NBA and the NBA Jam

Just a report. I went to the NBA Jam with my family and a friend of my daughters. The reason we went is because my 10 year old daughter is on a YMCA basketball team, and they were one of four teams in the Phoenix area to play.
My daughter actually played where the Jam was held. She had a great time. After the game, her team and the other teams were taken and given an organized clinic by a couple of past pros. One was Felipe Lopez, and I don't remember the other one. I was impressed because they were so good at working with the kids, and since there were about 30 of the kids, it could be challenging to work with that many kids at one time, and to keep them all busy and interested.
As we went through the Jam, I was amazed at how crowded and busy everything was. There was even a line to get into the NBA store. It was crazy.
What was interesting was that there were a few past greats that were wandering the Jam with their families. Dikembe Mutombo was the most noticeable, and it was funny, because he was just being a dad, and people were leaving him alone as he wandered. The only places where people made a big deal was at the booths where he played the games. There were a couple of other players that I did not recognize, but, you could tell they were former players, probably because they were so tall. When my son has to look up at someone, they are pretty tall.
The disappointments: First, It was crowded and some lines were pretty long, though not disney long, still some were 15 minute waits. Second, every NBA player that was there, whether it was for one of the games, or doing some type of clinic, was surrounded by security. That meant that there were really no autographs to be had. It wa a bit of a bummer for the kids.

Now the question, was it worth the $20 a head for any future jams? Probably, because I now know that if you pay the full ticket price, you did not look hard enough for a discount. I did not look hard enough, but I bought them as soon as I heard my daughter was playing, which was another disappointment. She got in free, but parents, siblings and friends all had to pay. That was a bummer. It is also typical of this sort of thing, go early, play hard and get out before the crowds hit.

I'll bet your daughter will have some memories of her father out of this she'll be telling her kids about someday. Sounds like a good time to me, Scooter. :cool:

Bill

I agree with Bill.

My kids still mention things we did that I thought were just a pain at the time. :cool:

I forgot to mention something. One of the tings was from NBA cares. The NBA adopted a charter magnet school that specializes in arts and entertainment. As part of the NBA All Star game, LeBron James, and Jay-zee were asked to talk to the students about the musical industry and present the school with a lot of musical instruments. All was going well, until Jay-zee signalled to the security guards to bring his wife in to talk to the students. They do not do public appearances of this type together, so the kids were particularly excited about her appearance. Beyonce spent about 20-30 minutes just talking to the kids. I doubt that they will ever forget it.

And for what it is worth, all the younger kids loved it. I was good with it, as I did the pack mule/ATM thing that Dads get to do on such occasions.