Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players

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Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#1 » by JulesWinnfield » Wed Aug 3, 2016 8:15 pm

Past and present... Among those who you've met or interacted with at any time, give me the good guys and the ones who left a less than stellar impression, with the caveat that a brief encounter obviously does not fully define anybody...

For me:

The good: Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Sarunas marcialonis, Mark Aguirre, herb Williams, Walter McCarty, Anthony Mason, Trevor ariza

The bad: Kerry kittles, drazen Petrovic

Couldn't have been cooler than Nate Robinson. He used to go to local gyms and play pick up games with complete strangers as a Knick. I once was lucky enough to be around when he sprang up. I once ran into Walter McCarty at a traffic light soon after he was drafted with the Knicks before he had even played.. I was on the passenger side only about 14 years old at the time, he was directly to my right. When I called his name he was visibly surprised to even be recognized and flashed the biggest smile

I've heard like 4 brutal stories about Kerry kittles, only one involving me. I used to hear so many bad things about him when he was with the nets. I knew Ed pinckneys nephew and when kittles was at Villanova (where Pinckney is a legend) I was relayed some horror stories about him there. My encounter came during summer league early in his career back when it was played in New York at the Westchester county center... Saw him tell some kids to leave him the F alone when they were asking for an autograph. All the stories are along the same lines of him just treating a fan(s) like crap, nothing beyond that
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#2 » by bondom34 » Wed Aug 3, 2016 8:27 pm

Never had a bad one, but went down courtside at Wells Fargo last season and Steven Adams took a pic with me post game, really cool guy. Seemed willing to interact with fans and everything when most players just leave the court post game.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#3 » by xxSnEaKyPxx » Wed Aug 3, 2016 8:30 pm

Derek Fisher slept with my girlfriend.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#4 » by deadfeather » Wed Aug 3, 2016 8:43 pm

xxSnEaKyPxx wrote:Derek Fisher slept with my girlfriend.


Post of the year right here.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#5 » by Cactus Jack » Wed Aug 3, 2016 8:47 pm

Jamal Crawford is a cool dude. Detlef Schrempf is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.


Brent Barry never used to sign autographs for fans in pre-game warm ups lol. Funny guy tho.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#6 » by Reeko » Wed Aug 3, 2016 8:50 pm

Was at a club with bunch of friends (I think this was around '08 or '09), Raptors and Nets players came through including Bosh, Vince Carter and Keyon Dooling. A friend tried to approach Vince to get his autograph yelling " Yo Vince! Vince!" when Keyon Dooling intercepted him and repeatedly told him to "Get the F#ck outta here." Granted, probably not the best time for someone to ask for a player's autograph, but I did always think of Dooling as an @sshole after that.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#7 » by TheFire » Wed Aug 3, 2016 8:51 pm

I've met a decent amount of basketball players and pro athletes in general, and Marcin Gortat stood out the most. Helluva a guy.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#8 » by Jersey Generals » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:02 pm

Met Jayson Williams back in the day, didn't get shot in the face so that's pretty positive.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#9 » by JulesWinnfield » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:08 pm

Jersey Generals wrote:Met Jayson Williams back in the day, didn't get shot in the face so that's pretty positive.


I forgot to mention I met him too, and he was awesome. Hilarious and really outgoing, looking back he may have been drunk... Summer 1998 at WWF/WWE summer slam at MSG. I was 17, wasn't much of a wrestling fan anymore but a friend had tickets. Shook his hand and I just recall it being massive, totally engulfed mine and my hands are big enough to palm a basketball. But these experiences with him are obvious examples of why these brief encounters don't define people.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#10 » by Old Man Game » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:12 pm

My only interactions were at Thunder season ticket holder appreciation parties but they force them to be nice at those things so it probably isn't the best gauge.

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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#11 » by DarkAzcura » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:25 pm

Reeko wrote:Was at a club with bunch of friends (I think this was around '08 or '09), Raptors and Nets players came through including Bosh, Vince Carter and Keyon Dooling. A friend tried to approach Vince to get his autograph yelling " Yo Vince! Vince!" when Keyon Dooling intercepted him and repeatedly told him to "Get the F#ck outta here." Granted, probably not the best time for someone to ask for a player's autograph, but I did always think of Dooling as an @sshole after that.


http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/keyon-dooling-stayed-psychiatric-hospital-summer-talks-katie-225458656--nba.html

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/04/27/keyon-dooling-credits-doc-rivers-with-helping-save-his-life-after-breakdown-last-summer/hL98TQohVMziczVbDmOdFK/story.html
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#12 » by sfhand » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:28 pm

Many years ago I was working backstage setting up the Macy's Passport event in a warehouse on a pier in Ft Mason, SF. The Grand Marshal of the event was Magic Johnson. We had set up the "Green Room" on a raised part of the warehouse that sat above and behind the backstage area. While I was waiting for the event to start, sitting backstage on the edge of the stage we had built, then Mayor of SF and infamous disrespecter of "little people" Willie Brown and his entourage came down the stairs with his Willyness acting all high and mighty as is his usual routine when he's not out pandering for votes. Shortly thereafter the Grand Marshall came down with his entourage.

Magic, towering over his crowd, looked straight at me and asked me, over the ongoing commotion, how I was doing. I replied by asking him how he was. He said he was fine and started to walk away. A step into the journey he realized I hadn't really answered his question, so he stopped, turned, and smiling said "But how are you?" I said something like "I'm fine, thanks!" and he went on his way.

As a lifelong Warrior fan I have always disliked the Lakers, including Magic Johnson. As one who has worked backstage for over 40 years I am not at all impressed by celebrity. What I am impressed by is people who realize we are all, basically, the same. While Magic might not have known all the hours of hard work that went into setting up that event on the pier and how dog tired the crew was, he very naturally looked past his crowd of admirers and asked an "unimportant" someone behind the scenes how he was doing. It was a gracious act that most celebrities would not have considered. And he didn't just ask, he was thoughtful about it, making sure he heard how I was before moving on.

The man won over this Warrior fan for the rest of my years right then and there.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#13 » by Reeko » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:45 pm

DarkAzcura wrote:
Reeko wrote:Was at a club with bunch of friends (I think this was around '08 or '09), Raptors and Nets players came through including Bosh, Vince Carter and Keyon Dooling. A friend tried to approach Vince to get his autograph yelling " Yo Vince! Vince!" when Keyon Dooling intercepted him and repeatedly told him to "Get the F#ck outta here." Granted, probably not the best time for someone to ask for a player's autograph, but I did always think of Dooling as an @sshole after that.


http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/keyon-dooling-stayed-psychiatric-hospital-summer-talks-katie-225458656--nba.html

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/04/27/keyon-dooling-credits-doc-rivers-with-helping-save-his-life-after-breakdown-last-summer/hL98TQohVMziczVbDmOdFK/story.html


Respect. Thanks for opening my eyes, I had no idea.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#14 » by Minnesota Power » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:47 pm

Met Karl Anthony Towns on July 28. Super nice dude all around and a class act.
Also showed up early and offered to do extra autographs for people and said he wanted to satisfy every fan that showed up.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#15 » by CarMalone » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:49 pm

I met Chris Bosh. The dude wouldn't even let me **** his wife. What a turd...
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#16 » by WC NBA Fan » Wed Aug 3, 2016 9:56 pm

Positive for the most part for me.

The coolest player I ever met was Loy Vaught. I moved to LA in 1989 and was a student at Santa Monica College. Vaught was drafted by the Clips in '90 and was working out that summer in the SMC gym. I walked over to him and asked if he was ready for the NBA. He was really humble and asked me to wish him well. I told him that I would and I asked him to wish me well trying out for the SMC team. He said he absolutely would.

I worked in a super market stocking shelves when I was a teenager and some Clippers would come in from time to time. I remember bagging groceries for Joe Wolf and Tom Garrick when it was really late at night and the courtesy clerks were gone.

Ken Norman had a bad rep while in the league but he seemed pretty cool. He asked me where to find something and I asked him if they had beaten Cleveland that night and he said "oh yea, we won".

Another cool guy was Josh Childress. I saw him standing outside the twin towers in Century City/LA area in the summer of 2008 right after he signed that deal to play in Greece. I said "hey JChill" and his face lit up and was surprised that I knew who he was. He was pretty cool. I congratulated him on his big contract but said that I wanted to see him back in the NBA. He smiled and said he would.

I played pickup ball with Derek Strong at the SM YMCA. I used to take it to the hole and not call fouls. He politely scolded me and said that I needed to start calling fouls or it would put our team at a disadvantage.

I also played pickup ball back at the SMC gym where I met Vaught with Austin Croshere while he was still in high school at Crossroads. He sort of complained about me not passing him the ball when open but I'll take the blame for that because at the time, he looked like some gangly untalented nerd but I turned out to be wrong as he had like a 10 year career in the league.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#17 » by Darko Miliminutes » Wed Aug 3, 2016 10:06 pm

My dad was a very high up at UofM. Because of that i've been able to meet tons of stars. I shot hoops with the homies of C. Web and Jalen, while they and others watched laughing. Have had meals with Bo and Coach carr. Traveled on buses with teams. Watched games in the press box. Watched games on the field and on the court. Ridiculous amounts of signed memorabilia. Worked out in private facilities with them.

1 thing was almost always certain. The more talented they were, the more arrogant they are. And the amount of sycophants they are surrounded by, constantly in their ears whispering greatness, reinforcing their lofty self images. The longer they've been in school/national stage/spotlight the worse it gets. We would would crack jokes and make wagers on fast somebody became a dick.

Got less exciting as a grew up, and after my dad retired. But it was a blast! And awesome for impressing girls!
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#18 » by Statlanta » Wed Aug 3, 2016 10:06 pm

There's nothing better than finding Shaquille O'Neal walking the street in the back entrance to your neighborhood in nothing but a tank top and Superman shorts. I settled with him at Burger King and he was nice enoiugh to take a picture with me. I'm not sure if it was Boston O'Neal or retired pre-TNT O'Neal but it was nice that he took a picture when he was going for lunch. The kicker in my story is that all of my pictures were taken with my shirt backwards and I didn't realize until post-photo.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#19 » by spidythejoe » Wed Aug 3, 2016 10:09 pm

I played pick up ball once with Mark Madsen. Super nice guy, just out there having fun. I think most people have a perception of him as an awkward NBA player, but its is unbelievable to see the difference in athleticism between him and normal humans, even a number of years after his playing days were over. He was competitive, too, without being as ass. Though honestly if he were threatened by the level of basketball that was being played in the gym that day, he would have been an unmitigated a-hole. Luckily, he was not.
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Re: Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players 

Post#20 » by HotelVitale » Wed Aug 3, 2016 10:12 pm

Not a direct answer but thought it was worth mentioning. I taught a handful of future NBA/NFL guys when they were in college at a Big-10 school (long story but basically there's a couple courses almost every athlete takes and I was involved with one for a while). They were all really cool--like really cool--but many were also sort of lazy students in a certain way. Spent half of class dozing off and often seemed a few steps behind the interesting parts of the material or conversation. It was a really interesting class with almost constant participation from everyone (not tooting my horn!--I was just a TA) and the big-money athletes (basketball + football) almost all seemed like they thought it was cool but could only be half present mentally. There's not an ounce of hate in me saying this and I totally understand--a college athlete keeps a crazy schedule, and I get that they're not trying to make anything more complicated than it needs to be. Just thought it might be interesting.

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