12/02/07: NBA Basketball - Golden State Warriors @ Seattle Supersonics
Hotel / KeyArena - Seattle, WA
It took me awhile but I finally got around to doing an NBA team. I went out for the Warriors and couldn't find their hotel in the morning. Turns out, they were staying at the one hotel I had forgotten about.
It had snowed yesterday, a rarity in Seattle, and it was cold and rainy all day so keeping items dry was a priority this afternoon. The hotel setup wasn't too bad - the staff put out a couple of ropes by the door that players had to walk by on their way to the bus. The overhang was just large enough to block out the rain but random sprinkles and drips were an annoyance.
The Warriors were generally willing signers. The exception to this was Baron Davis, who didn't sign on his way out to the bus. Also, of all players Austin Croshere ignored us before the game.
The other players were good for at least one. I was getting cards done plus custom 3x5-sized photos; I don't invest much into NBA hounding so I only have one or two items per player, and use a large spiral-bound index card album that can fit 3 cards per page. Definitely low-budget compared to my hockey arsenal - I made the 3x5-sized custom photos for guys I had 0 or 1 cards for. When most players had left, Don Nelson came out and signed for the 3 of us that bothered to stick around after the first bus left. We didn't even see a few players (Azubuike, Pietrus, Perovic).
I jogged the 1.5 miles between the hotel and arena, and did the tunnel before the game. The setup inside KeyArena is not too great - gates open an hour before tipoff, and autographs can only be obtained at the tunnel as players are leaving the court after warmups. Also, the tunnel is surrounded by aisleways which they keep clear, so collectors have to line up in the rows against the aisle and then cross the aisle to the railing when a player is coming. Despite the weird regulations I did a little cleanup on guys who were one per at the hotel. Troy Hudson, Al Harrington did another card each, and Austin Croshere did 1 per with an amazingly craptastic signature (see below). I didn't want to stick around for postgame since it was pouring and not many Sonics usually stop after the game anyways. Overall I'd say this was a nice late start to my NBA season!
Golden State
Marco Belinelli 2/2 card, 3x5 photo
Andris Biedrins 1/1 3x5 photo
Austin Croshere 0/2, 1/2 cards
Baron Davis 0/1
Monta Ellis 2/2 card, 3x5 photo
Al Harrington 1/2, 1/1 cards
Troy Hudson 1/2. 1/1 cards
D.J. Mbenga 1/1 3x5 photo
Stephen Jackson 2/2 cards
Patrick O'Bryant 1/2 card
Mickael Pietrus 0/2 inside before
Brandan Wright 1/1 3x5 photo
Don Nelson 1/1 3x5 photo
Didn't see Kelenna Azubuike, Matt Barnes, Kosta Perovic.
