LIFE OF A NBA BALLER
Over the years I've had the opportunity to experience some pretty sweet sporting events first hand. In 2000 I attended the NBA All-Star game in Oakland and witnessed a collection of the best basketball players in the world on the same court. In 2001 I went to Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa and watched Baltimore crush the NY Giants. While the Super Bowl and even the All-Star game were once in a lifetime experiences the trips I've taken with the Golden State Warriors the past 2 years have been more of an insider's experience. Most recently, last weekend I got to fly with the Warriors on the team's charter plane up to Portland for their game against the Blazers. Getting to travel with the team you learn a few things about the life of an NBA player:
1. Flying on a charter plane beats commercial by a mile.
2. Thanks to the player's union you only stay in 4 or 5 star hotels. This is written into the CBA (collective bargaining agreement). As a result on our trip we ended up staying in the Benson Hotel, which is apparently where the President stays when he visits Portland. Not too shabby.
3. When on the road you must use an alias when you check in at the before mentioned 4 or 5 star hotel (presumably to thwart the groupies and autograph seekers). Some of the better aliases used by some of the Warriors were Rick James & Bart Simpson.
4. It's good to be a NIKE guy in Portland. We got invited to the Nike Employee Store in Beaverton where they have all the latest Nike gear not yet out in the stores and all for 50% off. Of course if you are actually a player under contract with Nike you get it all for free.
5. Even if you get blown out by an inferior team, in a game you really had to win to keep pace in the playoff race, you still get a steak dinner on the charter flight back home and your Bentley, Rolls or Benz is still waiting for you in the private lot when you land. Win or lose, life is good.
On the game itself, Baron Davis, or B. Dizzle according to the hotel roster, was a last minute scratch and the Warriors played terribly without him. As the TV play-by-play guy joked on the media bus after the game, "We should just run a scroll at the bottom of the screen reminding the viewers: WITH BARON GOOD, WITHOUT BARON BAD." And they were bad. Stephen Jackson didn't disappoint either, living up to the semi-crazy rep he's gotten the past couple of years stemming from his role in the Palace brawl, by getting a technical for tossing the ball at the ref's feet and then getting tossed from the game for continuing to argue the call. On the Portland side, Brandon Roy should clearly be the rookie of the year. He was the best player on the court. Despite their record the Blazers actually have some nice young talent on their squad. And since they are in the western conference if you translated their record to the east they probably would be in the playoff mix (see the Toronto Raptors). So a stinker of a game but a fun trip. Of course Baron was back last night at home and the Warriors routed the Mavs ending their 17-game winning streak. With Baron good...living the NBA lifestyle even better.
1. Flying on a charter plane beats commercial by a mile.
2. Thanks to the player's union you only stay in 4 or 5 star hotels. This is written into the CBA (collective bargaining agreement). As a result on our trip we ended up staying in the Benson Hotel, which is apparently where the President stays when he visits Portland. Not too shabby.
3. When on the road you must use an alias when you check in at the before mentioned 4 or 5 star hotel (presumably to thwart the groupies and autograph seekers). Some of the better aliases used by some of the Warriors were Rick James & Bart Simpson.
4. It's good to be a NIKE guy in Portland. We got invited to the Nike Employee Store in Beaverton where they have all the latest Nike gear not yet out in the stores and all for 50% off. Of course if you are actually a player under contract with Nike you get it all for free.
5. Even if you get blown out by an inferior team, in a game you really had to win to keep pace in the playoff race, you still get a steak dinner on the charter flight back home and your Bentley, Rolls or Benz is still waiting for you in the private lot when you land. Win or lose, life is good.
On the game itself, Baron Davis, or B. Dizzle according to the hotel roster, was a last minute scratch and the Warriors played terribly without him. As the TV play-by-play guy joked on the media bus after the game, "We should just run a scroll at the bottom of the screen reminding the viewers: WITH BARON GOOD, WITHOUT BARON BAD." And they were bad. Stephen Jackson didn't disappoint either, living up to the semi-crazy rep he's gotten the past couple of years stemming from his role in the Palace brawl, by getting a technical for tossing the ball at the ref's feet and then getting tossed from the game for continuing to argue the call. On the Portland side, Brandon Roy should clearly be the rookie of the year. He was the best player on the court. Despite their record the Blazers actually have some nice young talent on their squad. And since they are in the western conference if you translated their record to the east they probably would be in the playoff mix (see the Toronto Raptors). So a stinker of a game but a fun trip. Of course Baron was back last night at home and the Warriors routed the Mavs ending their 17-game winning streak. With Baron good...living the NBA lifestyle even better.
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