Hornets Hype

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

This post is dedicated to the legendary James Posey Man Hug.

Says Hornets247:

I haven’t said anything about it here, but I’ve got to mention the pre-game ritual of James Posey standing at the scorer’s table and giving each of the starters a hug/chest bump/chest punch according to their preference.  The players checking in from the other team typically poke, prod and even hug him from behind while he does it.  I’m not even sure how to describe it.  It’s just a strange mix of awesomeness, awkwardness, and plain hilarity.

Quoth Kevin Garnett:

“It’s not necessarily the hug. It’s what he’s saying to me and reminding us what we need to do to go out and be successful,” Garnett said. “It’s kind of good before you hit the floor. He’s not just talking the talk. It really means something. You guys see it as a hug, but it’s the unity of what he’s saying. It’s all motivating. It’s all positive.”

Ray Allen:

“Yeah, you start one thing and it becomes ritual and you can’t change it. (Wednesday) night he wasn’t there (DNP-CD) and you kind of freeze up a little bit.”

Posey is still bringing the pre-game man hug tradition now that he’s with the Hornets. He has his own little routine. He waits at the end of the scorers’ table to hug the starters before they head out onto the court. Tyson Chandler does not partake in the hug, and usually, neither does D West (You can’t picture it, right? Your instincts are correct. West isn’t a hugger. See left.) Peja will take some quick hug action, as will Rasual Butler. Chris Paul goes last. He gets a big bear hug and those mysterious Posey words of champions whispered in his ear. Then Posey high fives everyone seated in the chairs on his way back down to the end of the bench, including random ticketholders. Then he gets some water. Or Gatorade. I’m not sure. I just report the greatness, people. Plus I sit in Row 26.

I don’t know, D West. You think maybe you want to consider getting on board with this one? ‘Cause those are the Words of Champions. And you’re missing out.

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

The X Factor

James Posey graduated from Xavier University in Ohio in 1999, where he led the team in rebounding each of the three seasons he played. It was only the beginning of the tradition of 6th Man excellence that we know and appreciate today. Posey was drafted by Denver with the 18th pick… sans (according to the pic) headband, high socks, knee pads, and hand tat.

Of course, a piece of Hornets trivia that most fans know is that David West also played at Xavier (in case you missed the big X tattoo on his left shoulder), graduating in 2003. (Which gives DX and me two things in common– graduating in 2003 and having our respective alma maters’ logo tattooed somewhere on our bodies. Now that is a little-known piece of trivia.) West got there the year after Posey left, which means they didn’t play together. A third Xavier connection on the current Hornets team is the fact that, in addition to West and Posey, Chris Paul was also coached by Skip Prosser in college, except at Wake Forest a couple years later. A fourth is that there’s an Xavier in New Orleans, but it is of course not the same one.

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

You know, last weekend I think I finally put a finger on why I love Posey so much. I think it has to do with me growing up watching hockey since I was six. I always had a soft spot for the hard-nosed “enforcer” type guy. Pose is that guy, in a basketball setting.

This video is an excellent illustration of what I’m talking about. That was a wicked hip check. Get this man a pair of skates.

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

(This one is reposted from 11/10/08, but we like to think it’s a Hornets Hype classic.)

So the official Hornets site is going to be featuring new fan fave James Posey’s thoughts from time to time this season. I thought the first installment was kinda tame, although the accompanying pic is all kinds of awesome. But whatev. The real James Posey is blogging right here on Hornets Hype. Witness a day in the life of Poz…

8:10 AM. Outta bed. Sunny. Good morning, 504!

8:20 AM. Was driving home from the game Saturday night, listening to the postgame show, when this dude calls in and says, “I have a question for you, Joe. I think my girlfriend’s about to leave me for James Posey. He’s just that awesome. Do you have any advice?” I shoulda called in and told him, “Ain’t nothing can be done about that situation.” The ladies love me. I know how to hustle, ya know what I mean? Yeah, you do.

8:50 AM. My young man Juju called. Seems he read some shit about me possibly mentoring him, teach him some long-limbed defensive hustlin goodness. I said, go pick me up some breakfast and I’ll think about it. He asks, Do I want any coffee with that? But I tell him, No, son. Do I look like I need coffee? I wake up amazing. Still, I will instruct this young one in my ways. If it doesn’t go well, I can always kick him out of The Club. I was wearing tall socks when he was still in diapers. So I can always, ya know, hold that over his head.

9:20 AM. Ate bacon and champagne for breakfast.

11:56 PM. You will not believe this shit. This is what goes down in the locker room before practice today.

Me: So on the way here, I helped this old lady cross the street to get to the bus stop. She was real nice.

Chris: No way! That happened to me too. Plus I gave a homeless guy $500 on my way to City Hall to sit in on a meeting with Ray Nagin about the city’s crime problem.

Me: ………

The hell. That goody two-shoes. No one out-Poseys James Posey. Gonna have to watch this one carefully…

12:42 PM. Hit 200 threes in practice. They were all clutch.

2:50 PM. Uploaded pics from Halloween to MySpace. Partied on Bourbon Street with the fellas. I went as me. Self-explanatory.

3:35 PM. Hate off days. No one to dominate. I once went 12 hours without blinking, on an off day. Just because I can.

5:40 PM. Paul texted me. Said he missed my hug before the game last night. Texted him back and told him sorry, you know my hugs cost $5.5 mil a year. That’s just business. Haha. Then decided that was too mean and texted him a smiley. I ain’t running a charity operation here. Just kidding. I’m a good dude. I once stole Kobe’s sandwich, but I put it back.

6:23 PM. Dude on Canal Street asked me where I got my shoes. Beat that scamming motherf@cker up, and then told him, “In yo ass.”

8:45 PM. There was a spider above my TV, up on the wall. Was v. distracting. Stared at it until it burst into a teeny flame, sizzled, and died.

10:05 PM. Took relaxing shower. Sang. No, I won’t tell you what.

11:06 PM. Lake Show better watch out on Weds, is all I’m gonna say. Can’t outhustle a hustler. Been 4 months but they still wake up in the middle of the night, all sweaty, seeing a dark shadow looming over them, lunging for their souls, or maybe a loose ball. That shadow is me.

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

The Many Colors of James Posey…

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

I am not gonna lie… some of this interview may not make sense. There may be alcohol involved.

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

ESPN presents… Great Clutch Moments in the Life of James Posey

P.S. I realize no one gets my inexplicable crush on Paul Pierce. Sometimes even I don’t get it. But after watching that again… damn. Y’all.

While making fun of the corporate-whorish NBA TV/Nike “24 Hours of LeBron” to celebrate LeBron James’ 24th birthday, I jokingly stated that the next Hornet birthday, I’d top that. January 13th is James Posey’s birthday. And I am a woman of my word. Check out the rest of the silliness here.

I reserve the right not to blog about that game, or in fact acknowledge its existence. So, let’s just carry right on with what we were doing…