ANTHONY GETTINO
Sports Editor
On Feb. 20, Dr. Sungick Min, associate professor of sport management, and sport management student Charles Marshall went to see the NBA All-Star game in Cleveland, Ohio. Min was able to purchase seats for the two to go see the game and the NBA’s 75 year anniversary celebration at halftime.
The duo sat in the first row of the second deck in club seating. “I always sit club with exclusive benefits,” Min said regarding having all-inclusive seats at the event. “Dr. Min and I had the best seats and got to eat great food since we were in a suite. We got to see a lot of all stars in the NBA,” Marshall added.
Min usually takes students from his different sports management classes to professional games two or three times per semester. These games include the Buffalo Bills in the fall and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Buffalo Sabers during the spring semester. Students usually have to pay a lesser amount of money than what the tickets originally cost Min.
At first, Min was unsure whether or not he wanted to go to the NBA All-Star game. The seats were quite expensive and Cleveland is over two hours away by car. However, the NBA All-Star game playing as close to Fredonia as it was this year was a special occasion. Since Min and Marshall had been talking about this trip for over a month, they decided to not sell off the tickets.
When purchasing the seats, Min had a choice on what day to attend. He ultimately decided on Sunday since that was when the actual All-Star game and 75th anniversary celebration would be.
As for the game itself?
“The overall experience of the all star game was truly amazing. The best aspect of the event was the food and seeing Stephen Curry shooting threes from everywhere,” Marshall said.
“It was packed. There were no masks either,” Min added. Luckily the suite style seating was able to accommodate for the lack of COVID-19 protocols and isolated the two while not taking away from their experience and view of the game.
Leading the way for Team Lebron with 50 points in the contest was Stephen Curry. His team was able to defeat Team Durant 163–160. Curry was named the All-Star Game MVP for his performance.
Other top performers included Lebron James (24 points, eight assists and six rebounds) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists) on Team Lebron.
Standouts from Team Durant included Joel Embiid (36 points and 10 rebounds) and Devin Booker (20 points and five rebounds). Kevin Durant did not participate in the game due to injury.
In the future, Min hopes he can continue to take students to events like these as they can be once in a lifetime opportunities. Taking students to professional games helps to show them possible career paths through the sport management major as well as getting to relax and enjoy a day watching a game with good seating.