Quincy8Douby
Nets Fan
Alright, this is going to be a long story, but yes there are pictures at the end. Well I have a neighbor who goes to a lot of autograph events and knows all of these places where they are staying. So he invited my brother and I to the photoshoot and then we rented out a hotel where they were staying for the night even though it was all within driving distance (Connecticut). I live in New Jersey so there was a ton of traffic on the way up there since we left around 4pm. We stopped at Model's and got basketballs to get autographed by basically all of the good players from the nba draft. We finally arrived at around 6pm right when the players were leaving the facility so we already saw a ton of guys.
Joakim Noah was the first and he, along with everyone else, was happy to sign for us. His auto is really funny and odd, which you will see below. Then we continued getting the players who came out... Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Mike Conley... Oden and Durant were very nice, asking us if there was anything else we needed signed the numerous times we went up to them (yes, there's more to come). After the bus departed, we went back to the hotel where they were staying and of course all of the players were staying on our floor and Oden was across from us, Sean Williams and Corey Brewer next to us. There were no other autograph followers there since nobody knew about this and all of the people at the hotel were surprised but didn't bother getting autographs. So when we arrived about 20 minutes later, we unpacked our bags and sat in the lobby, as Durant and around 5-6 other players were hanging out. We sat in the lobby for probably around 5-6 hours, had dinner, and just got autographs as players signed. That night, we got guys like Spencer Hawes, Morris Almond, Thaddeus Young, Julian Wright, Jared Dudley, Sean Williams, Daequan Cook, and Aaron Brooks.
We also did see Acie Law, Wilson Chandler, Big Baby Davis, Nick Young, Rudney Stuckey, Tiago Splitter, Carl Landry, Nick Fazekas, Gabe Pruitt, Arron Afflalo, Alando Tucker, Chris Richard, Adam Haluska, Taurean Green, and Aaron Gray but couldn't get them since they were in and out. I am also disappointed that I never saw Jeff Green or Al Thornton but I know they were there, and Yi never showed up to the photoshoot at all. So basically everybody was there and it was a lot of fun even though we did have to run after some players, none of them said no. I was really surprised about how nice Oden and Durant were and they were always willing to sign, unlike some of the guys last year on the day before the draft when we were getting autos... some ran or hid trying to get away from the crowds... but that might have just been because there were crowds unlike this year.
We went to sleep around 1am figuring that a few other guys might come in, but we wanted to wake up early so we could get the players as they left. We woke up around 7:30 and I was of course tired but we headed down to the lobby, got breakfast, and waited in the lobby for more players. We still needed a few more big names and we managed to get them as they left... Al Horford, Brandan Wright, Derrick Byars... Of course we say Durant and Oden a few more times and my neighbor/brother got them to sign floorboards and other balls and they happily did. There were no major crowds around since it was a fairly calm hotel so it was easy to get to the players. Of course the way back was long too, especially with all of the traffic in the Bronx, but it was well worth it. So much fun, and I definitely could have written more but don't want to go into major details about when we got them and how...
So, now for the fun part... the pictures of the ball I got signed.
Here are the names:
Greg Oden
Kevin Durant
Al Horford
Mike Conley
Corey Brewer
Brandan Wright
Joakim Noah
Spencer Hawes
Thaddeus Young
Julian Wright
Sean Williams
Daequan Cook
Jared Dudley
Morris Almond
Aaron Brooks
Derrick Byars
Brandan Wright at top... ^
Conley on right ^
Durant middle, Horford right ^
Oden middle ^
Noah ^ (happy face w/ Noah written)
Joakim Noah was the first and he, along with everyone else, was happy to sign for us. His auto is really funny and odd, which you will see below. Then we continued getting the players who came out... Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Mike Conley... Oden and Durant were very nice, asking us if there was anything else we needed signed the numerous times we went up to them (yes, there's more to come). After the bus departed, we went back to the hotel where they were staying and of course all of the players were staying on our floor and Oden was across from us, Sean Williams and Corey Brewer next to us. There were no other autograph followers there since nobody knew about this and all of the people at the hotel were surprised but didn't bother getting autographs. So when we arrived about 20 minutes later, we unpacked our bags and sat in the lobby, as Durant and around 5-6 other players were hanging out. We sat in the lobby for probably around 5-6 hours, had dinner, and just got autographs as players signed. That night, we got guys like Spencer Hawes, Morris Almond, Thaddeus Young, Julian Wright, Jared Dudley, Sean Williams, Daequan Cook, and Aaron Brooks.
We also did see Acie Law, Wilson Chandler, Big Baby Davis, Nick Young, Rudney Stuckey, Tiago Splitter, Carl Landry, Nick Fazekas, Gabe Pruitt, Arron Afflalo, Alando Tucker, Chris Richard, Adam Haluska, Taurean Green, and Aaron Gray but couldn't get them since they were in and out. I am also disappointed that I never saw Jeff Green or Al Thornton but I know they were there, and Yi never showed up to the photoshoot at all. So basically everybody was there and it was a lot of fun even though we did have to run after some players, none of them said no. I was really surprised about how nice Oden and Durant were and they were always willing to sign, unlike some of the guys last year on the day before the draft when we were getting autos... some ran or hid trying to get away from the crowds... but that might have just been because there were crowds unlike this year.
We went to sleep around 1am figuring that a few other guys might come in, but we wanted to wake up early so we could get the players as they left. We woke up around 7:30 and I was of course tired but we headed down to the lobby, got breakfast, and waited in the lobby for more players. We still needed a few more big names and we managed to get them as they left... Al Horford, Brandan Wright, Derrick Byars... Of course we say Durant and Oden a few more times and my neighbor/brother got them to sign floorboards and other balls and they happily did. There were no major crowds around since it was a fairly calm hotel so it was easy to get to the players. Of course the way back was long too, especially with all of the traffic in the Bronx, but it was well worth it. So much fun, and I definitely could have written more but don't want to go into major details about when we got them and how...
So, now for the fun part... the pictures of the ball I got signed.
Here are the names:
Greg Oden
Kevin Durant
Al Horford
Mike Conley
Corey Brewer
Brandan Wright
Joakim Noah
Spencer Hawes
Thaddeus Young
Julian Wright
Sean Williams
Daequan Cook
Jared Dudley
Morris Almond
Aaron Brooks
Derrick Byars
Brandan Wright at top... ^
Conley on right ^
Durant middle, Horford right ^
Oden middle ^
Noah ^ (happy face w/ Noah written)
So many autos and so many potential stars too!
