Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia was a surprising name that Antonio Gates briefly mentioned during his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement speech on Saturday, Aug. 2.

Before Gates’ 16-year NFL career, he was an aspiring basketball player and Ishbia’s AAU teammate in Gates’ native Detroit.

Ishbia, a Michigan native, attended the induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio, during which Gates spoke about his Detroit origins and several people, including Ishbia and his father, Jeff Ishbia.

“I remember growing up in the streets of Detroit and we would use crates and play basketball, and we would cut the bottom out for hoops and I would play with my boy Gary Morris or Dwight Smith, or my boy Leon Bryan,” Gates said. “He would take me to the University of Detroit and we would watch high school basketball at Callahan Hall.

“Or a friend of mine named Mat Ishbia or his dad, Jeff, would come pick me up and take me to AAU practices. Shoutout to the Michigan Mustangs.”

Gates was a two-sport high school star who enrolled in 1998 at Ishbia’s alma mater, Michigan State, intending to play basketball and football. He ultimately focused on basketball in college because Michigan State’s then-coach Nick Saban wanted him to strictly play football and develop Gates into a defensive player.

Gates did not play for Michigan State, but had he joined that team, coached by Tom Izzo, he and Ishbia — a walk-on member — would have been teammates on Michigan State’s 2000 national champs.

Gates transferred three times after Michigan State, ending his college days at Kent State from 2001-03. He helped lead Kent State to a program-best 30-6 record and its only NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance in 2002. The following year, when Gates was a senior, he was selected as an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention. His jersey No. 44 is retired by Kent State.

After being deemed an undersized power forward by NBA scouts at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, Gates tried out for several NFL teams and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego Chargers in 2003. That’s despite never playing college football.

Gates played his entire pro career with the Chargers franchise and retired in 2018. He finished with 116 career regular-season and playoff touchdown catches, the most by a tight end in league history. That amount includes 89 regular-season TD catches between Gates and Philip Rivers (also mentioned in Gates’ HOF speech), the second-most for a quarterback-tight end duo behind the 90 by Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.