Didn't know where to put this since there's no current Around The NBA thread open...
But here's my story from Sunday//going to G7.
It started with a tweet from ...Starbury, of all people. After G6 wrapped up, he tweeted something to the effect of "Nothing in the world better than a Game 7; I'll be there." That got the gears turning in my mind, and after being pleasantly surprised at flight prices (less so at game ticket prices, but whatever), I figured this is the kind of thing I'll tell my grandkids about one day, and that––being lucky enough to have the opportunity––I couldn't come up with a compelling reason not to do it.
So that was that. This was Thursday night. My itinerary was: 6AM EST flight Sunday morning (landed at 9AM PST), walked around SF for a few hours (more on that in a second...), game at 5PM, flight home at 12:30AM PST (decided to allow time for a potential parade-type atmosphere that never happened). I was home by 10AM yesterday.
So here's the story I promised back in the last around the NBA thread. I'm in San Fran (beautiful city... been there a few times), with a few hours to go before I head to Oracle, and having travelled a decent amount I know that the best kind of place to hang out/charge your phone/whatever if you have time to kill is the lobby of a luxury hotel. If you walk in like you're a guest, sit down on the couch, and plug in your phone, nobody questions you.
So I do that. I'm walking through downtown San Fran, and decide to post up in the lobby of the Four Seasons (the lobby is on the 5th floor of the building). I'm chilling there for maybe 10 minutes, when I start noticing people (training staff-looking types) appearing in "CLEVELAND BASKETBALL" warm up shirts. I'm like, 'huh... this could get interesting.'
Next thing I know, Shump, and his dumb f*cking man bun is walking right by me. He's dressed like the secret service or some sh*t. Bluetooth in ear, stupid sunglasses, etc. Nevertheless, I walk up to him and (SUPER politely) introduce myself as a Knicks fan (I know, I know... big mistake) who flew out for the game. I lied to his face and told him I loved him when he was on the team (if anyone on here says they wouldn't've said the same exact thing in this situation, they're a liar. End of story. Don't start with me, Greenie
)
Anyway, to all of this, Shump begins walking even more quickly, and says "okay, thanks" without once looking at me. He's walking down the hallway to an open elevator, and tries to make a run for it, but the doors close before he gets to it. Now we're awkwardly standing next to each other, and he just kinda tries to look away from me and pretend I'm not there. I say, "well, good luck tonight" and walk away.
As I'm walking away, I now see basically the ENTIRE team walking in my direction, towards these elevators. Of course, they're totally flanked by security, etc, so I know better than to try to stop any players or ask for pictures or whatever. So I just kind of casually walk towards them as they walk towards me, and end up essentially walking through the whole team as they pass me. LeBron literally walked right by me, so I looked up and said "Good luck tonight, LeBron." He gave me a nod and said "thanks." (Cleveland should give me a parade; I wished LeBron luck on the day he delivered for the land). Same exact situation with KLove, although he seemed more genuinely chill and was like "hey thanks man!" Mozzy is the most terrifying person I've ever seen. No JR, which was kinda heartbreaking, but whatever.
The funniest addendum to the story is that (after continuing to charge my phone for a bit), I walk out of the hotel and find a decently sized group of Cavs fans (decked out in gear) waiting at the main entrance. I tell them that I just effectively saw the whole team, and that I'm pretty sure they'd left through the back entrance. They ask how, and I explain that I was randomly hanging in the 5th floor lobby, and they were all like, "they wouldn't let us up there!" I had to explain that this was likely because they were dressed from head to toe in Cavs paraphernalia, and I casually walked in wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. Great moment... talk about being in the right place at the right time.
The game itself was absolutely everything I hoped it would be. My seats were high up but I had a great view, and everyone in the Arena couldn't've been nicer. There were a surprising amount of Cavs fans there, but everyone was getting along––the overall vibe was that everyone in the building was just happy to be there.
The Kyrie shot was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in person. Ditto for the LBJ block. The wrist injury was one of the scariest moments I've been around for––I was too high up to see what he had injured, and, while LBJ flops often, I've never seen him fake pain like that. They weren't showing replays in the arena, so I had absolutely no idea if he'd blown out his knee, broken his arm, or whatever. Disappointed to hear a few Dubs fans heckling him while he was still on the ground. So glad he got up.
I was rooting for the Warriors. I had my "strength in numbers" shirt on, and I wanted to see them complete the best season ever. But I flew out because I knew I'd get to witness history either way, and if the game were in Cleveland, I almost certainly would've been rooting for them. The first seconds after the buzzer were completely surreal. I happened to be next to a group of 5 or 6 Cavs fans, and to see their reaction, along with LeBron collapsed on the floor in joy, was one of the coolest things about the whole experience. I know that there're a lot of LBJ haters here on Knicks RGM, but as a franchise, I know we can sympathize with what the Cavs have been through. Imagining the Knicks in that kind of situation is a dream come true. I was really, really happy for them.
Next thing I knew, I was back at SFO, and then on the ground in Newark. Side note: ran into Steve Aoki at SFO. His music sucks, and I didn't say anything to him, but his girlfriend is stunning.
Anyway, one of the coolest days and experiences of my life. I can only hope that next time I go to a Finals game, I'll be wearing a KP6 jersey.
