A former LA Clippers ball boy has told how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving treated him very differently.
The NBA has had its fair share of stars over the decades. During the 1970s and 1980s, LA Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Philadelphia 76ers legend Julius Erving were at the peak of their popularity.
Despite being amazing on the court, both stars carried a very different demeanor.
An interesting story from a former LA Clippers ball boy sheds light on it.
Today David Meltzer is known as the co-founder of Sports 1 Marketing, but when he was young, he started his journey as a ball boy for the Clippers.
Evidently, he met a plethora of NBA stars during that job. He once shared his unforgettable experience with Abdul-Jabbar which made him cry.
“I was a ball boy with the Clippers. I go in the first day, Lakers vs. Clippers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I screw up because it’s my first day, and he was so– he’s pretty intense, which made him great, but he ____ on me like, ‘Boy!’ blah blah blah,” Meltzer recalled via The Residency Podcast.
He added: “I went home crying to my mom, ‘I’m not going back,’ and my mom’s that type of person, ‘Oh yes, you are.’”
A small mistake led to Kareem giving him an earful and Meltzer never wanted to return to his job. But thanks to his mother’s motivation, he came back to work.
If Kareem had an intense aura around him, be it on or off the court, Dr. J was different. Erving carried a very friendly behavior regardless of a person’s job.
Meltzer shared: “Next game, Sixers vs. Clippers, and there’s Dr. J. And this man, he said, ‘Son, why’d you give me so many socks?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know they told me to put six on everybody’s locker.’
“And he goes, ‘I don’t need six pairs of socks. How many feet do you think I have?’ I go, ‘Two.’”
But that’s not the end of the story. Erving also gave Meltzer a memorable present which led to future benefits for the 76ers legend.
“He signed each of the pairs, and then he grabbed a basketball, and he signed it for me. Later on in life, I had so many opportunities to hire Kareem for a lot of money, and I would call Dr. J,” Meltzer concluded.
It’s no surprise that Meltzer described KAJ as a difficult athlete to work with, but he became a lifelong fan of Erving.
Related Posts
