The event was shown live on NBA TV and was actually one of the more interesting events I've attended. They gave quick bios and only asked each player one or two questions (short and sweet). There were only two mics and the guys had this seamless routine of passing the mics to each other so there wasn't a break in the conversation flow. It was impressive and definitely had the markings of a basketball drill, which I would know nothing about from first-hand experience. Finally, each of them were asked to come up to the camera, look right into it and give their best trading card pose. Hansbrough actually looked alive at that point and as uncomfortable as I thought it was going to be, it ended up being pretty hilarious. It's tough to descirbe though without pictures and the only one I have is this little one from my mobile and it's of them sitting down, not posing.
If I had to pick someone I would most likely want to hang out with it would have to be Jordan Hill. When talking to him after the show, he actually said he was a little bit overwhelmed and wished he were a little bit taller. Uhm...he's 6'10 and by the way, definitely taller than Griffin (who also claims to be 6'10). Brandon Jennings seemed cool too and at 6'2 you wouldn't really know if he were there as a player or an agent. Especially later that night at Thabeet's party, I could not identify him in the crowd to save my life.
And, yes, my final stop on this NBA Event tour, ironically for a sport I really don't care much about unless Lebron is playing, was the 2009 NBA Draft Event for Hasheem Thabeet. Tanzania had a great showing for the event and Hill and Jennings were right there as well. I didn't see Griffin or Hansbrough, but I really didn't last that long. By midnight I was out of there. It was really, really, really crowded with people all dying to see these players in person. They're all quite sweet I suppose, but seriously? These oddly-obsessed creatures should have come to the event at the NBA Store today. That was much better lit and the great thing was that if you got bored you could just go shopping. But, back to my point, this party was held at Pranna and despite the fact that they like to hold events for athletes there, I think it's way too small of a space. Plus the VIP area is up the stairs and it just seemed dangerous. One good thing about the night was that I did further investigate my theory (purely from observing girls in the crowd much shorter than I am) that Thabeet's crotch hits around where a woman's head does and it turns out I was completely and utterly wrong...by more than a foot.
