I went to the NBA All-Star Game in Houston this past weekend. By "went," I mean I worked 15-18 hours a day with the same division of the NBA that I had the privilege of interning with the past two summers. It was the most fun I have had all year, but, just like my internship, it was a learning experience. So today, I thought I would share some of the things I learned while in Houston.
I learned that Yao Ming is hilarious. I suspected this, but it was confirmed in the 15 minutes I was handling him before his speech introducing Hakeem Olajuwon at the NBA Retired Players Association Brunch.
The highlight came when a photographer who traveled with Yao last year in China approached him and gushed for about five minutes about how much he respected and admired his handling of all the attention he gets wherever he goes. The whole time Yao was rather zoned out, giving the impression he had no idea what this guy was saying. Eventually, he walked away, and Yao's security guy for the day (who was a chatterbox himself) asked, "Did you understand any of that?" Yao immediately answered, "Yeah." The security guard, looking a little confused, then said, "You know, I think you understand English a lot better than you let on sometimes." Then Yao flashed a huge, smug smirk and looked down to continue studying his speech about Hakeem.
I also learned that I am a total hypocrite. For some reason, I am immune to celebrity sightings. I really don't care if I "see" a famous person. Big whoop. Chill with them and get a good story out of it, like my Yao story above, and it's a different ball of wax. (I also hate autograph seekers over the age of 12, but whatever.) Escorted Bill Russell to his seat? Eh. Chilled on the court during shoot-around while "running" an errand? Big deal. Gave Shaq a pen so he could get Elgin Baylor's number? I was more worried about getting the pen back. I feel the same way about U.Va. athletes. I seriously do not give a crap who is waiting for the bus next to me, I just want to get to Gilmer.
However, I threw out all rules when I saw Peter Vescey of the New York Post at the NBA Tech Summit. He was there talking to Kiki Vandeweghe, GM of the Nuggets, and the entire time I kept thinking, "Holy crap, that's Peter Vescey. You have read his column since you were six. He is the reason you look forward to the NBA off-season more than the baseball season. He might be getting info on the impending Kenyon Martin deal right now and you are sitting here watching it."
I felt like I was watching Van Gogh paint. Only Vescey would think to come to the Tech Summit, on the total opposite side of town. Only Vescey, the insider's insider, would know where to get away from the majority of the media for a scoop. I've always wanted to be an attorney, so it's not like I was seeing my journalism idol, but I was positively star struck. Then I went back to work.
Though I already knew this, I was also reminded again why David Stern is The Man. Why, you ask? He just is. End of story.
Finally, I remembered why I loved working at the NBA so much. On Saturday, I headed out to McDade Elementary School off Route 59 North for a press conference with Stern and over 40 players, retired players, politicians and business leaders. McDade was in a neighborhood that was without a doubt the most blighted I have ever seen.
At McDade, the NBA and some of its corporate partners had just built a brand new library, equipped with thousands of dollars of new books and equipment. Construction on a new recreation area is also underway. I met the librarian there, Ms. Mary Brown. With tears in her eyes, she told me that before, they had 1/100th of the shelf space, virtually no books or workspace and that it looked the same before construction as when she arrived in 1981. She was honestly too happy too speak. It was the best moment of my All-Star weekend by far.
I learned a million other new reasons why I love this game (and you should too), but I learned a long time ago not to test my friends', editors' or readers' patience with professing. Let the countdown to Vegas begin.
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