i saw rafe austin at the red lobster in houston when he was in the nest and i didnt know what he was doing in houston when he plays for new jersey but i guess he missed H-town and wanted to come back for a lil bit. and i have seen hakeem several times.
I met Rafer Alston at Red Lobster a couple of years ago. Met T.J. Ford at the Galleria last year I met Chris Anderson and Joey Graham at a business center close to the toyota center couple of months ago
When I was a kid I met John Lucas at a Chucky Cheese in Bellaire... My dad told me who he was. John and I played against each other in one of those basketball shootaround games that spits out tickets. Siffce of to say that he beat me pretty badly.
i'm guessing clyde recognizes who are casual autograph seekers and who are hounds, so he charges the hounds since they make money off of it....i'm also guessing he may give that money to charity, hopefully.
I met Robert Horry when he came to Strake Jesuit to give his nephew some lunch. Also met Yao Ming at Tapioca House right by Strake Jesuit on Bellaire.
IT was Sunday March 10, 1996...I was 12, and the Rockets had a game in Vancouver. Our family has always been big Rockets fans, and they ended up planning our vacation to Vancouver the same time Rockets played there. They must have had a great travel agent, because she was able to not only get us the same hotel where the Rockets were staying, but we were on the same floor. As soon as we checked in for our rooms, we headed up the escalator....not even half way up, we see the entire Indiana Pacers team come down the escalator on the opposite side...moving on... Remember Pete Chilcutt? lol, Kenny, Sam, Hakeem, Horry, Drexler.....the entire team... all the way up to the Assist Coaches...I get all their autographs throughout my stay at the hotel.. Long story short...it's gametime! My mom gets cookies made in Houston...sugar cookies shaped like jerseys with all the players #'s on them...not knowing I ate Drexlers and Sam Cassells..not knowing she got them baked for Calvin Murphy..(Everyone knows he loved cookies and would eat them on air...classic) We had floor seats right behind the Rockets' bench, which was also close to Bill and Calvin. We get there extra early and of course my mom gives me the cookies to walk to give them to Calvin before the game starts...Calvin accepts them, asks my name, who I'm with...asks the name of my aunt that came with us...introduce Calvin to my family and aunt (They dated after that for a long while)... Next thing I know Calvin puts what looks like a media tag...and says "come with me for a sec so you can meet the whole team..." I'm like what?!. Thousands of people that were at the game early watch as I'm walking with Calvin Murphy in the Rockets locker room. I see players stretching...Robert Horry getting a foot massage. Clyde Drexler putting shoes on. I get to shake all their hands while he introduces me to them....then! We come out of the locker room, and Hakeem Olajuwon is on the court practicing. Olajuwon sees us walking and meets us half court. I'm introduced to him and he says something...I don't know what the hell he said. On my way back to my seat, people in the stands start asking me how they can go meet the players...great questions Calvin becomes a friend of the family after that...and for the next few seasons gives us free tickets to all the home games right next to the hallway where the players come out...I don't want to keep boring yall...sorry for the long post =) But that's one of my stories..
I was just thinking about creating a thread like this and here it is! I've had two experiences meeting rocket's players. The first was Scotty Brooks back in 94'. My buddy had a birthday party at the summit and had some package set up where he got to go out on the court during half time and he and all of us got to meet a player before the game. So Scotty Brooks just hung out with us and helped sing my buddy happy bday as they brought the cake out. Pretty cool. Too bad it was scotty brooks and not someone who actually PLAYED... My second experience was much more brief. Back in the mid nineties sometime there was a trading card exposition at the George R. Brown Convention center. Numerous players were there and if you paid the right price you could get their autograph. I got Clyde the Glide's John Hancock and shook his hand. The BEST experience was not had by me, however. My mom was an english teacher at UH for 20 years and taught Hakeem on his first day. He took a placement test to see what English class he should be in and answered 1 of 100 questions correctly. The answer he got right was knowing what the word's "thank you" meant. My mom said he was the most polite and well mannered man, but he could barely speak a word of english his first days at UH. My mom nicely transfered him to the appropriate class so that he would make the best grade he could and remain ELIGIBLE TO PLAY. Thanks mom.
When I was a kid, I went to one of his basketball camps. Got to play knockout with the guy. Met Mutombo at one of Tmac's charity softball events (don't know if that really counts because it was a public event). One of the coolest ones happened this year. I was at the MIT Sports Analytics conference that Morey was a part of in Boston. I'd like to pretend that I'm that hardcore of a fan that I would fly to Boston to meet the guy... but the truth was that that sort of thing is something I hope to be involved in for my career. Anyways... I'm digressing from the story. I get there at like 7:30AM and they have some kind of breakfast thing. Daryl Morey just happens to be walking around like he's just another guy at the conference. I didn't say anything to him though... couldn't think of what I would've said other than the usual "dude you are awesome" statements. And then on my way home back to Houston, I have to fly on a connector to Atlanta first... and Brent Barry was on the same plane I was. Obviously he was at the event too, he was on one of the panels, but still I thought it was pretty cool. Again, didn't even know what to say to the guy.
Let's see, I have met Rockets players on a few occasions: I met John Lucas with his family and got his autograph while at an amusement park with my cousin...I think he was high. I was chosen to do a PSA with Robert Reid at my elementary school. Nice guy. I met Don Chaney and his wife while he was head coach at a flea market...(my mother made me go along with her) I played a pick-up basketball game with my father and Lewis Lloyd at what was then Spring Wood Park... I don't think he was high, though. I met Kenny Smith at my church at the time... Met Clyde Drexler and Kevin Willis while working at Neiman Marcus. Also met non-Rockets Jason Kidd, Nick Van Exel, Muggsy Bogues, Walter McCarty, Antoine Walker there...and I went to high school with Rashard Lewis. Fun times...
Met Carl Landry at The Ritz. He was partying with two of his buddies that were about 5'5". Met Cat Mobley at Buzzfest. He was sitting on top of a trash can with about 15 hot chicks surrounding him.
