My (not so close) Brush With Fame

Yesterday I stood behind Kevin McHale. I almost said hello to Patrick Ewing. I saw Larry Bird from a distance, and I was sitting down when B. J. Armstrong passed by. It happened at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp at the Solheim Center on the campus of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. My son Mark (a senior at Moody) is working at the Solheim Center this summer, which means he is helping with security at the Pre-Draft Camp. This is the camp where the top college stars come to show off their basketball skills in tn order to convince some NBA team to draft them. Mark said that 60 top players came to the camp, along with several hundred NBA coaches, team executives, former players, and a few current players. As you can imagine, the security is incredibly tight. Mark and a few other Moody students serve as the first line of security. Then there are several layers of NBA security. No one gets in without some kind of credential. A few guys tried to crash the camp but they were spotted and thrown out.

When Mark called last night and asked if I’d like to come down and visit, I immediately said yes. Mark said he had already met Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, and had even done a dance with Bill Wennington. He said Patrick Ewing is a great guy and loves to laugh. The Moody staff isn’t allowed to talk to the NBA players (except to say hello) unless the players talk to them, so it’s not like they’re having long conversations with these superstars. Still, it’s a kick to say, "Hello, Mr. Bird" and to welcome Isiah Thomas to the Solheim Center. Basically all the big names in the NBA come to some part of the Pre-Draft Camp.

Mark had made friends with the head of the Bulls security team who is part of the NBA security at the camp. He told Mark it would be fine if I came down to visit the camp. That’s how I got in. After that, there isn’t much to tell. We watched the college guys play a game. I didn’t recognize any of them—but they were all big stars somewhere. Mark and I walked around, trying to see who we could recognize. That’s when we saw Larry Bird sitting at midcourt watching the game. Ditto for NBA coach Lenny Wilkins. Patrick Ewing was on the running track above the floor. When we walked to the other side, I told Mark, “That’s Kevin McHale.” He had no idea who he was until I said he used to play with Larry Bird. Then we stood behind the coaches for the Portland Trailblazers. The high point came when Patrick Ewing came by, Mark said hi, and Patrick patted him on the back.

As I leaned against the rail, I looked at the players, coaches and the media (Andy Katz from ESPN was a few feet away). I guess there were 300 people total. Mark pointed to a guy who liked like a 35-year-old grad student. He was wearing a shirt that wasn’t tucked in and blue jeans. Turns out he owns the Orlando Magic. That made me ponder the net worth of all those NBA superstars plus all those team owners and executives in the Solheim Center at that moment. If you figure that most NBA teams are worth several hundred million dollars, the total net worth of those people milling around must have been several billion dollars. I think I had $10 in my pocket.

One other note. When I go into a room, I’m often the tallest person. At 6'3", I’m taller than most people. Yesterday I was a shrub in a forest of tall people. Everyone (except for B. J. Armstrong) was taller than me. Most of them were way taller. Even the coaches are tall. The NBA must be the most concentrated aggregation of tall people in the world. When I mentioned this to my wife, she said, 'So now you know how the rest of us feel."

When the game was over, Mark and I went to the Solheim lobby where I sat down and ate Tootsie Rolls while I watched the NBA elite exit the building. Then I left and came home. It was blast being there, and even though I can’t think of a single spiritual application, I still felt I should write about so I could actually say I stood two feet from Kevin McHale and that Patrick Ewing walked right past me. It’s not much, I suppose, but it’s as close to fame as I’ve been all week long.

Email: raypritchard@calvarymemorial.com