Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players

[Duffman100]

Went to a Raptors dinner where the players were the servers. Amir Johnson and Anthony Parker were my servers....the NICEST PEOPLE EVER. Anthony Parker was just very down to earth.

[yoyoboy]

Forget just players, Matthew Dellavedova is one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my life. I was at my local rec center and saw him, Anthony Bennett, Scotty Hopson, and Carrick Felix playing water basketball. This was after the conclusion of the 2013-14 season, so while he was still a bit of a fan favorite at this point, he didn't really make a big name for himself in Cleveland (and the whole NBA world for that matter) until the Finals two seasons ago. I waited for them all to come out of the pool and stopped to take pictures with all of them. AB was huge in person (vertically and horizontally). And it's so funny because Delly just absolutely doesn't look like an NBA player in the slightest. But I struck up a conversation with him about school, his teammates, and what he thought about LeBron potentially returning. Then he asked if I wanted to play a game of ping-pong, which I of course said yes to. I forget what the score was, but I know I lost. Also, last note on that, the guy is obsessed with coffee. I'm pretty sure he drank 2 cups during our entire encounter.

Also, I used to live by Anthony Bennett, Dion Waiters, CJ Miles, and Ryan Hollins. They all lived in the same house at different points, though I hardly interacted with them. Bennett's nephews (12-14 years old) came over my house a couple times to play basketball. And they referred to their uncle as "Uncle Fatty." Also, after AB was traded, they said the Cavs made a huge mistake because Bennett "plays defense" unlike K. Love and would turn out to be a better player... No bias there.

I've also met Andy and Jarrett Jack at different points. Both are really nice guys who have no problem signing autographs, taking pictures, and striking up conversations.

So no real bad experiences with NBA players.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Kevin Mchale -signing autographs. Couldn't have been nicer.

Dee Brown-Another nice guy. Signing autographs. I asked him about how he jumps so high (I was young back then)and he said he jumps rope a lot. He then pointed to Joe Kleine and said "don't ask him that."

Joe Kleine-Seemed like a nice guy as well.

Tom Heinsohn- Very gruff, not very friendly and was stuffing his face nonstop with uno's pizza the whole time. Didn't want to be there signing autographs

Cedric Maxwell-Not much to tell. He was at a big BBQ even in Boston and I said "Is that you Max?" he said yes and didn't really acknowledge me any further. Cannot blame him though. Looking back what I said was pretty stupid.

[Perishable517]

Positive...

Drew Gooden, when playing for the Bucks. My gf's son at the time worked as security for the building and used to talk to Drew with Drew always being friendly.

Her son found out I was a huge BB fan so he quizzed me on Gooden (college, draft pick #, etc.). Drew then hooked me up with tix for the Bucks home opener along with a pass to meet and greet players after the game. Not just tix, but fourth row from the court! Unfortunately, Drew was suspended for that one game so he wasn't there (where I would have met him in person).

But, to do that, super nice guy.

[Reservoirdawgs]

Anyone ever run into Jordan?

I keep hearing and reading that he's an awful human being

Sort of, although I didn't talk to him. Back in 2010 the UNC basketball program had their 100 year anniversary and a lot of the living legends came to Chapel Hill, including Jordan. After the anniversary special, a lot of the alumni went to a popular outdoor bar in downtown Chapel Hill, including Jordan and his crew. I was there with some friends and ran into one of my old suitemates, who had told us in college that Michael Jordan was his godfather (we never believed him). He said he was going to go sit with Jordan and his posse outside and asked if I wanted to join, so I said sure, not expecting to actually get in. I'll be damned if we didn't go right up to his table and sit down while my former suitemate shook Jordan's hand, did some small talk, and then sat by me. Jordan was there chomping a gigantic cigar while talking to about half a dozen gorgeous 20-somethings at the table. I sat there in awe at what was happening for about ten minutes and left. Considering Jordan had a girlfriend at the time, I can't imagine she would have been to thrilled to hear that he was hanging out with so many hot girls.

[Rich Rane]

Was walking out of a Best Buy in Jersey and Vince Carter was going in. He actually waited for me to get a basketball in my trunk for him to autograph and still shook my hand.

i also met Jason Kidd in a Foot Locker. He autographed a basketball (a different one from VC's).

[SCHeat]

Went to Reggie Miller's camp when I was a little kid. My older cousin was supposed to pick me up and forgot. So I straight up walked up to Reggie after the camp was over and told him what was going on. Most players would have just handed me off to a counselor but Reggie took my into his office at the camp and asked if I knew my Dad's phone number at work (this was way before cell phones) and I said no. So, Reggie asked if I knew where my Dad worked and I said yes and Reggie looked it up in the yellow pages and called him and told him I needed to be picked up. My Dad did not believe it was really Reggie for like the first minute on the phone and thought it was some ornate practical joke. Reggie let me chill in his office while I waited to be picked up and even had one of his assistants grab me some McDonalds. He really went above and beyond and I wouldn't be the NBA fan I am today without that happening.

Holy crap, that's awesome

[WeNeverLeftAZ]

Have met tons of former Arizona Wildcat's who are in the NBA. All have been positive but, Jason Terry is the coolest. He always says let's take a picture even if you don't ask. When Gilbert Arenas was still in school met him at a gas station. Funny part about it was he was there trying to pick up on the super hot grave yard shift girl that worked there. Ridiculously hot.

Once in Vegas me and a couple buddies were waiting for a cab and Gary Payton walked by us. This was like a week after winning a ship with the Heat. We caught eyes and he already knew we knew who he was and he started laughing and asked if we wanted a picture. He was super cool and funny.

[SCHeat]

Not basketball related, but I did meet Jadeveon Clowney a bunch of times in college and that guy was pretty cool. Kind of hard to explain, he wasn't really super talkative, it was almost like he acted like every thing in life was part of some elaborate prank he was pulling on the rest of the word. Just a class clown.

He never did anything in the NFL because of injuries but Marcus Lattimore is one of the coolest people I've ever met, let alone athlete. Just all-around nice guy.

[NBA Fan 1234]

I met Steve Nash at a bar in the city last year. He was hanging around in the corner and people kept looking at him without going up to him because they were probably scared. I went up, introduced myself (I was only 23), and talked to him for like 10 minutes. SUPER nice guy. He actually took a picture with my friend's GF after the bar closed (I left at 1 ish, so I didn't get one).

Saw Larry Johnson at a bar and one of my friends went up to him and he refused to admit he was Larry Johnson. Was odd because it was like 4:00 in the afternoon and we had just finished class and wanted to watch the World Cup - the bar only had us in it (like a group of 10-15 students).

Met Chris Duhon at a friends house. He was also kinda a douchebag. At that same house, I played against Ray Rice and he was actually nice - big ego, but he was fun to play with. We lost 3 games of 3 on 3, but it was by combined 6 (?) points.

Met the Vanderbilt basketball team / hung out with them during the 2011-12 season (my junior year when we had Fes, Jeff, John, and a **** **** coach).

I also walked directly next to Joakim Noah and Javale McGee (separate occasions) and they are HUGE. I'm 6'5 215-220 so I'm not small by any means, but they made me look / feel small and weak.

[Cujo]

I've ran into several athletes but not many NBA players. I was (jokingly) flipped off by Gilbert Arenas outside of the MCI center while wearing a Bulls Jersey (long story).

I was military and stationed in Hawaii for 3 years and was able to go to the games before the pro-bowl. The interaction is GREAT. There aren't many people there and the players spend a lot of time hanging out with the few fans that are there. I know the pro-bowl isn't all that (anymore) but if you're ever able to go to one of these I suggest doing so.

Notable players; Warren Sapp and Daunte Culpepper. Both are massive human beings and came across as extremely friendly. I had interactions with a lot of the pro-bowlers that years but those two stand out the most. It was a cool experience. As a side note; Kurt Warner was also a cool guy. Interacted with too many players here to give a full list. All of them seemed to be good guys.

I ran into Ozzie Smith at the Honolulu airport. I'm a HUGE STL Cards Fan. He came off of a plane and I guess went in the wrong direction. I few minutes later he came back and I said, "hey that's Ozzie Smith". He stood there, while leaning on his cane, and talking to me for about 10 minutes while his hot assistant was trying to rush him along. The interaction was great because it was public and NOBODY cared that he was Ozzie Smith. I had an awesome conversation with him that I'll never forget.

Lastly, I ran into Troy Aikman at the airport in Richmond. He was a jerk....

While being in the military and traveling so much I've had the opportunity to "bump" into several athletes. In general they were all really cool especially if I was in uniform. That wasn't always the case but for the most part the interactions (particularly with Ozzie) have been really cool.

[DaKnicksAreBack]

Ive been lucky enough to meet a lot of players, i wont go into all of them.. I never really had any bad experiances. I dont sweat these guys, i dont ask them for an autograph or picture or anything. I just say hello, tell them im a fan and maybe shake their hand. Russel westbrook kind of blew me off but i dont hold that against him. Even though he wasnt an NBAer - Escalade (mark Jackson's brother that died) was the friendliest. A player that i actually used to know, and even played against a number of times, was felipe lopez. He used to ocassionally come to my YMCA in washington heights to play pick up. His brother used to play there as well...as well as ricardo greer (who played for Pit) and jeff greer (who played for rutgers). Out of all those guys who played at that Y , i thought Richardo (everyone called him rick) was the best player. He went on to play overseas.

[mischievous]

When I was a teenager, I was an professional autograph hound, which means I was at airports, hotels and stadiums trying to get players autographs on a near constant biases.

Most of the NBA players were really nice and cool, most of the old school players were impossible autographs, they would just ignore you as if you weren't there....I was ignored many times by the likes of Patrick Ewing, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Moses Malone, Magic Johnson, Kevin Garnett.

Michael Jordan was really cool, and although he won't always sign autographs, he would always at least acknowledge your presence.....

There are three stories which stick out that I would like to share:

Vince Carter: a real **** early in his career, first meet him after the NBA draft, he was already really full of himself and acted as if he had already achieved NBA stardom, as his career progressed he became even worse......I wear size 16 shoes, so in high school I was unable to get them at stores and they would cost about $400-500 to ship to Toronto, John Thomas was a raptor at the time and he used to give me shoes everytime I would need them....so one morning I went to Raptors practice, we would wait by the ramp for players driving out....John drove out, saw me, drove back in and got me a pair of Nike's.....I said thank you and started to walk towards the subway.....about 5 minutes later I hear a car horn, I look up and it is Vince Carter with Tracy McGrady in a SUV.....they are at a stop light and Vince gestures me to come to the car, I was 14 and these were my hero's, I ran to the car excited to meet Vince, as I reached the car Vince laughs at me, rolls up the window and speeds off....this is by far my worst experience because Vince went out of his way to be an **** to me.

Jason WIlliams: I was at the Sac Kings hotel before morning practice, Jason comes out, refuses to sign anything for anyone, I say to him "come on please Jason", at which point he physically attacked me, I was only about 15 at the time and he had to be restrained by several players and Sac King personal, to this day I do not understand what his problem was. The worst part of the incident was another autograph hound who witnessed the events, called the NBA and said it happened to him, he was "rewarded" with a package from the Kings that included game used jersey's from both Chris Webber and Jason Williams....It bugs me to this day.

Gheorghe Mureșan: More of a misunderstanding then anything, One day before practice he was getting on the team bus, My friend from school was with me and was amazed at Gheorghe's height, he said to him "Wow you are tall", Gheorghe took offence to this and stepped to my friend ready to fight, his exact words were "Want to fight", my friend was scared ****.

I'm having trouble believing some of your stories for some reason.

[nbafan341]

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

Wasnt keylon also a life coach and said to mentor players?

[NEM]

The good:
Hedo turkoglu
Marcin Gortat
Nikola Vucevic
Mike Miller
Horace Grant
Tobias Harris
Vince carter
Tracy mcgrady
Rashard Lewis
Mickael Pietrus
Brandon Bass
Ryan Anderson
Matt Barnes
Jason Williams
Andre Drummond
Justise Winslow

The douches:
Dwight Howard
Victor Oladipo
Mario Hezonja
JJ Redick

[Ichimoku]

No bad experiences, just good. In my life, I've met four NBA players:

- Marcin Gortat (we took a picture)
- Jared Dudley (he was with Marcin Gortat)
- Dale Davis (gave me an autograph and was joking, smiling)
- Michael Finley (during Chicago Cubs game in 1999)

[bondom34]

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a jerk to me once when I was a kid. He told me to get lost when I asked for an autograph after a shoot-around.

Magic Johnson saw Kareem being a dick to me and he called me over and talked to me. He said NBA players get asked to sign so many autographs that most of them say no because otherwise they would be signing all day. He asked me who my favorite NBA player was and how I was doing in school. He told me to keep reading and studying hard. I did not leave with Magic's autograph, but even as a kid I understood his reasoning and he earned mad respect from me.

Enes Kanter was super cute with my son one time and I really appreciated that. We got a photo with him and Enes was just way cool the whole time. I felt guilty as a Jazz fan for ragging on his defense because Enes was nice to my kid.

Thurl Bailey is a true gentleman. To this day he signs at Jazz games and is nice to everyone.

Trey Burke was friendly to me.

DeMarre Carroll and Earl Watson and CJ Miles and Al Jefferson and Andrei Kirilenko are all super nice guys.

Enes really seems like a big kid off the court.

[76ciology]

Anyone ever run into Jordan?

I keep hearing and reading that he's an awful human being

Sort of, although I didn't talk to him. Back in 2010 the UNC basketball program had their 100 year anniversary and a lot of the living legends came to Chapel Hill, including Jordan. After the anniversary special, a lot of the alumni went to a popular outdoor bar in downtown Chapel Hill, including Jordan and his crew. I was there with some friends and ran into one of my old suitemates, who had told us in college that Michael Jordan was his godfather (we never believed him). He said he was going to go sit with Jordan and his posse outside and asked if I wanted to join, so I said sure, not expecting to actually get in. I'll be damned if we didn't go right up to his table and sit down while my former suitemate shook Jordan's hand, did some small talk, and then sat by me. Jordan was there chomping a gigantic cigar while talking to about half a dozen gorgeous 20-somethings at the table. I sat there in awe at what was happening for about ten minutes and left. Considering Jordan had a girlfriend at the time, I can't imagine she would have been to thrilled to hear that he was hanging out with so many hot girls.

DLo, is this you?

[NickAnderson]

I met Dennis Rodman. He was really cool, talked for a bit.

I saw DR. J at Scarlett's and he was a total ass.

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using RealGM mobile app

[politm]

Gheorghe Mureșan: More of a misunderstanding then anything, One day before practice he was getting on the team bus, My friend from school was with me and was amazed at Gheorghe's height, he said to him "Wow you are tall", Gheorghe took offence to this and stepped to my friend ready to fight, his exact words were "Want to fight", my friend was scared ****.

Definitely a misunderstanding, Big Gheorghe is a Romanian and asking someone to fight is their way of saying they like you and want to be friends.

Yeah, I can confirm. We also have dragons and vampires and stuff...

On a serious note, I met Ghita Muresan twice, super nice dude.