I think I’ve shared on here before that Dame is about as great OFF the court as he is ON. The nicest most chill dude. No ego or hotshot vibe going on with him whatsoever!
This means nothing if you won't tell us who (no current Blazers please) had the worst off the court attitude.
Von Waffer, Raef LaFrantz, Afflalo, jerks! Some guys kept to themselves, shy but real cool like LA, Andre Miller and Gerald Wallace.
It's not surprising, their whole lives they were the best of the best and then they get to the NBA and they're trash. That can't feel good, coming down to earth. It's no excuse, millions of dollars to practice (not even that in LaFrentz's case) and go to NBA games... any one of us would sign up for that but none of us thought into our early adulthood that we would be NBA all-stars.
Holy Schnikees! I didn't realize Dame's 3pt% had reached 40% on the season! Sure lots of players hit 40% but not on the difficulty of 3 pointers that I see Dame taking.
I'll also add that Bonzi was nuts. I actually really liked Ruben and ZBO. They were always super chill. DA was.... very polished, but I think he was a nice guy. Every single player I ever talked to said they loved Sheed........ but Sheed hated the media so I never got to see it.
A story I don't think I even brought up to you, HCP. When I went to do a truck tour and watch a game in the truck with HCP, we got to go on the court and watch shootaround. GTJ and Simons were out there with stotts on the sideline watching. We walk over to the broadcast area where I get introduced to Calabro. During my lengthy talk with Calabro I peeked over to the blazer bench and see Dame sitting down talking to someone. Not another player, not a coaching staff, but the security person. I thought "man, thats cool." Fast forward more into my conversation with Calabro, I peeked 2 or 3 more times over at Dame and he's still in the same conversation with the same person. At times he has his arms over the back of the chair and making eye contact with this person. Completely engaged in what this person is saying, and his body language said the same thing. It warmed my heart so much. Here's a guy who could just be the superstar player, and not be interested in anything else but the sport he plays. But he was invested in this conversation -- this person. Its so refreshing to know that even when the cameras aren't focused on him, he presents himself as a humble, empathetic, caring person. Its something I will truly never forget. I wanted to meet Dame but I didn't want to bother him or ask HCP. And that was okay, because I know if I had - he would have given me that same respect he gave that other person. Its like when you say that player has that 'it' factor. Dame, as a person, has that 'it' factor.
Yep, that’s Dame. He knows I’m a movie and music junkie like he is, so we’ve got into some heated debates on movies in more than one occasion. Should have seen his face when he first realized how much hip hop knowledge I have. It was hilarious. He loses me though when he goes on his WWF wrestling BS! We are definitely blessed to have such a solid dude represent us out there. B-Roy was just as nice and humble, but didn’t quite have Dames charisma.
Nice read. Loved this tidbit: "first player in NBA history to score at least 40 points in three consecutive games his team won by three or fewer points.”
