dj...marv...and the knicks?
jimimou gives me a call around 3pm letting me know he can't join me at the palm restaurant tonight for happy hour around 6pm. so i pick up the phone b/c i have a "plus 1" for tonight and call marv. i ask marv to join me for happy hour. he said sure. he told me he just took a centrum "silver" and he's ready to go.
so i meet up with marv outside of the palm at 6pm. parked outside is a silver mercedes with tinted windows with florida plates. interesting.
we go in, check our coats and got some liquor. so marv orders up some concoction that i've never heard of. before he could ask for the umbrella, i tell him "no marv. NO." btw, the drinks were free tonight. oh yeah, i forgot to tell you why we're meeting at the palm for happy hour...it's a meet and greet with the knicks.
so who's the first guy we meet up with? none other than marv's hero...jerome "the big game" james...
dj "hey jerome. how's your foot doing?"
jj "much better. thanks man."
marv "jerome, we're always calling up that photo of yoiu wearing the garbagae bag cape after the playoff win."
jerome starts laughing. "yeah, i remember that one."
this guy is so personable.
so we're drinking our drinks. marv with his "Y" chromosome drink and me with my captain and ginger. and hey, it's steph...

i'm looking at the guy and i'm bigger than him. he's standing there real mellow, expressionless. he's got about $100,000 on his wrist with his watch. and about another $50 or so on his ears. ICED out.
dj "you've been playing great man."
steph "thanks man."
dj "hey steph. you look like you lost some weight man."
steph "yeah, a litle."
marv "aw man, i feel bad for you having everbody have to talk about your weight and everything."steph dead pan, no response.
if there was a word to describe steph, it is introvert.
steph "yo, you guys the same dudes from ultimateknicks?"
dj and marv surprisingly "HELL YEAH!!!"
steph "yo, tell that cat killa4luv to stop writing me letters and sending gifts. he scares me."
(editor's note: ok, those last 3 lines didn't really happen. but would you really be surprised if it did?")
then we mosey on over to the right and it's none other than 2 time world champion malik rose.
malik is yucking it up with everybody. just talking and having a good time.
marv "one thing i always loved was how you messed up shaq, just bothered the hell out of him."
malik laughing "man that was all i could do was try to bother him."
dj "what's up malik? you don't wear your rings?"
malik "nah man. i keep them in the car or at home. don't trust nobody with those."
we then proceed to take 3 pics b/c the guy taking our pics kept messing up. but malik was cool and was like "take another one then."
then we turn around and it's quentin...
marv "q, you're a killer in the post man. you're the best we've had down there since bernard king."
q "thanks man."
dj "how's the back doing?"
q "it's feelin' good man."
(editor's note: ok, marv and dj, you guys sound like little school girls.)
we turn around again and it's david lee. the guy is tall.
marv to dj "he's got a good frame and physique. he can put on some good muscle."
dj to marv "from now on, you stand in front of me."so david finishes taking a picture with 4 girls. then 2 girls step up to take a pic. they were going to take turns taking the pic. i offer to take a pic of both of them but she says "no. we want individual pics." dj "i see, get them wallet size so you can tell everyone he's your man."
david and i BS for a bit.
marv "david, you ever read ultimateknicks?"
david ""no man i don't ever read **** on the internet. i'm superstitious, that **** will mess me up if i read it."marv and i reload on drinks. both of us get a heineken. baby steps marv...baby steps.
as we get our drinks, we see number 3, john starks.
marv "john, everybody tells you they saw the dunk ..."
starks "but you really saw it, right?"
marv "yeah!"
then we both head to the back and see the final two knicks in attendance...eddy and jamal.
dj "eddy, eastern conference all star?"
eddy "i hope so man."
marv "you're gonna get it. eddy you're killing out there, just killing."
eddy "thanks man."
(editor's note: what you don't see in the pic is dj and marv sporting major wood like a pair of 16 year old boys the first time they saw the movie "porky's.")
then we slide left and talk to jamal.
dj "what's up jamal? why you hiding in this corner?"
jamal "i know right."
dj "you know you're killin' me on my fantasy team with those 3's, right? i need some more."
jamal "i'm going to try to make some more."
dj "you gotta be happy man with nate and eddy here."
jamal "yeah, it's awesome playing with my friends."
marv "hey man a lot of people dog that move you make where you throw it to yourself off the backboard and dunk it, but i love that move. you're not just messing arouind, it's really strategic, you get to the rim that way."
jamal "i know man, i'm gonna do it in a game this year. i'm not sure when, but i'm gonna do it"
dj "do that against chicago. i bet they'll like that."
jamal "not a bad idea."
and that's it. they open up an autograph table but we didn't bother with that. marv and i were like two teeny boppers at an n'sync concert. it was great. this was a GREAT event for season ticket holders. it was like hanging out in a bar just talking to them. all of them are very personable and nice outside of steph (who was aloof). a nice group of guys.
[Edited by - djsunyc on 01-12-2007 12:02 AM]