Positive/Negative experiences interacting with players

[TOStateofMind]

Met Charlie V a while back. He was real chill. Took a pic together as well.

[ronnymac2]

Saw Patrick Ewing at the Bellagio. Me and a group of my friends went up to him to say hi. He declined to do pictures or autographs, but he was appreciative of my friend who thanked him for giving NYK fans so many good years. Seemed like a cool dude; definitely a positive overall experience.

Got autographs before a game from Josh Boone, Richard Jefferson, and Gilbert Arenas. They seemed cool. Got an autograph from Stephon Marbury at a signing event at Steve and Barry's. He had his child there so he understandably was a bit preoccupied.

Saw Keith Van Horn at a mall. We didn't say hi because he was with his wife and children, and we didn't want to bother him. In retrospect, I'm happy the eighth grade version of me and my friends knew enough to not bother a person spending time with their family. lol

[xBulletproof]

I've met a few. Played with a few more.

When I worked at Burger King in high school Travis Best came in. I acknowledged who he was and he froze. Like he didn't know what to do. Kinda reminded me of watching him dribble out the clock looking confused.

Not NBA related but the most fun story was meeting Bob Knight. I was a kid, and I called him Bob. He told me if I didn't refer to him as Mr. Knight he would string me up by my balls.

I still laugh at that today.

[thierry]

Saw Klay Thompson at a lounge in SF on my birthday. An hour after I saw him I walked up to him when he wasn't talking to anyone and told him I was a huge fan and that it was my birthday. He asked me how old I was, then he got excited that we were the same age. He brought me to his table, poured me a drink, and talked to me mainly about ball for 10 mins. This was two years ago, so it was before he was an all star, but I just told him about how I thought he was the perfect 2 guard and how he'd explode in the NBA. Also remember telling him that the rumors of him for Love were awful as a GS fan. At this time the Spurs had just beat the Heat, so I was talking to him about how insane he would be in the Spurs system and he was agreeing with me. He was a really cool guy, took a provocative pic with me as well.

Saw Jared Dudley a month ago at a random Mexican burrito place in San Diego at 3 AM. He was really chill, gave me a fist bump and chatted about the NBA. We talked about the PHX Suns, the craziness with the NBA contracts (and how he got 3 yr 30 mil), and how he thought KD was wack for going to the Warriors. He was also praising both Curry and LeBron like crazy. He was there waiting for his food with his boys for about 10 mins then dipped out in a black SUV. I never really liked him as a player, but he was very personable.

Shook hands with both Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap in the Vegas MGM lobby.. Both were very laid back

Saw JaVale McGee in Vegas -- he is a clown, acted like he was too good for everyone

Approached Marshawn Lynch at a club in SF and I was scared for my life at his reaction to me approaching him LMAO.. this guy is mean as hell and honestly one of the most intimidating people I have ever seen.. I can't put into words how big he is, looks like he's a Ninja Turtle with a shirt on covering his shell.

Praised Russell Westbrook at UCLA during some runs where there were a bunch of NBA/NFL/NCAA players (TO, Ocho Cinco, Shawn Merriman, Earl Watson, Westbrook, UCLA players).. This was when he was either an NBA rookie or a sophomore but he was running them and gave me a fist bump when I was admiring his play, laughing too, really good demeanor. BTW -- Terrell Owens is actually really damn good at basketball. Ocho Cinco was horrrrrrible.

Had a very positive interaction with Tyson Chandler after a Warriors game when he was on the Hornets. He had an absolute monster game, yelled out his name right after he finished his post game interview yelling that he was a beast pounding my chest and he acknowledged me with a huge smile, pointing at me, then demonstratively pounding his chest back.

[DemonLizard]

I met Meyers Leonard at a blazers game before warmups, he was signing auto-graphs and having conversations with everyone... Was super awesome, got to talk to him for like 5 minutes haha.

[OsuCavsfan103]

NBA Players: Met CJ McCollum numerous times bc of my work, pretty nice kid overall, pretty quiet but his is nice if you talk to him.

Kosta Koufos is a pretty nice dude. I've seen him out shopping with his Mom at Walmart a good 3 times now (can't miss him he's 7'2)

Made eye contact with Matt Barnes at DFW last summer, I did a double take and when he realized I recognized him I feel like the look he gave me was "Stay away from me do not draw attention to me" but I never spoke with him so idk if he is nice or not.

Bc I work at the airport right by the football HOF, most of my experiences are with football players.

Donovan McNabb is a pretty cool dude. I work for a major US Airline, and our airline lost his bag for a few days so we had to call him on his personal cell and update him on it all, very understanding and cool about it all when he easily could have been annoyed. He is staying at a pretty crappy motel, that surprised me a lot.

Torry Holt was pretty nice, we just exchanged quick pleasantries, but he wasn't mean about it at all.

Randy Moss was nice to me, just talked for a min, I was laughing about how incognito he looked, dude was rocking a worn out zip up hoodie, not very fashionable jeans, and flip flops... I had to look at him a few times before I realized it was him.

My brother met Tikki Barber and said he was very nice.

Shawn Crable former UM LB and Patriot a few times, he seems pretty nice.

Devin Smith WR for Jets, he and his wife and their kid are in a lot, seems like a nice dude.

Charles Woodson, just a quick hello

I've seen and met a lot of celebrities bc of my work, I am not really allowed to fanboy too much, plus I honestly don't care to do more than say hello and talk for a second, to me they are people just like me.

Only person I ever met who was kinda of a dbag was Terrelle Pryor in his OSU days, pretty sure he was intoxicated, he wasn't mean to me at all so much, but he just had a huge cockyness about him, and he actually punched a sign and said "F the pigs" referring to police lol. He didn't seem trashed, but definitely not sober lol.

[Robo_Claw]

Paul milsap - really cool guy
Saw deandre Jordan and Austin rivers hammered In Memphis - did not even attempt to aknowlege me (3am I was in rough shape, def yelled at deandre too so maybe my fault)
Mike Woodson/Lawrence frank - same hotel (clips were a floor below us so I kept catching elevators with the clips) really cool guys. Really wanted to tell woody to eff himself as a hawks fan but he was genuinely nice, his facial hair is impressive as hell in person, photos don't do it justice, really.
Charles Barkley - best celeb ever. Randomly see him around atl, always will take a min to say hi and bs with anyone around.
Shaq - I got nervous and weird, he was cool but I ruined that.
Isiah Thomas/Rick kamla - awesome dudes that will talk ball for as long as they have time.
Trey Kirby from the starters is a super rad humble dude too.

[bondom34]

Only person I ever met who was kinda of a dbag was Terrelle Pryor in his OSU days, pretty sure he was intoxicated, he wasn't mean to me at all so much, but he just had a huge cockyness about him, and he actually punched a sign and said "F the pigs" referring to police lol. He didn't seem trashed, but definitely not sober lol.

Literally every story I've heard of Pryor is that he's a jerk.

[yellowknifer]

I saw Brian Scalabrine at a grocery store in Chicago once. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.

The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.

When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

Did you at least let him know he's a gigantic douche who doesn't actually do anything important in the big picture who no one will remember 20 years from now?

[DAWill1128]

Met Shawn Bradley at a ski lodge, he raved about the Spurs and how in the NBA your system is everything. Told me he predicted the Spurs would win it all despite being associated as a Maverick, crazy enough he was right.

Met Lou Amundson at a club, he couldn't get in because nobody believed he was an NBA player. Told me how he planned a whole trip to surprise his gf and how the clubs entrance policy ruined it. Told me how the rich nba players and owners have a ridiculous amount of power in society.

Met all the Golden State Warriors after they won the Championship, they had a ton of girls and we're real cool. They actually went out of the way to talk to me. Draymond showed up earlier then the rest of the team was some cougar all over him.

Marco Bellinelli threw a sweaty towel after winning player of the game at me and hit me in the face, great souvenir. Made me feel like a winner.

Met Richard Jefferson and Luke Walton who were cordial.

Met Mutumbo at a strip club, but that's another story.

[Ice Trae]

i've witnessed a negative experience that Antonio Gates from the Chargers was involved in. Dude parked in a handicap spot and the valet was telling him to move his car. After a few back and forth between them he finally says 'Do you know who I am? I'm Antonio mothafkin Gates'. I was almost crying after he said that, it was hilarious.

[Heat_team02]

All in Miami.

My Positive experiences:

Dwyane Wade rookie season, Jamal Mashburn, Haslem, Ricky Davis, Stan Van Gundy
non bball : Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (in college-Freshman) Warren Sapp (strip club/Raiders player) & Lamar Thomas (in college)

My Negative experience:

Mike James

[Method28]

My cousin is a former NBA player so I've had my fair share of encounters. Can think of many nice teammates he had like Harold Miner, Glenn Rice, Chris Mullin (who i FREAKED out over meeting since he's my favorite player) and Keith Van Horn and Sam Cassell (may have been the nicest guy.)

I also have met Kerry Kittles but he wasnt a major dick from what i saw. I also heard stories about him but never saw it myself. Penny Hardaway was also SUPER nice.

The ones that really disappointed me were Marbury, Nick Anderson and Steve Smith. Anderson was probably the biggest jerk that i witnessed myself.

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[Zukkoyaki]

When I was working as a server in Columbia, Missouri I split a large party that happened to be the University of Missouri basketball team plus Kim English who was on the Pistons at the time. Most of the team was pretty anti-social to everyone except Kim along with Phil Pressey and Lawrence Bowers who were all fantastic. Bowers sat and listened to a little old lady gush about his recovery from an ACL tear for like 10 minutes.

During off-seasons Kim still hangs out around downtown Columbia and he's always super nice 100% of the time.

[chrismikayla]

A lot of Bama players used to play at the Rec center while in school. Played a few games with Robert Horry, Latrell Spewell, James Robinson, David Benoit, Keith Askins. None every seemed to full of themselves, had a good time playing with regular students.

Wow James Robinson. That's a name I haven't heard in a while. Wasn't his nickname Hollywood?

[tiderulz]

A lot of Bama players used to play at the Rec center while in school. Played a few games with Robert Horry, Latrell Spewell, James Robinson, David Benoit, Keith Askins. None every seemed to full of themselves, had a good time playing with regular students.

Wow James Robinson. That's a name I haven't heard in a while. Wasn't his nickname Hollywood?

yep. Was an offensive stud in college, but his height was a big issue in the NBA. too small for SG but didnt have a PG's game or handle.

[chrismikayla]

A lot of Bama players used to play at the Rec center while in school. Played a few games with Robert Horry, Latrell Spewell, James Robinson, David Benoit, Keith Askins. None every seemed to full of themselves, had a good time playing with regular students.

Wow James Robinson. That's a name I haven't heard in a while. Wasn't his nickname Hollywood?

yep. Was an offensive stud in college, but his height was a big issue in the NBA. too small for SG but didnt have a PG's game or handle.

Same with Brian Williams from several years ago. They're known for football but they have really had some outstanding college to NBA players.

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[GreenBloodedC]

Just wanted to say, great thread. Really enjoyed reading your experiences

[yoyoboy]

Ooh, I almost forgot. 4 years ago, I also saw Tristan Thompson walking into my rec center. This was during the summer following his rookie year, I'm pretty sure. He went up to the front desk, and the lady there said, "Wow, you're so tall. Do you play any basketball?"

And then TT responded, "Yeah, I dabble in it."

Didn't get the chance to talk to him, but I found that encounter funny.

[TheSunGod]

I was a freshman at Artesia High School when James Harden was a senior. Pretty chill and wholesome dude from what I remember. I remember one time I wore a #32 Suns Stoudemire jersey and this was right about the time we saw the Lakers in the first round back to back years. I remember James (who was a Laker fan then) screaming from 30-40 feet away from me, "TAKE THAT SH*T OFF!" while he was smiling.

Side note: It's a shame Renardo Sidney didn't pan out in college.