Players from around the league took a few minutes on Media Day to check in with NBA.com and share their opening night memories. Raja Bell hit a big shot, Gilbert Arenas enjoyed a show and Jerry Stackhouse met up with an old college teammate. See what everybody had to say ...


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"I’ve had so many opening nights, wow. The greatest opening night memory was in Milwaukee after we won the division the year before and we were raising the division banner. That was special. You see the excitement in the arena, the excitement in the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin. When you raise that banner you understand that you accomplished something special, not only for our team but for the city as well."


"My favorite opening night other than ours is New York ... They have the arena blacked out and they have every body in stilts up in the air wearing neon, and bungee jumpers so they were all basically glowing in the dark and doing tricks in the dark so that was cool."


"This will be my first opening night on an NBA roster ...”




"In Utah, my most memorable opening night experience, I went out and made a couple big threes against the Portland Trail Blazers and had like 19 points in a big win for us."



"Definitely the ring ceremony, not even close. That's the best night I've had on a basketball court. It's something you long for since you start playing and that's to win a championship.”




"My rookie year we played in Sacramento and I’d just finished playing at Duke. In college you are used to playing against the top guy, a Brendan Haywood or a Drew Gooden, and then the second guy that came in wasn’t very good. When I came in I started against Chris Webber and thought this guy has to sub out eventually, thank God. But the second guy who comes in was Keon Clark, who is long, athletic, seven feet tall. So I thought, wow, from 1-12 the NBA is really good. It just gave me a wakeup call as to how talented guys are in the NBA.

“The second was the next year, when we had LeBron’s first game with Cleveland. We played Sacramento again and just to see the multitude of media that came out to cover his first game ... We couldn’t even do our lay-up lines correctly. I don’t want to speculate, but it had to be north of a hundred media people on the court from the baseline to the sides. I had never witnessed that before, and the way he came out was tremendous.

“I think opening night anywhere is going to be exciting, especially this year, teams have gotten better, but those are my two experiences.”

"There was one day when I was playing with Michael, when I was playing with the Wizards. That was my most memorable moment. Just walking out alongside Michael Jordan, you know, a guy that you grow up idolizing and mimicking his moves and here I am 18 years old, walking out with the same jersey and the same goal of winning a basketball game in mind. So that was pretty special."


"Last year was my favorite opening night experience. We came out through the ground on a stage with the smoke and everything going. It was like a concert, I felt like Puff Daddy! The crowd was going crazy and we were on an emotional high. I think we ended up winning the game by like 20 points we were just so hyped."


"Probably my first one. I think the first one is probably everybody's most memorable because it's new. I was excited and my emotions were all over the place.”




"This opening night sticks out the most. Everybody is here ready. Guys are focused in on what we need to do and I think we can be a contender in the West again."



"The first actual game was in Chicago. It was a wonderful experience for me. It was a dream come true.”




"The first game last year was against the Knicks, and I was the first man off the bench. That was big for me, being the first man off the bench. The jitters will be there, with the veterans knowing that we are starting a new year and that’s the date where everything kicks off and everyone is at 0-0. You know that you are going to have a few early jitters, but then after about the first thirty seconds it’s gone and everyone is ready to get going.”


"My most memorable opening night was my first year, we were playing Miami. We were down maybe about eight or nine points, it was my first game and coach put me in. I went 4-for-4 and we ending up winning that game and it was just a great feeling. It kind of just reminded me that, ‘I’m here now. I’m here.’ I went out there and I played well and that just led to better things.”


"I remember my first game, my rookie year. I was on the injured list because I was sick at the beginning of the year my rookie year. The first game I played I had to play against Allen Iverson and I just remember the game was moving really fast, and you know, how far I’ve come since then."


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