NBA Stars Get Their Game On

June 11

More stars come to TQ in support of the troops. This time we had 3 previous NBA players come and challenge some of our guys to a little 3v3 in basketball. You may recognize the names: Thurl Bailey (6'11"), Greg Minor (6'6"), and Shawn Bradley (7'6"). I've included a little google data on each player at the end of this blog - in case you are like me and say who are these guys.

Kenny Anderson had a little passport problem and couldn't make it.

While walking around in the hot sun at 1500 (that's 3pm for you non-military folk), I happened to catch Greg Minor (who graciously stepped in for Kenny) while coming out of the head (once again that's military talk for bathroom). He kindly posed for a picture and introduced himself as "Greg". (Greg Whooo?) Not wanting to show my ignorance, I introduced myself as Beth (Neptune is on my uniform so I figured he might catch that part). Any way, he mentioned that he and his basketball playmates would be challenging military folk to little basketball game later that day. (1500 is way too hot for b-ball)

Cutting my aerobics class short that night, a few friends and I hi-jacked a vehicle and headed for the b-ball challenge. I gotta say, the military put up a fight but it was simply no contest with Shawn's height.

Next the military played a little "Around the World" for prizes. My friend Kim and I used this time to get to know the USO escort for these guys. He was a young Army gentleman who was open to discussing other star comings we have to look forward to. No, I am not going to tell you. You'll simply have to keep reading my blog to find out. But he took pity on Kim's and my height, and went to the prize box and got us each a ball cap. I got mine autographed and will send it to my son Heath to add to our game/sports room.

Shawn kindly fixes a net that has come loose. No step ladder needed.

Chris and Harlan look like 6th graders next to these guys.

Well then I guess Kim and I look like toddlers.

Player info:

Thurl Bailey (6'11") attended North Carolina State University and was a key player in the 'Wolfpacks' miracle run to the 1983 NCAA Championship. The Utah Jazz drafted Thurl in 1983 as the 7th pick of the draft. This was the beginning of 16 years of his playing professional basketball, 12 of those years were in the NBA.

Greg Minor (6'6"),the former Boston Celtic 1994 first-round NBA Draft pick and five-year NBA veteran suffered a serious hip injury that abruptly ended his rising professional basketball career and caused his untimely retirement at age 27.

Shawn Bradley(7'6") in the 1993 NBA Draft, he was the second pick overall. During his first years with the Philadelphia 76ers, Bradley established himself as a decent shot-blocker with limited offensive abilities, denying an average 3.5 shots per game. He had a tough time against the physical centers and forwards of his generation and had a reputation for being inconsistent and not aggressive when it came to defense. He was also known for getting posterized: at times, he averaged over 4 fouls per game at just under 30 minutes of playing time. After a couple of solid years with the Dallas Mavericks, Bradley developed knee problems. His production steadily declined, and after the Mavericks acquired Erick Dampier in 2004, Bradley found himself on the bench most of the time. He announced his retirement from professional basketball in June 2005.

In the poster, it shows Kenny Anderson was suppose to visit but like I mentioned he was having a little problem with his passport and couldn't make it. I was okay with that because I got the chance to meet and visit with Greg. (We're on a first name basis.)