Have you or one of your friends or family members had a, "Brush with Royalty?" Let us know and we'll post your story here.

Haley of Live Oak, CA hooks up at a SPDL game - "Ive gotten to meet Brad, Darius and Erik (Daniels) through autograph sessions but the best time was when I went to one of the SPDL games and got my picture taken with Matt Barnes and Kevin Martin plus got their autographs. Matt was one of my favorite players and I was so happy to meet him because I was upset when they traded him with Webber. Both Kevin and Matt are very nice guys."

Sactown's Finest! - Ed

Luka of Vancouver, Canada tells us of his Grandfather's brush - "I'm a huge Kings fan even though I live in Vancouver, Canada. The reason is mostly because of Peja Stojakovic who is from my home country. And now the story. I didn't meet Vlade Divac, but my grandpa did (I know Vlade isn't on the team anymore, sorry). He was at a grocery store in Belgrade (Former Yugoslavia) and saw Vlade in line in front of him. He had no idea who Vlade was. The reason my grandpa noticed him is because he's so tall that he's used to looking down at people, not up at them. To top it off, Vlade was living in the same building as my grandpa!"

I think that's the furthest Brush story yet! - Ed

Donna Montoya of Bloomington, Minnesota (a Timberwolves fan) wites in to tell us of her very recent Brush (or Brushes?) - "On a Saturday, January 29, 2005 for our son's sixteenth birthday we took him to the Mall of America (Bloomington, MN.) to buy him a new pair of basketball shoes to help boost his morale because his team was on a losing streak.

"We went to various sports stores and he saw a pair of Sprewell's basketball shoes (w/spinner) and it happened to be the last pair and it was my son's size.

"His siblings wanted to buy him a CD player so we went to Sam Goody's. We were picking one out for him when my husband came around the corner where we were and said Peja Stojakovic was just around the corner from us looking at CD's. We all peeked around the corner to get a better look, to me all I saw was one tall white guy minding his own business.

"My youngest son went up to him and asked him if he played basketball, Peja Stojakovic looked up at my son then at my husband and waved his hand, shook his head and said, "Nah." My husband said, "No, you are Peja Stojakovic and you play for the Sacramento Kings!"

"Well, we purchased a camera and my husband went back to Peja Stojakovic and asked if he would pose for the camera with our two sons since it was our sons sixteenth birthday and he said 'yes'. My husband was excited and really wanted to be in a picture but he thought he was too old.

"After taking the picture we paid for the CD player. Once outside the store I got the hairball idea for my son to have Mr. Stojakovic to sign his new shoes. My son and husband borrowed a permenant marked from a different store and they went back into Sam Goody's to ask him and he agreed.

"Once outside the store again my husband commented that the Timberwolves were versing the Kings the next day and we might run into more players at the mall. Which we did (less than 10 minutes later), my sixteen year old son was walking in front of us when I heard my husband (beside me) tell my son to watch out where he was walking and my son turned around to apologize to man he had just ran into but that guy was giving my husband 'The Handshake', and he kept on walking.

"My husband asked my son "Do you know who you just bumped into, that was Mike Bibby?!" We believe Mr. Bibby was walking with Cuttino Mobley. We tried to get a picture with Mr. Bibby but he was on his cell phone and we were clearly interrupting him, so we didn't get the picture. We regret that we were so rude, 'We're sorry Bibby!'

"The point of my story is; you hear so much negativity about various NBA players that it was really nice of Peja Stojakovic to take the time out to make my son's birthday the biggest ever! I just want to thank him for being as considerate of our feelings when we didn't consider his. He was a perfect gentleman! Even though they went on beat us it was a real pleasure to host the Sacramento Kings!"

Very nice story, Donna! Sometimes athletes don't have any idea how much of a positive affect they can have on our young people. Thanks to Peja for being a gentleman! - Ed

Sallie Hart of Sacramento waits in line for her recent brush - "On January 22, 2005, I met Mike Bibby for the first time. The signing was supposed to be from 3:00-4:00 but, he was running a little late and the employees got to go before anybody else did. When the fans started going inside to get Mike's autograph, I got really nervous. I've never met him and I made it clear. When I got up to the front, I gave a lady my ticket and went in. When I got to Mike Bibby, I gave him a picture to sign and told him that it was my first time meeting him. He was kind of quiet but, really sweet. After he signed my picture, I asked him if I could take a picture with him and he said yeah. So, I sat down next to him and nearly fell off my chair. Before my mom took the picture, I told him that he had a great game when he scored the triple double and he thanked me. After I took the picture with him, I stood up and walked back over to my mom. Mike Bibby is really sweet and I'm looking forward to meeting him again.
GO BIBBY!!"

We know all about those signing lines, they can be brutal! Glad to see you got through. - Ed

Nicole, a true Kings Super Fan from Rocklin, shows how she contributes to her community and gets a hookup - "I'm Nicole Whatley, from Rocklin, California.  For my senior Project, I chose to raise money for the Bobby Jackson Foundation for Breast Cancer.  Through the help of my mentor, he got me an interview with Bobby Jackson! It was so cool because I went to interview him at one of the practices, and I got to watch the whole Kings team practice.  I then, after the practice, got to go into the practice room and interview Bobby Jackson about his Foundation.  He was really nice, down to earth, and treated me very respectfully.  Pete Carril also came over and talked to me for a little bit, which I thought was very cool too. But anyway, Bobby Jackson was definitely the nicest King I've met so far (cause I've met a few), and I ended up raising a lot of money for his Foundation."

Great job, Nicole! Keep up the excellent job! - Ed

Sara from Davis has a most excellent experience - "I have a story about meeting Gavin Maloof...He is such an awesome guy! My water polo team decided to organize a trip to the cheesecake factory. So I'm sitting there eating my dinner and I start to recognize this guy...and slowly I started to realize it was Gavin Maloof! Gavin sort of started to realize that we noticed it was him and I think him and our waitress were having communications about our table. So they get their check and get up to leave and they come over to our table. He comes over and starts talking to us and I shake his hand and I say hello Mr. Maloof I am a HUGE kings fan can we please get a picture with you and he was like yea sure. We took a picture with him and continued to talk to him and we started talking about how we were a water polo team. We said thank you and bye and then he walks over to the side where my mom is and he talks to that side of the table and he handed my mom his buisness card and told her to keep him posted on how we do and to send us the picture and he BOUGHT OUR WHOLE TABLE DINNER! There were 14 people there and he bought us all dinner, drinks AND dessert! He was so down to earth too, an awesome guy. It was definetly a GREAT experience!"

Maybe if you had run into him at a car delaership he would have bought the car you were looking at for you! - Ed

Jose from Sacramento tells us of his recent ecounter - "I'm a Kings fan since 1985, but it took an NBA "Legends Tour" in 2004, for me to meet Mr. Reggie Theus. I was walking to the concession stands right before half time of the 1st playoff game against Dallas, when a guy approached me and asked if I'd like to meet Reggie Theus. I was wearing my powder blue #24 throwback and he thought that I would appreciate meeting the man who wore that same jersey "back in the day". He led me down to Kings Row 2, center court, where I sat next to Mr. Theus. We talked about him, the game, the Kings, and waited for half time. He was dressed very sharp and was very pleasant. At half time we walked out onto the hardwood where he signed my throwback, taking great care to make it look good. They gave me some headbands and a "Destination Finals" t-shirt. The NBA representative was nice, he took some pictures that he later emailed me. I lucked out, and all because my girlfriend wanted a strawberry margarita."

Next game we go to a game we want a strawbery margarita too! - Ed

Kate and her friend from Lynchburg, Virginia tell us of their encounter during warm-ups - "I had kind of a brush with royalty..the best one of them all Peja Stojakovic. I'm a loyal fan that lives all the way over on the East coast in Virginia and I religiously go and see the Kings play the Wizards and any other east game I can. We have 3rd row seating on the floor and id never gotten there early as I did (first time I had driven I'm only 17) and when I got there and me and my friend ran to our seats and the team came out to shoot around so I took some great pictures but there was no sign of my obsession Peja. So i sat there with my camera ready and then everyone went in so i went to grab a drink when i came back who was on the floor stretching? none other than Mr. Stojakovic himself and so i was taking pictures as fast as my camera would allow when he looked straight at me and so the only proper thing to do would be to wave. and i handed my camera over to my friend. Peja then proceeded to begin shooting and so i yelled at him (never let good opportunities pass) and he looked at me and winked, which all but scared me so i promptly looked behind me to see who else he could be winking at which then made him laugh. he went on shooting and then looked over because my friend had gotten this wild idea that he should take a picture with me and so she was on her seat yelling at him she then motioned for him to come take a picture he then looked at the clock then pointed to it which read 0:34 (hardly enough time to take a picture) so he shot a three as the buzzer was going off and pointed to me as he proceeded to run to his bench i of course looked behind me to see who he could be pointing at :) and that is the closet brush with royalty I've had at this point but for me it was the height of my short life!"

You were very close, maybe next time! - Ed

Elle of Sacramento writes in about her recent Kings meeting - "I attended the 04/08/04 game against the Timberwolves at Arco Arena.  My friend's clients are players for the Kings and a few of the Timberwolves.  So, we got to hang out with the players and their family and friends before and after the game.  I've been to numerous sporting events and a met some professional athletes but I've never met an organization so down to earth and relax.  Everyone was friendly - even after the game which was close to the final seconds - the entire team was in great spirits as they got ready to leave for Phoenix.  I was most impressed with Mike Bibby (so cute in person) and the heart of heart of the team Bobby Jackson.  Great team all around!"

The guys here at KSF want to know how we can get ahold of YOUR tickets??! - Ed

SacKid of Temecula tells of this run in: "Other than a time when I was 11 and stood in line at a Carls Jr. for an autograph from Mitch Richmond, I had never had a Brush with Royalty. That changed at the first Kings home game I was able to attend. For Christmas my parents got me tickets to the Kings Jazz game in ARCO. I went with my Aunt (also a huge fan) and when we got there we were shocked by how close to the floor our seats were.

I didn't think I'd have a shot at getting one, but my aunt said I should go down and try, so I did. Sure enough, Wallace signed autographs for everyone who wanted one. Because I didn't know how good the seats were I hadn't brought a pen, but he had one, and signed my Kings hat for me.

Then, they both posed for a picture!

What an experience for my first Kings game at ARCO, huh?"

You're batting 1000 at ARCO! - Ed

Elyse of Sactown returns with more tales, this time from Walgreen's: "Sunday night about 10pm I pull up to Walgreen's on Howe with my boyfriend. I notice there is a brand new BMW parked at an angle, taking up most of a handicap spot & part of a no parking spot. The beemer was NICE, with awesome rims, so it was a pretty noticeable car. We go into the store & down the toy aisle I see this guy being fairly obnoxious with 3 little boys. The boys were about 7 or 8. I just kinda walked around them & went on shopping. As we get into line, my boyfriend says all nonchalant, "Mike Bibby's behind you". I give hin the "whateva" look, because he plays that game on me all the time. Then he goes, "No, really, Mike Bibby's behind you" I turn around all slow, trying not to be obvious & sure enough there he was with the obnoxious guy & the boys from the toy aisle. Once he got in line, everybody started noticing him, but he was either oblivious or he was just acting like he was, because it was like he didn't even notice. He & obnoxious guy we're playing with some anti-fungal medicine that had a picture of some NASTY looking toes. Obnoxious guy says, "That looks like your boys feet". I assume he was talking about a Kings player, but I don't know for sure. As it turns out, obnoxious guy is Mike's brother. Mike was also messing with his finger nails as he stood in line. Poor guy has a strange habit with those nails. Anyway, I got out of the store before he did, but I was still in front of the store when he came out & by that time I realized the BMW was his. So, I got the nerve up to talk to him & all I could think to say was "How are YOU going to park in handicap?" He just kind of laughed & said he didn't really park anywhere since he was halfway in a no parking spot. Then I complimented him on his rims, he said thanks & he was on his way. This is the second time I've seen him out in public & I have to say he impresses me, because he is always willing to sign autographs. I mean that seriously has to take up alot of his time. What should have been a 5 minute trip to the store probably took him atleast a half hour. That adds up. I just feel bad asking him to sign anything just because of the interruption to his real life, but it was cool just to see him out & about."

Sure sounds like Bibby gets out an about. Great story! - Ed

6thmanfan, of Sprinfield, Illinois tells us this story: "My best friend, who had a bi-lateral mastectomy last January, was invited to attend the Breast Health Awareness game with the Monarchs in August. Bobby Jackson, along with Edna Campbell (herself a Breast Cancer survivor) were the hosts at a reception held for survivors prior to the game. Bobby was so cool. He encouraged and cheered all the women there. This from a man who just lost his mother to cancer a few months prior. My friend, Pat, even got a hug from Bobby. She said it made her year. Then, during the game, when they presented a check to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for $5,000, Bobby jumped up from the sidelines, grabbed the microphone and said he, personally, would match that $5,000. Of course, not to be outdone, Joe Maloof, grabbed the microphone from Bobby and matched Bobby's pledge. My favorite player, Bobby Jackson, is truly a great guy."

Another reason why it was no contest that Bobby won 6th Man of the Year. - Ed

KSF Forum frequenter, I'm a YaYa from El Dorado Hills writes in: "My son emailed me the other evening - he is attending Loyola Marymount Univ. down in L.A. and he was on his way into the Rec Center to work out...when who walked out at the same time??? None other than Chris Webber! Apparently, according to some of his dorm buddies who actually were shooting around with Chris, his personal trainer lives down there and Chris was down visiting and decided to get in some b-ball practice. My son's buddies were able to get autographs from Chris, on shoes, basketballs, etc...and said he was really nice. (One more reason we love Chris Webber.) I instructed my son to skip all his classes the next day and camp out in front of the Rec Center in case Chris needed some more practice!"

Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices! - Ed

Shannon from Granite Bay writes in to tell us of her encounter: "My husband and I were out running errands and stopped by Wendy’s in Granite Bay for a hamburger. My husband and I were chatting and then I noticed that he wasn’t paying attention. I asked him what he was looking at, and he said that Mateen Cleaves was at the register. I didn’t believe him and I couldn’t see the registers from where I was sitting, so I had to go get some ketchup and take a look. It was Mateen Cleaves ordering his food. He sounds like a man who knows what he wants, he was 'specializing' his hamburger. I went back and sat down and my husband wanted me to go up to him but I thought it would be rude. He was trying to hang out with a buddy and eat dinner. We left and in the parking lot was a huge black SUV with blacked out windows. I wish I would have gone up to say hi."

How special can a Wendy's hamburger get, even for Mateen Cleaves? - Ed

Melli of Rocklin tells us of her treck to meet a King: "Hey! I decided at the last minute to go to the AND 1 mix tour at Arco arena. Not really knowing if any of the King's player's were going to be there but I figured at least one of them would be. I spotted Bobby Jackson across the arena and of course was immediately scheming on how I was going to meet him. At the end of the game me and my sister ran down to the court and stood watching Bobby J talking to AND 1's camera crew when all of a sudden security said everyone had to get out. So we go leave and I said "Hey let's go out back and see if we can catch Bobby". We hustled out back and sure enough there was a Limo and then I spotted Bobby coming out of the back door. So we casually walked up to him and asked for a PIC and an autograph. He was so nice that he put his stuff down in the limo posed for a PIC with me and gave me his autograph. He stuck around for a couple more minutes signing autograph's for some kid's before he got into his limo and drove off. What a night! I also heard that Mike Bibby was in attendance with Team Dime. I saw his brother Dane but didn't get a glimpse of Mr. Bibby. One out of Two isn't bad though right ??"

The KSF staffers just realized that they were supposed to attend that event too! Doh! - Ed

Elyse of Sactown sends us this follow-up to prove again why Wal-Mart at Truxel is the place to see Kings players: "I swear Wal-Mart on Truxel needs to start charging admission. Last night I'm driving past the entrance I glance over & who do I see? None other than ex-King, current Supersonic Jerome James. He was leaving, so I only got to catch a glimpse of him, but I got a really clear view of his ride. It was the most amazing Hummer I think I've ever seen. It was silver, lights everywhere. Spinners on his rims. He had 3 LCD screens inside. It was niiiiiiiiiiiiiice."

Escalades with Spinners, former King and current Sonic and Wal-Mart on Truxel... Something just doesn't add up. - Ed

Mad baller Scotty Freshour of Sac tells us: "yo yo yo. Its Scotty 'The Fresh King' Freshour in the house. It was a rainy Saturday in Sacramento, and the dorms at CSUS were more dead than LA's hope for a 4-peat. I decided to roll out to the fabulous city of Roseville to get my "chill on" with my loyal Kings companion Big AL. Now a bit of hunger struck us so we decided to indulge at the local Wendy's. As we strolled in none other than the GQ Balla himself Jimmy Jackson was leaving with a take out bag. Now Big AL and I are huge Jim Jackson fans, we have recently given him the appropriate nickname "J-MUSCLE". Anyway, as Jim walked past we hollered at him: "Hey J-Muscle, what's up man". Jim stopped and turned around like he was pissed. "J-Muscle man, we gave you that nick name!!!" we told him. Then he got a little smile at the corner of his mouth and started nodding his head. "ya.... I like that" he leaned in and shook our hands. Jimmy is a cool cat. And that was the Tale of Big AL and the Fresh King's run in with J-Muscle, the GQ Power Balla!!!!!!!"

J-Muscle at Wendy's? What do you think he ordered? - Ed

Big Al of somewhere in the Sac metropolitan area writes in: "It was a tough night for Kings fans, early playoff season 2001, and our beloved ballas just lost a close game to the Phoenix Suns at ARCO. After the game, many of the Kings may have gone out to dinner to eat away their pain and prepare for the next battle... especially one Royal King in particular. That day was also my sister's birthday, and my family went out to PF Chang's in Roseville for the occasion. Being the hardcore Kings Fan I am, I was emotionally drained from the defeat. Seated at our table, my dad and I discussed possible gameplans for game 2, when I took one glance over at the table next to ours. A big man wearing a Michigan visor with two lady friends was chomping away at some chow mein and mu shu pork... lo and behold, it was your 6'10 forward from Michigan, #4... CHRIS WEEEEBBBERRRRR!!!! I was speechless. I looked over at my family, silently mouthed to them that the King of Sacramento was in the house, and being the "smooth like Vlade" operator I was, slyly spied on him from behind my menu. As he was getting up to leave, I figured I'd never meet 'the man' again, boldly got up and told him he had a great game, and they'd get em next time. He was a very personable and polite gentleman, true to what everyone says about him, and extended his giant Samaki Walker slappin hand to shake my puny one. He signed my napkin, and wished me good luck in school and life. A great guy, Mayce Edward Christopher Webber II.

We still believe! Kings 2003 baby! Keep up the great work boys..."

Lettuce wraps and C-Webb, it doesn't get much better than that. - Ed

Donna, apparently from Sac tells us of her riverside experience: "Last year, my husband and I were at Chevy's by the river and we were standing out front. I noticed a very tall man who looked kind of familiar walking up the stairs talking on a cell phone. He walked by us and flashed a smile. (I wasn't a big basketball or Kings fan at the time, but I knew who C Webb was). I looked (wide eyed) at my husband who looked back at me and kinda mouthed "Is that Chris Webber?" and I said "I think so" and my husband cups his hand around his mouth and says "Hey, C WEBB." Chris stopped and turned around and I go, "Are you Chris Webber?" and he goes "Yeah" and I go "Can I have your autograph?" and he says "Sure". He walked back to us and shook our hands and my husband started telling him what a big fan he was and I went over to the bike to get a pen only to realize that I didn't have my purse (because we were on the bike), therefore I had no pen. I went back and apologized and said I didn't have a pen. He smiled and said he didn't either so he would catch me next time. (I kick myself everyday for not running into Woodys and asking them for one). We wished him luck (it was during the playoffs) and said good-bye. Chris then continued walking out into the parking lot. As we left on the bike we saw him walking back talking on the phone again and my husband and Chris slapped a high five as we rode by. Since then, I have become a very big KINGS FAN and am proud that I live here in Sacramento, the Home of the most exciting team in the NBA - THE SACRAMENTO KINGS!"

And let that be a lesson KingsSuperFans, always have a pen handy! - Ed

Elyse from Sac Town tells us how "Wally World" is the best place to meet and greet Kings players: "From my experience Wal-Mart on Truxel is the place to be to see your favorite Kings players. Last May I met Gerald Wallace (who happens to be my favorite player) there. He was buying car speakers of all things. Apparently you can take the boy out of Alabama, but you can't take Alabama out of the boy. :) Gerald was awesome though. VERY polite. He hadn't been here long, so no one really recognized him even though he was in his Kings warm-ups.

"Then, in March, right after the Laker game, I saw Jim Jackson there. He was in the hardware department, not sure what he was getting. He didn't seem very approachable though. Fans were going up to him, but he was kind of blowing them off.

"Then last night :).....

"I'm at the check out it's about 10:45 pm, I hear a rumbling from the people standing in line & it gets louder & louder & louder & then I hear a woman screech.. "It's Mike Bibby... Oh MY GOD, Mike Bibby's in Wal Mart!!!!" So, I turn & look & sure enough there's Mike Bibby. So, I finish checking out & go out to my car & I notice I'm parked next to an Escalade with Arizona plates... Of course it has to be his. So, I decided to wait for him to come out. :)... I unfortunately didn't have a pen so I couldn't get an autograph & he came out with a cart full of stuff. Most notably a mop. When he came out the poor guy was mobbed, so I just kinda watched the mob scene & left. He seemed totally nice, signed everybody's autograph. I guess that has to be the downside to being a King's player in Sac, ya can't even go to Wal Mart....."

Wow, who would have ever guessed that WalMart would be the Kings player hangout? - Ed

Chris Alspaugh of San Diego tells us this story: "My wife and I are longtime Kings Fans living in San Diego. Every year we eagerly await and attend each the four Kings visits to [yuck] Staples Center (by-the-way, the Staples Center sucks compared to Arco, but that's another story). We prefer the Clipper games because we can get great seats. During the last Clippers game I went to the restroom at halftime. I had been wearing my Vlade jersey, so I had been on the receiving end of jeers, comments, and snack foods all night (but all in good fun... Clippers fans are good people). There was a small lineup just inside the door at the restroom. There was a stocky, dark-haired guy in front of me in line. He turns to me and goes to shake my hand. I figured that he was some joker and that some smart-guy comment was going to follow. I look down at him to see that it was one of the Maloofs! Now I'm a fairly hard-core Kings Fan, but I never thought I'd have to know which Maloof was Joe and which one was Gavin... they always show up in the same picture (let this be a lesson in preparation, young superfans). I took a stab, "J....Gavin?!". I got it right (although I'm sure he noticed my hesitation). He was VERY personable... exactly like everybody says. I told him to pick up Vlade for another ten years. He said, "Yeah, Vlade's got a few years left in him." I responded (joking) "I said TEN!". He laughed. Heck of a nice guy."

It could have gone either way, good call! (Maybe he was just being polite?) - Ed

Dan Postak of Lincoln tells us: "My brother-in-law is a tow truck driver in Vacaville. One day, he got a call for a flat tire repair. When he pulled up to the stranded motorist, he noticed a tall man kneeling down and looking at his tire in utter disbelief that it was flat. So my brother-in-law started to put the jack under the vehicle so that he could repair the tire. As he was doing that, he attempted to make small talk with the stranded motorist. "So, you're a pretty tall guy....do you play basketball or something?" The motorist with a confused look on his face hesitantly said, "Yeah, I play for the Kings." (Let me just clarify here that this is my brother-IN-LAW that we're talking about, okay. He's not blood related.) Not realizing who this man was, my brother-in-law simply said "Oh, that's cool." Then he continued his small talk, and before long the tire was fixed, and the Kings player was on his way. So when my brother-in-law got home, knowing that I was a huge fan of the kings, he told me the story. I asked him what the man's name was. He said,"Oh I don't remember, it was some wierd foreign name." I said, "Oh, that really narrows it down for me." What did he look like?" He then began to describe none other than Vlade Divac. I said excitedly, "Was it Vlade Divac?" He then confirmed that it was. He asked me why I was getting so excited over it. I guess some people don't fully understand the magnitude of being in the presence of a King. He didn't even bother to get Vlade's autograph."

I hope he's no longer your brother-in-law, sheesh! - Ed

Brien Bell from the Pocket Area writes in: "For a long time I've lived in the Pocket area of Sacramento, and the Pocket seems to be a transition point for a lot of the Kings (before they get their cash and move to Granite Bay). Several years back, before any of our current players arrived here (C-Webb, Peja, Vlade, etc...) I lived in a gated community in the Pocket where a lot of players have lived. One day, after school was over, we were driving home and my friends and I saw Kings bigman Brian Grant hanging out with fellow Kings player Corliss Williamson at Grant's house (though, Williamson lived right across the street anyway). Moving forward about an hour, some friends of mine told me that they were both still out there, so with a guy from my school in tow, we walked down to Grant's house. By the time we got there, Brian wasn't there anymore, but Corliss still was. He graciously signed some autographs for us, and we thanked him and wished him good luck. It so happened that that was the same day as one of the old season ticket holder meet-and-greets at the Sacramento Zoo, and I ended up getting Brian Grant's autograph any way. We also stopped by Corliss's table, and he recognized me and gave me a nice hello.

I know that other players have lived in my neighborhood, including Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Scot Pollard and Jason Williams, but aside from hearing about my mom seeing J-Will at Bel Air once, I haven't seen those guys around... guess I'll have to keep an eye out for new players from now on, they seem to like the Pocket area transition point!"

You should see if you can get them into a game of one on one. Tell them you're gonna take their job... never mind, bad idea. - Ed

Corey Papais of Sacramento tells us: "Let's see when I was in the seventh grade I went to the opening of the Galt boys & girls club, I met Duane Causewell, yes the Duane Causewell. Then when I was a freshman at Chico St. I worked at a TV station. I got to go to the NCAA practices at Arco. U of A was practicing (I am a huge Arizona fan), so I was scanning the floor, watching the practice. I saw many of the players, but there was one guy missing. I looked down and resting in Kings row was none other than #10. I was awestruck. Being a member of the media I couldn't ask for his autograph or anything, but I thought that it was cool that he was sitting less than a foot in front of me! Later in my college career I was working in Sac, and I was a deli off of W. El Camino. I ordered, paid, and as I turned to leave I was face to belly with Ty Corbin. I have many more encounters...but I have drug this story on.

Well, what are you waiting for? Send 'em in! - Ed

Ann of Sacramento writes: "A girl I work with ran into Mike Bibby at the new Raley's near ARCO during the holidays. She was sooooo excited; she ran to the section where they sell pens, ripped open a Sharpie (Thanks, TO!) and tracked Bibby down. He signed her shirt (she remembered her "please" and "thank you's"). She said he was not very talkative, but she was pretty tongue-tied herself. In addition, she is a big C-Webb fan. Apparently the Bel Air in Natomas has a big cut out of Webber in the store. She asked one of the managers she knows if it was for sale and guess what? They had another one upstairs and GAVE it to her!! She's completely jazzed about that. I told her I do not want to hear where it is in her apartment!!!! (*Wink, wink*!)"

That makes two of us! (you can email me the address to her webcam ;-) - Ed

Dan Brown of Lincoln writes in to say: "While waiting for a flight in SLC International with my wife I noticed a very tall man sitting in a chair. At that time I traveled every week for my job so I was used to how an airport is supposed to look. As I caught the figure out of the corner of my eye I thought it was a very small person standing in the seat. As I turned my head to get a better view I realized he was sitting in the seat. Immediately I realized something was amiss with the all familiar layout of this gate seating. I took a closer look, not staring mind you, just a clean and smooth scan of the gate are so as to Cleary identify what I was seeing. You have to remember, as a business traveler "we own the airport". Sure enough it was a very tall man. My wife and I stepped in line at our gate so I could request the exit row seats for us, like any good business traveler does. While waiting in line I looked back over my right shoulder so as to examine further this site that was so out of place for me. That is when I recognized the face attached to this tall lean body. I very discretely mentioned to my wife that she should go ask that tall man over there for his autograph for her sixth grade class boys. She looked, stared really, at the man seated quietly reading his book. Then she turned back to me and said, "Why? Who is he"? Trying my best not to be rude I urged her to just go ask him and assured her that her boys would be very impressed someday. She again rebuked my suggestion and told me to go do it if I felt so strongly about it. I then informed her that he was a NBA star. She thought for a moment and then clarified, "Basketball, right"? I agonizingly nodded my head and identified him as one of the Kings players. At this she practically skipped over to him. I watched with interest as my five foot two inch wife stood eye to eye with the seated player. Upon returning from her first ever professional athlete autograph request she asked quietly, "Who does this say he is"? I pointed out that the signature on her little piece of paper was that of Vlade Divac. She then replied with an all to lack luster "oh". Well, at least her sixth grade boys were excited and thanked her profusely for getting it for them."

I sure hope Vlade doesn't catch wind of that! - Ed

Anne Schliessmann, presumably from Granite Bay writes: "I used to work at Taco Bell in Granite Bay. In the summer of 2000, Chris Webber came through my drive thru in a huge black SUV. He order a lot of food, I am guessing it was not all for him. He was very polite. I went to take his money and a coworker of mine threw me across the restraunt because he wanted to serve Mr. Webber. I was pissed off, I wanted to help him, but I didn't want to make a big deal about it, because he may not return to our store if the workers were fighting over who would help him. I handed him his food, and he was gone."

You'd have to be an NBA player to afford to eat at Taco Bell these days, whatever happened to 59¢, 79¢, 99¢??? - Ed

Lisa's sister (?!) presumably from Sac Town, writes in: "My sister, Lisa, ran into Mike Bibby at Sac Town Audio on Stockton Blvd. before the Portland pre-season game. She said he was a real nice guy and was even nice enough to take a picture with her."

Who could say no to that face? - Ed

JB in Huntington Beach, CA tells us: "I went to see the Kings play the Clippers at the Staples Center 2 years ago. I was sitting right in the front row during the Kings warm-ups. I called a friend of mine, who is also a Kings Fan, on my cel phone to tell him I was sitting on the court right by the Kings players. Well he thought I was exaggerating a bit so I told him, "Hedo is standing right in front of me!" My buddy tells me to say, "Hi to Hedo" for him. I tell Hedo, "Hey Hedo! My boy Jared says to tell you Hi!" Hedo grabbed my phone and said hello to my buddy and then handed me back the phone and continued with the team drills."

My question is, was Jared able to understand anything Hedo said? - Ed

A frequent KingsSuperFan forum poster, the Fresh King, AKA Scotty Freshour, writes: "I've been living in Sacramento for 2 months and I had yet to see a Sacramento King... Until one day.

I went up to Arco to meet my friends who were visiting from up north, they wernt on time, so I had some time to walk around.. and ventured over to the Kings practice facility, and low and behold, Mr. Scot Pollard walked out. Completley stunned, I carefully noticed the SUV he was getting into. I ran back to my pathfinder and hoped in... and being the crafty charater I am, I precisily judged when he would be leaving the parking lot. At this point, I started to consider myself a stalker.

I followed him to a gas station and got his autograph, he was fairly nice, and when I called him "sir" he told me he wasn't.

The weird thing, is later that night, maybe 4 hours later, I went to TGI Fridays off Howe, and none other than Gerald Wallace strolled in.

Weird how I've gone 2 months of seeing no one, and then in one day, see 2 Kings! One of the best days of my life."

It's feast or famine. - Ed

Kendra from somewhere between Sac and Tahoe tells us how she got hosed out of her chance encounter: "Technically it wasn't me who met Vlade Divac but rather my mother, who didn't even know who he was.

I have a small store on the way to Lake Tahoe. One Sunday I chose to stay home and watch the Kings play and asked my mom to work. The Kings lost but still, any Kings game is worth watching since I am a huge fan.

Later that day my mom told me she got Vlade Divac's autograph. She didn't recognize him when he came into the store, obviously on his way to the Lake after the game. Other's did however and were outside asking for autographs and pictures. When people told her who he was, she ran outside to stop him before he left and asked him for his autograph for her daughter. :)

I was only able to keep it for a short time as we gave it to my nephew for his birthday. (he's a huge Vlade Divac Fan)

So not only did I miss my chance to meet Vlade in person, I still don't have an autograph and my mother doesn't even know how lucky she was. :("

That's gotta hurt! - Ed

Jason Forte from Flint, Michigan writes to us: "i have known kings guard Mateen Cleaves before he was in the league...we went to high school together, and i also played against him in elemantary school where we met and soon after became friends...he always said he wanted to be in the nba and his dream has come true..hopefully his time will come where he can become a star!...peace"

We'd like to see Mateen become a star as well! - Ed

A lady only known as "Janice" relays these stories for us: "I've got a couple stories...just last month I got to shake Peja & Vlade's hand and got my picture taken with Vlade at the Vlade Divac Basketball Camp in Folsom. What a total high! But the doosie of a story was last year when I was at my friend's home in Granite Bay; she lives a block away from Peja's house. On our way to a King's game she drove me by his house and stopped at his driveway and told me to jump out and "touch" his mailbox. Well, never being one prone to shyness I did hop out but instead of touching his mailbox, I kissed it, leaving my lipstick imprint, and ran back to her car. The funny part was when I looked in the mirror as we were peeling away and I had Peja's mailbox dirt all over my lips...HAHAHA! My husband loved that one!"

I sure hope your mailbox doesn't find out that there's another! - Ed

The famed and well known KingCookie of the KingsSuperFans.com forum relays these stories: "I was at Downtown Plaza with some friends. I saw a really tall guy coming towards me, and as I looked a little closer, I saw that it was Scot Pollard! He was walking right past me, and I said "Scot!" He just kept on walking. So I said, "People always tell me that I look like you." (I'm 6'6'' and have a goatee, otherwise I don't think I do). With that, he turned around, looked me up and down and said, "Well what do you think?" I told him "I don't really see the resemblance" He said, "yeah, neither do I.", turned around, put his arm around his wife, and went down the escalator. Pretty exciting, huh? My fiancee also saw J-Will at her work one day, and told me at first she thought he was just some "ugly little rich boy", then her co-workers told her who he was. He's no longer "royalty", but thought I should share."

Farrah of Granite Bay sez: "...last August a couple weeks after my school started (I had just started my freshmen year) I decided that for my health benifits that I go to the gym. I should also mention that I do live in G.B. (Granite Bay). So I go to the gym with my mom and my other sister. I do Cross Country so I thought it be in my best intrests to stick with the treadmill. After oh I dunno 20 minute Chris Webber comes strolling in wear a gray t-shirt and black shorts. Needless to say I was totally in shock of seeing him. I would have thought he had his own gym at his house. So he is running on the 2nd treadmill to the left of mine. I stop to get some H20 (Water) when my mother looks at me and says, "Say Hi TO Chris Webber," REALLY loud. I just remember my face getting red really quickly. Needless to say I did say hi to Chris and I even chatted with him a bit. Before he left Chris wished me good luck on my cross country season and I just kinda stammered out Oh umm thanks good look on your umm season too."

Carlos Compean writes to tell us, "Well I've had many occasions that I have seen Kings players. The first was Antone Carr signing autographs at Carl's Jr. No lines no waits just went up got his autograph. That was when I was like 8 years old. The next summer I did the same visit to Carl's Jr. open to the public autograph again no wait except me and this time it was Wayman Tisdale autograph actually had courage to talk to him my mom is a talker so she starts the conversation. That same summer Carl's Jr and Wayman Tisdale had scholarship award for his summer camp. I won it with an essay and the camp was at my future high school John F. Kennedy. Since then I checked out Peja Stojakovic the 1st summer when he was checking out sacramento. He came in to the blockbuster where i worked at (florin and greenhaven) and he asked me what cd's he should buy? He came in the next summer and actually remember me. Michael Steward Jr. came too, Eddie Murphy (yeh the actor), Jason Williams was in the shopping center, and Scot Pollard always came in with his wife since he didn't like talking to much, Bill Cartwright came in when he was just scount before he became coach of the bulls... my friend saw Hedo and had good conversation... Bobby Jackson at the hoop-it-up tourney... Gerald Wallace and C-Webb was at the Monarchs game..."

Scotty Freshour of Redding, CA speaks of his encounter, "I was in Tahoe a couple weeks back with my friends, and one of the days (Sunday i think) We drove down to the south shore. Unknown to us, there was a huge Charity Golf Game going on. My Friends and I went to a sports Collectable store, and we were informed that Webber and Bibby were in town, and staying at the Ceasar Casino. We talked to the owner of the store for a few minutes, and we were informed that the night before Webb was playing 5,000 a hand. We were also told they were really drunk, and apparently Bibby was Jay Walking across the main street <really intoxcated>.

"Anyway, we spent the whole day looking for the 2, and we finally saw Bibby walking with a couple guys through the casino. Bibby walked by and we all gave him a high five. Bibby is a really nice guy. It was awesome, the entire place was in Awe..."

Quinton Bradley of Portland, OR is quick to point out that he's not a Blazers fan and says that, "I served Mitch Richmond dinner at the Olive Garden in Citrus Heights when I worked there in the mid nineties. I was a big fan then as I am today. He was cool. He was with his wife and looked surprised when I showed up with his ravioli antonello and exclaimed "Mitch Richmond, how's it going man I am a big fan!". He didn't say much just a simple "Hey what's up" but I didnt expect him to jump for joy that someone recognized him. I knew he wasn't a happy camper being in a Kings uniform. Back then as I'm sure you all remember being a King meant being a loser and Mitch was sick of losing. Well I was happy to see him and I saw him a few more times after that in the restaurant with his family. I still admire Mitch and thank god every day that he was a King because without him Chris Webber may have never come to Sactown.

Kings Fan Through Good and Bad"

Chris Brandstetter wants you to know, "Saturday, May 4th...

Kings lose to Laker's (or as the KingsSuperFans say Fakers and as I say Flakers) in game 1 at Arco. Hedo goes 0 for 8 from the field and is abysmal overall.

After the game, out to dinner on a first date w/my now girlfriend at Sushi on the River when I run into Hedo and his lady friend where Hedo's shaking hands with everyone who wishes him better luck next game on the way out as I do also at the front door where he's so tall he has to duck. You could tell he was very appreciative of everyone's support.

Hedo is one cool dude!"

Loyal Kings Fan wrote in to say, "I was working at a restaurant (Outback Steakhouse - I won't mention any names) during the kings awesome playoff run this past season. I can't remember which night it was but it was the night where Mike Bibby made a late shot to give the Kings a victory at home against the lakers (game 5 maybe) Anyways, Mike Bibby is a regular at Outback Steakhouse on Howe Ave. He would go there just about every night after a Kings game at home. This particular night Mike Bibby decided to hit the game winning shot and light up the town of Sacramento which hadn't seen this much action since ....I don't know when. Anyways, I am sure Bibby had to finish many post-game interviews and such after this huge night. So Bibby decides to go to Outback after the game.. Sounds good right. Here comes the problem. Outback closes at 10 PM. Mike Bibby shows up at 10:05 and our manager (Dave) won't let him in. This is the same Dave who stayed open late an extra 30 minutes on New Years Eve just so he could break the record for sales and receive his fat bonus check. The bonehead wouldn't let him in... 5 minutes!!!! common give Bibby a break he won the game for Sacramento in quite possibly the biggest moment in Sacramento history...Bonehead move of the year goes to Dave. Needless to say Bibby hasn't came back and I don't work there anymore. I also don't blame Bibby for not coming back. It was pretty cool while it lasted having Bibby and his 20 friends come in and celebrate.. Oh Well!"

Thanks, Loyal Kings Fan! - Ed

Laurn writes in to say, "My son and I made the trip with the Kings when Bill Russell was the manager. We had season tickets at that time and enjoyed staying in the same Hotel and visiting with the players. People seem to forget that players are human too. They do make Big Bucks but the demands on them by fans are heavy. I for one found them to be a personable group. P.S. Thanks for the web site."

No, thank you for coming! - Ed