Live From Vegas: Kenny Smith's Celebrity Poker Event

No cabs at the Hard Rock and a line of about 25 people waiting, so I sucked it up and paid for the limo to get me to the party. I felt ridiculous in this huge car all by myself, and was telling a friend via cellphone on the ride over as much. I especially was going to feel stupid when the car pulled up in front of the club and everyone hanging outside was going to see just me emerge from the stretch limo, but thankfully traffic on the strip was straight gridlock so I got dropped off a half block away.

I arrived and checked in, and the first thing happening was the red carpet arrivals. Players arriving stopped and chatted with a few people before heading in, and one of the people conducting interviews was Donyell Marshall. I'm not sure who he was doing the interviews for, but players always tell more to another player, so that's where I hung out. Some highlights from the interviews:

- When asked who he was most excited to see in the Dunk Contest, Vince Carter said for him it was Dwight Howard. I would have to agree, even if the league doesn't let him raise the rim.

- Damon Jones had to tell someone who he was, spell his name, and then during the course of the interview mention that he's actually one of the participants in one of Saturday's events. I thought that might take him down a notch, but a split second later he was telling Donyell that he was there because Kenny "needed his star power." Dude's supremely confident if nothing else.

- Donyell asked Bryon Russell "The Question." Did MJ commit an offensive foul on Russell before hitting the famous shot in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals versus Utah? Russell smiled and said "You know what? If they didn't call it, it wasn't a foul." Classy answer, after all it was Michael Freaking Jordan who did that to him, not exactly anything to be ashamed of.

More after the jump.

The rest of the people I recognized at the event are as follows: Tony Parker (who wasn't overly French), Don Cheadle (who was fairly quiet), John Salley (who wore two of his Rings), Antoine Walker (who has a very basic cellphone), Rich Eisen (who seemed like a genuinely fun guy), Cheryl Miller (who looks much better in person), Kenny Smith (who didn't wear a belt), and Avon Barksdale (whose real name is Wood Harris and is taller than you would think).

Once the poker got started, there wasn't much to tell. An occasional exciting hand here and there, but for the most part, it's just dudes quietly playing cards. John Salley went up to someone in a wheelchair as he was leaving and said, "hey man, get up I need your seat!" which got a big laugh. And once Jason Collins was eliminated, Kenny got a big reaction when he remarked, "the Nets aren't making these playoffs either!"

It was unexplained why Lebron James' name is featured so prominently on the event when he didn't even attend, but that's alright. Overall it was just really cool to get a chance to see some NBA guys hanging at the club.