NBA Live Europe Road Trip - Day 1

Day one turned out to be a slow yet productive day. Upon arrival at the Paris Bercy Arena, we (the media), had to wait a while for the Spurs to finish their practice session. When we were finally allowed to hit the hard court, boy was it a mad scrum! Literally all man and TV network for himself. As I’m a man who can’t deal with crowds, I sat back and waited for the dust to settle before making my move for the intended targets.

Bear in mind these guys have been answering questions, the same questions for over a week; so you can understand if they sometimes feel unenthused. The majority of the interviews went well, however the likes of Matt Bonner, Eric Williams, and Co of the San An’ Spurs decided to try and mess with the kid (me), from London. It was humorous fun, but I don’t think they’ll be trying to yank my chain anytime soon! We can hold our own in the South of London!

As well as a practice and media session, the Spurs were also on hand to treat over 100 Parisian kids to a mini basketball clinic – part of the 'NBA Cares' program. Whilst this was going on I kicked it with my former boss, Kevin Cadle. No longer a coach hollering from the sidelines in his Stacey Adams shoes, he is now, and has been for a number of years, the presenter of NFL and NBA on Sky Sports. Yes, we were talking about the good old days at Towers. Then he unleashed on me that we nearly recruited NBA man, Damon Jones. So why did we not sign the sharp shooter? Answer. We had too many US players! What could have been? Ah well, I guess we’ll never know.

At the conclusion of the afternoon, we bundled out of the building like something out of 24, CTU got the Spurs out of the building fast, they did not want us (the media), firing anymore awkward questions in their direction.

The game against Maccabi Tel Aviv is tomorrow afternoon at 4pm. How will San Antonio do? One thing is for sure, they won’t be taking this club lightly - knowing that CSKA Moscow shellacked the Clippers, and that the Sixers became the first NBA victim since 1987 to lose to a European ball club. Two losses in one week, the gap is definitely closed!