No pictures please!

so Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, Tayshaun Prince, Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Michael Redd who make up the TEAM USA men's basketball team, came to RACKS Shanghai to party last night.

the arrangement i had with Nike and the NBA was that we would rope off a private VIP section for the players, the NBA and Nike, make sure the place was going off, filled with beautiful girls, good music, plenty of alcohol and a pumping atmosphere. all was good until the players were late at dinner and the natives started getting restless.

"are they really coming?!"

"they're probably not coming"

"there's no way they're coming"

"dude, they're not coming"

and then.....

"holy shit, there's Lebron"

"he's fucking huge"

"oh my god, it's Kobe! he's actually here"

"yo Kobe! yo Melo!"

the players were actually in a foul mood when they arrived because the SUVs they hired couldn't fit in the underground parking lot. they had to get out of the cars and walk a bit. they also had to take the cargo lift in the back so they were not in high spirits when they came in. on top of that, ppl were going crazy, pushing, shoving, grabbing, taking pictures and gawking as they entered.

it took about 30 minutes of us pushing back the crowds, kicking people out of the vip area and making room for the players to shoot pool, to get the players relaxed and having fun. the cheerleaders helped. after that, the champagne, vodka, tequila, beer were flowing. we turned those frowns upsidedown.

fyi - NBA players can not shoot pool! i think they are actually physically handicapped in this respect. they are actually too tall to be able to shoot well....on the table! most of the guys' waists are about a foot above the pool table so in order to shoot they have to crouch or bend over beyond 90 degrees!

they were all really nice, polite, respectful and down to earth. i drank with Lebron - he was holding a 6 liter bottle of Grey Goose and i was holding a regular 750cl bottle. proportionally, it was about the same!

all in all, it was a great night and everyone seemed to have a great time. the only drawback - no pictures, no autographs. i think everyone can empathize though. i wouldn't want to be constantly hounded for autographs and pictures by hordes of fans either. what are you kidding me?!?!?! of course i would! but seriously, too bad the only proof that it all happened are the 800 hundred people at Racks who witnessed me drinking with Lebron.