Rox Fontaine: Kevin Durant at House of Hoops

Friday, February 19, 2010

Kevin Durant at House of Hoops

Yesterday, I won preferred entrance to a Kevin Durant meet and greet event at House of Hoops Harlem today. There was a mini event held on Twitter. I won by being one of the first 35 people to retweet a message from Nike Basketball. I was super excited to know that I'd just won a chance to see my current favorite NBA player.

The event was supposed to kick off at 3:30 pm. It didn't start until just after 5 pm though. It was a bit too cold to be standing outside for an hour or more but I thought it would be worth the discomfort.

Once KD entered the building it was on and poppin'....or so I thought. The event turned out to be a BIG letdown. He answered no more than 3 direct questions and mumbled his way through those so much that it was difficult to even understand what he was saying. All other questions were fielded by his teammates Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Jeff Green a.k.a. "Broingtons".

Russell Westbrook

James Harden

"Broingtons"

I brought my All-Star and Seattle Sonics colorway KD1 sneakers hoping that I might have the chance to have KD autograph them. Didn't happen. Which is fine in and of itself. What ticked me off is that he only signed 8 basketballs, maybe 15 t-shirts or so and 3 pairs of the KD2 sneaker. He signed the basketballs and t-shirts before he even entered the building. He signed the shoes in the store right after they were won by 3 lucky attendees.

Following the raffle for the sneakers, he was presented with 2 pairs of lasered Air Force 1 low sneakers. One white pair and one black. They were lasered with the 2010 All-Star game logo and KD's stats. They came in a big white acrylic box. The box top was engraved with the KD logo and "Pure Dedication", if I remember correctly. I wasn't able to get clear shots of the shoes or the box. You know I got something though...

With me being a true Kevin Durant fan, I was honestly disappointed. I was just disappointed that he didn't really say anything to us. I understand that he travels a lot and has a super busy schedule but this event was just morose. If you're tired, jet lagged or whatever; tell us. Let us know how busy you've been and what you did the day before. Share something with us that we wouldn't otherwise know. Your teammates were just fine. They spoke clearly, concisely and gave us some energy. What the hell was wrong with you? The only one we really came to see!

All of that aside, I got to see my favorite NBA player for free, I got a free Broingtons t-shirt and I had a blast taking pictures. Not the worst day. Below are other pics from the day: