Whaddup NT fam?!
This here is just a big thank you to everyone and anyone who contributed to this weekend and made NBA All Star 2016 in Toronto such an incredible experience. I might not be an OG NTer...but I wouldn't consider myself a newbie either, and I've never seen this thread poppin' with so much activity.
As a 35 year old (fairly) new father of a six month old baby who lives in Markham, there should've been absolutely NO WAY for me to be able to attend/buy/experience all the things I ended up checking off the list this past week. Didn't take any time off, plus I got stuck working the Saturday (and Family Day too! Posting this from work right now) yet somehow I now have memories that will last a lifetime.
Starting with what I
missed out on:
-never got a chance to ride the SNKR Express. While I wasn't really after any crazy kicks to begin with (more on that later) it would've been a cool experience
-no time to get to NBA Centre Court
-a few more scavenger hunt pins would've been nice
The good stuff:
-cutting straight to the chase: the big NBA events. Now I'm not rolling in dough by any means, nor do I have crazy connects (I know some Raps season ticket holders but they're more like "regular folk"). Yet somehow I scored tickets to:
Rising Stars Friday, that legendary Saturday Night, and Farewell Kobe Sunday #trifecta
-All Star gear! Being a grown *** man it was borderline shameful the amount of stuff I copped: jerseys, shorts, shooting shirt. Really got caught up in the hype lol
-was only really after one shoe: WC4s...but only if I didn't have to jump through hoops to get them. Didn't sign up for a single raffle, all I basically did was casually stroll into HOH on my way to work Saturday morning, no camping at all, got my sz 10.5, paid, and left. Easy peasy. Even crazier: the primary reason I was there? To pick up my...
-custom clothing from the HOH pop-up. Seriously how cool was this?! Sure the options were limited, but we get to personalize some Nike gear! Sticking with customization...
-306 Underground. Was disappointed when they didn't have hoodies in my size left, but I still got a long sleeve done. Got some extra time? Get a FREE haircut courtesy of Drake's barber! Top notch job, super-chill dude who took his time and everything. Then took the elevator up to...
-306 Yonge without having to wait a decade and a half in line, nor freeze me *** off. Only larger sizes left when I got there, but not sweating it since I'm sure when they re-open in August we'll see some proper stock [was after the CN Tower shirt]
-even had time to step in the M&N Get Fresh pop-up, then promptly stepped out without buying anything heh
None of this would have been possible without the right people who helped me along the way: my always supportive wife, my in-laws who let us stay at their place downtown this whole time and looked after the baby, my friends who helped with hooking up with tickets, and of course YOU GUYS HERE constantly posting useful info letting everyone know what's up and when various links went live.
And even if you didn't contribute to this thread or a lurker just reading, I hope you also had as amazing of a time this weekend as I did. If you struck out on a few drops, realize how fortunate we all are when missing out on buying our umpteenth pair of "must have" sneakers is pretty much the definition of First World Problems, and we really should be grateful for all we do have (I myself have been guilty of this in the past).
Peace & love to all, and keep those positive vibes going!
-Matt
TL; DR: had an amazing All Star Weekend, and hope y'all did too!
