I was invited to sit courtside in Vegas at the NBA Summer League with Celtics GM Brad Stephens, player Sam Hauser, VP of Operations and, former WNBA star Alison Feaster, Maria Menounos, and my best, best advocate, Kev. We had the greatest time ever seeing the future of the Celtics. At Summer League, you’re really seeing the future superstars of the NBA – before they’re giants. And being out there on the court, seeing some of the players who are only teenagers, I was blown away.
It was also fun to show off my TBS belt to Sam Hauser. Sam was telling us his CEO Story. He was un-drafted and then played in the Summer League a couple of years ago, and now, because he never gave up or listened to critics or the so-called experts, he has a championship ring. Albert Hall, who founded the Summer League decades ago and invited us, was also great to chat with. Albert started the league purely because he loved basketball and saw that un-drafted, overlooked players could get more attention. Albert is also starting an NBA Summer League Film Festival. He talked to Kev about working on it along with your CEO. I’m all in and will keep you posted. It was also great to talk to Celts VP Alison Feaster about the WNBA, female referees, and the increasing roles of women in sports, which you know I’m a HUGE proponent of.
We also had an amazing dinner with Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren. We talked Boston sports, but more than anything, he just let us know that Boston is really our city. Whatever we need in the city of Bo$$ton, we have family, friends, and community everywhere. It also just feels so cool that a girl from Cambridge who couldn’t afford to even go to games has whatever we need at the TD Garden with the Celtics. Maria, who grew up poor too, says she still gets the chills over it all. It really is a nice feeling. We may seem like an unlikely pair, but Maria Menounos and I have so much in common.
Plus, I have to say, it’s fun to show everyone from the NBA in attendance my title belts – the TBS Championship, especially, with the NBA being on TNT as of now;)
