happened so fast. There’s times when I’m able to sit back when we’re at certain events doing certain things and I’m like, “Damn, this is really what I do every day? This is crazy.” But I try to get so focused on the work. My mind wanders so much, and it’s just so constantly buzzing that I never really have time to do that. But I want to. I want to detach and sit down and go, “Yo, this 2022-23 s— was nuts,” you know what I mean? I went to 80 basketball games this year. I met all these people.
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I will say this: When I met (actor) Jerry Seinfeld — I knew Jerry’s kid because he worked with us at Boardroom — that was a little trippy. That was a little, like, “What the f— is going on in my life right now?” I had Rich tell me one time, “You got to remember that’s KD. Like, I know that’s your boy, that’s your friend and you guys are tight, and you guys are brothers … but that’s KD.” I think that’s why I never settled in because we got so tight in a real way — and I honestly think people would be surprised to see how close we are and have become — that I never got the chance to, like, sit down and go, “F—, that’s KD,” and give it an aura. But, at some point, I will. I’m (going to) have to.
You became a father at 18 and now have three children — Krystal, 18, Eddie Jr., 16, and Khaleesi, 9. How do you go about balancing pursuing your career with fatherhood?
That is the challenge, right? And that is why I think my viewpoint was small. I had my daughter (Krystal) when I was in high school. When her mom got pregnant, I dropped out, I got a job and I did the whole, “Hey, we got to get ready for life,” thing. And then I had my son two years later, so I’m 20 with two kids. It’s like, “I got to work. I got to make ends meet.” So, that’s part of it, too. That’s part of why I was so nearsighted with the entire thing. But I learned how to manage that, and I learned that I need to show that example. And just like I didn’t know that you could do this, you could do that, I wanted to make sure they had those possibilities in mind — my brothers, my kids, people around me like that — because you only think you can do whatever you know.
Since you’ve transitioned into working as full-time talent, what have you learned about yourself as an individual and the media industry as a whole?
They’re hand-in-hand. What I learned about myself is that I’m not always right. I hate to name-drop, but we did an episode with (actress and producer) Issa Rae, and I used the opportunity to ask her privately: “When I first started this show, it was literally me, Kevin and two mics, and I did everything — I put together every plan, everything — and now we have a crew. Now, we have producers. We have a social media team. So, how do you deal with it?” She gave me advice, and part of her advice was, “You’re not always right. You know you want things a particular way, but some of these m—-rf—–s are good at their job. And sometimes, you got to trust that and find people you trust.” Since that time, I’ve been able to grow my profile. I’m able to listen to my agent. I’m able to listen to my manager and my stylist when they’re like, “Yo, you shouldn’t wear this shirt,” or, “You should try this.” Sometimes it’s really simple advice, but I’m able to get out of my own head and be like, “All right, I’m going to trust what this person says.” And it ends up for the better.
As far as what I’ve learned about the business and what I could be, I’ve definitely got more confident. Like I said, I didn’t want to be in front of a camera. I think that imposter syndrome is natural. Like, “Oh, these people are just being nice because I’m here with KD,” or, “These people are being nice because I’m on the show.” But then it starts trickling back from these people (who) were talking about me when I wasn’t there, and they’re like, “Yo, he came and killed it.” I was able to build that confidence that I didn’t have before — like, trusting my instincts, my personality and letting that shine.
I think the way the media is now, I’ve had multiple people tell me, “We don’t want like the classically trained guy. Don’t worry about that. Because what you are is what makes you unique.” I look at Kendrick Perkins. I talk with him about it — and we’ve had our own disputes — but there’s a uniqueness to him that makes him endearing. It makes him entertaining even if you don’t agree with every take. I look at somebody like that and say, “OK, this is what makes sense in the modern landscape of media.” I just kind of keep all those lessons and keep it pushing me forward. Because, at the beginning I’m like, “I don’t think I can do this s—,” you know?
Looking to the future, what do you think is next for you?
I’m enjoying the whole space. Me and Kevin talk all the time about how I love being associated with Kevin — that’s my brother — but there’s a world where I now step outside of that … and it’s not “KD’s co-host”; it’s Eddie doing his own thing. It’s Eddie from the such-and-such show. Maybe that’s “Run it Back.” Maybe that’s an Eddie show. But building my own situation beside that — and I’ll always be here to help Kevin however and with whatever he needs, and I’ll never look negatively at that association — but he and I both are like, “Yeah, it can be bigger than this, and you can be your own thing.” That’s definitely the goal.
I look at somebody like Bomani Jones, who has his own show on HBO, to me that’s, like, the top of the industry right now. Like, he’s doing Jon Stewart s—, you know? And he was a sportswriter. He was a radio guy. He kills it, and he’s brilliant. To me, that’s the peak of this current job. So, I mean, that’s my current goal, but that could change. But I do want to host my own thing, build my own things and be this entity, and I think that’s what the modern media job is.
(Top photo: Darryl Webb for The Athletic)
