Bonnie-Jill Laflin
Episode 266
4 MAR 2024
She is a trailblazing sports broadcaster, TV personality, author, and philanthropist. She is the first and only female NBA scout, holding the front office executive position with the Los Angeles Lakers. A former ballet dancer, she is the first woman to dance at a professional level for three teams in two sports: the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. She is the first woman to be awarded six championship rings in two professional sports, earning a Super Bowl ring and five NBA championship rings. In addition, she has competed in barrel racing and created her own rodeo drill and flag team. She is also the author of a brand-new book, called, “In a League of Her Own: Celebrating Female Firsts in Sports.”
Notable guest quotes:
“A very strong Catholic faith upbringing, Catechism, all my schools I went to were Catholic schools, so, at a very young age that was very important to my family and myself.”
“When I was living in San Francisco just recently I was able to go to Mass there. It’s just beautiful, and it’s, for me, walking in there with the upbringing and my family, it just resonates so differently. It’s a beautiful cathedral church, but, just in itself because of the tradition that we’ve had, it was really neat to be able to actually start to go to Mass every Sunday there.”
“I started playing sports: softball, running track, basketball, and then on the other side, ya’ know, off the field, it was being a cheerleader and dance and so forth, so it’s kind of like two different aspects of myself, with the sports – the tomboy – and then also the dancing and the ballerina and all of that as well.”
“Being a cheerleader for the (NBA’s Golden State) Warriors was my first professional sports team that I was with, and it was kind of the combination of my passion, which was dance and sports.”
“This was the 80s where you’re, ‘Okay, there’s not a lot of opportunities for women, so, okay, well this is a way for me to be involved with sports’ … This is the way for me to get in to be a part of the sports teams that I love, is, being a cheerleader and I was grateful enough to be with the Warriors and then my first year with the 49ers we went to the Super Bowl… cheering for Steve Young and Jerry Rice.”
“What was great about the Dallas Cowboys (cheerleaders), which I loved… is that we prayed before every practice, we prayed before every game… we’d say the Our Father… and I really thought that was so special.”
“When I was a scout for the Lakers I was the only female – and still the first and only female to scout in the NBA – there was something where I wanted to be able to create a space where women could feel that there are areas in sports that maybe aren’t the normal sideline (roles), whether it’s a cheerleader whether it’s a reporter, that there are other areas in the sports world are spaces for women.”
“That, to me, is not something – with my integrity and my faith – I would never do a tell-all book. I wanted something a lot more inspirational, aspirational, empowering, and positive. And so, I said ‘no, no, no’ and people kept saying, ‘Well you’re never going to get the book deal.’ Well, I kind of just, ya’ know, God has a plan, right, so, you have to be patient, and so I waited, and I finally got a great publishing deal, and I was able to tell the story that I wanted to.”
“For me and my career and my faith I’ve never taken shortcuts… It’s more fulfilling and I can look at myself in the mirror and know that I’m doing the right thing.”
“God has a plan for us, He’s not going to give it to you right away, so, I think that sometimes people need to remember that.”
“That’s kind of my calling. I feel at the end of the day when God has placed me in a situation that I am so grateful for what I have, and you’re supposed to give back. I believe you’re put on this earth to give back. That’s been instilled with me since I was a really young girl when my mom and dad would take us to the different Catholic retreats, we would go and help in Mexico.”
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