“Il est deux heures du matin et nous sommes condamnés à passer la nuit dans l’avion.”
These were the words of Tony Parker Monday night. Trust me, these are not words you ever want to hear from your point guard less than 48 hours before the Western Conference Finals.
According to the French radio station RMC, the Spurs’ clever plan to fly straight from New Orleans to Los Angeles after beating the Hornets last night was nixed when their chartered plane wasn’t ready to depart after the game. The Spurs said the plane had mechanical problems. (If you know French, click this link and let me know if you find any other clues.) Whatever the reason, this can’t be good. Instead of a full, blissful night’s sleep in the lap of luxury in L.A., the defending champs had to sleep on the plane and fly this morning at 7 a.m.
Remember Gregg Popovich’s face when that conference semifinals game was delayed because the arena staff couldn’t extinguish the flaming hula hoop? I would’ve paid anything to see his face last night upon learning that his derriere would be in an airline seat for the night. Back to the RMC Web site for more reaction from Parker.
“Ce qui se passe est incroyable,” explique Tony.
While all of this is slightly amusing, the scary part is that this situation could point to a serious problem with the Spurs’ method of travel. As astutely pointed out by Henry Abbott over at TrueHoop, the San Antonio Express-News sounded the alarm last month about mechanical and financial woes suffered by the Spurs’ air charter company, Champion Air.
If you’ve ever wondered about the risks incurred by athletes who fly all over the world for competition, I urge you to read the story. It should be required reading for all pro and major college sports teams that collectively charter thousands of flights a year.