Those NBA guys….

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens in the club doesn’t often stay in the club and at least not in this case. You are probably wondering what going to the club has to do with sports. Well its because as I was walking through the club and a guy that I had been talking to earlier that night tapped me on my shoulder and asked me would I like to meet Jermaine O’neal. For those who don’t quite know who he is he is a starting forward for the Indiana Pacers. So of course I jumped all over that chance.

The guy I was talking to walked me over to where he was. We went over to him in his VIP section that was roped off. The guy introduced me to Jermaine and we began to converse a bit. Like most NBA players he had an entourage of about 12 or so but he was still very accessible. He told me he was in town relaxing for a few days before he had to get ready for the season. We chatted it up for a few more minutes. He was a really nice guy, very polite and approachable. Now the purpose in me sharing this story is to show how approachable a lot of these guys are and to show that there are regular people like you and I. Hopefully I will get an opportunity again to chat it up with him soon.

Additional note: My professor made a request that I divulge additional details as to what Jermaine said that night. When we were “chatting it up” the conversation was about his other plans for the weekend. He stated that he was hanging out in town until Sunday. I asked him if he was enjoying his stay in town and he replied that he always has a good time in Vegas. He asked me where I was from and I told him that I lived in Vegas because I attended UNLV. He then talked about meeting some girls from the basketball team and he said “they are some big girls.” On an unfourtunate, note he also stated he was in town with a friend. Sadly the conversation ended soon afterwards as “groupie girls” began to come up to him.