A man who went viral this week after being filmed arriving at Team USA’s men’s basketball game at the 2024 Summer Olympics with multiple tubs of candy has revealed why candy is so “important” to the players.
During an appearance on Today on Thursday morning, Ellis Dawson, whose official title is director of national operations, talked about the specific sweets that superstar players like LeBron James like to eat.
As hosts Craig Melvin, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker dug into bags of candy, Savannah confirmed, “You’re actually the director of national operations for the USA Men’s Basketball team, which means candy and uniforms and other stuff…”
Ellis was quick to respond: “Yes, but this is the most important thing for our guys. One of my jobs is just to make sure we have everything ready for the players.”
Hoda, 59, quickly asked, “What’s LeBron’s favorite?” to which Ellis replied, “You know, it varies a little bit. It all depends on his mood and his style,” while Craig, 45, noted, “It’s cough drops!”
USA Basketball’s director of national operations Ellis Dawson is pictured with Al Roker on Today on Thursday morning.
Ellis went viral on Wednesday after he was spotted arriving at the USA Basketball team carrying boxes and bags of candy.
Ellis explained: ‘Yeah, coaches love cough drops because when they talk and shout they have to raise their voices…’, while Al, 69, asked: ‘Who likes Werther’s Originals?’
Without hesitation, Ellis replied, “It’s one of Dawn Staley’s favorite treats, but it’s also one of our favorites. A lot of our employees like to eat them and it’s a nice, comforting feeling… and it’s a comfort at home, too. It’s hard to find this candy here.”
However, Al wasn’t done with his questions and continued, “What about Jolly Ranchers?” referring to the multi-colored sweet hard candies.
“Those are a lot of people’s favorites,” Ellis confirmed, before joking: “But we do have a red and green favorite… that if we don’t have red and green, this player… we’ve had a moment where we’ve had to take it away from him.”
“Well, whatever you did yesterday, keep doing it!” Craig told him, referring to Team USA’s win over South Sudan at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in France on Wednesday.
After NBC Sports posted footage on TikTok of Ellis arriving at the game, fans flooded the comments section with one person joking: “Where was this position on race day?”
Another TikTok user asked: “How can I apply for this job? I’m very organised and detail oriented,” and a third simply said: “For me, the ziploc bag from Target is super American.”
A fourth person commented, “That must be a great job!” and another asked, “How do I get that job?” I feel like I could make a great candy salad.
Craig Melvin, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker interviewed Ellis in his studio across from the Eiffel Tower.
Ellis brought plenty of sweets for the hosts to enjoy, including Jolly Ranchers and Werther’s Originals.
Ellis revealed that LeBron James, pictured here on July 31, follows “his mode and his mood” when it comes to sweets.
Another person asked, “Why did I go to college when I could do this instead?” and another noted, “We all need a candy salesman in our lives.”
Someone else said: “You guys don’t understand how much candy you eat. In training centers there are big bowls of candy in the break room and in almost every office.”
Team USA picked up a win against South Sudan on Wednesday, but that didn’t stop fans from criticizing Jayson Tatum after he missed an open 3-pointer.
After sitting out the Americans’ opening-day win over Serbia, the newly crowned NBA champion was given the nod to start Wednesday.
Tatum joined James, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker against the South Sudan team that nearly beat them in an exhibition in early July.
