Marshall Plumlee took train, cab and sprinted through NY to arrive on time at MSG and make NBA debut
Plumlee won't forget last Sunday
Marshall Plumlee made his debut in the NBA on Sunday in the Knicks win to the Hawks.
Plumlee entered in the second quarter and played a little more than 5 minutes grabbing one rebound.
But the story is not his NBA debut but how he reached the Madison Square Garden to play the game.
Early in the morning he was assigned to the Westchester Knicks.
Per ESPN, Marshall Plumlee received a phone call from a Knicks staffer on Sunday morning with a request he wasn't expecting.
“Hey, we need you to guard Dwight Howard" was what Plumlee heard on the other line.
Plumlee reacted quickly. He lives near a Metro North train station in Westchester, a county that borders New York City to the north, so he boarded an express train to Grand Central. He pulled in to the station at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue and jumped into a cab to head to Madison Square Garden on 33rd and 7th Avenue.
Time was of the essence, so Plumlee said he paid a cab driver a $60 tip to run a red light. The traffic was brutal, so Plumlee eventually got out of the cab and started running to the arena.
“Sprinting through the city,” he said. “I got here, they said, ‘Hey, do you need a warmup?’ I said, ‘No, I’m already warm. I ran here.’”
Plumlee arrived at the arena midway through the first quarter. He suited up and made his NBA debut in the second quarter, defending Howard. He ended up playing 5:36 and grabbing one rebound in the Knicks' win over Atlanta.
Quite an eventful Sunday for the ex-Duke big man.
“It was crazy," he said. “I feel I could write a book about it."
Plumlee entered in the second quarter and played a little more than 5 minutes grabbing one rebound.
But the story is not his NBA debut but how he reached the Madison Square Garden to play the game.
Early in the morning he was assigned to the Westchester Knicks.
Per ESPN, Marshall Plumlee received a phone call from a Knicks staffer on Sunday morning with a request he wasn't expecting.
“Hey, we need you to guard Dwight Howard" was what Plumlee heard on the other line.
Plumlee reacted quickly. He lives near a Metro North train station in Westchester, a county that borders New York City to the north, so he boarded an express train to Grand Central. He pulled in to the station at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue and jumped into a cab to head to Madison Square Garden on 33rd and 7th Avenue.
Time was of the essence, so Plumlee said he paid a cab driver a $60 tip to run a red light. The traffic was brutal, so Plumlee eventually got out of the cab and started running to the arena.
“Sprinting through the city,” he said. “I got here, they said, ‘Hey, do you need a warmup?’ I said, ‘No, I’m already warm. I ran here.’”
Plumlee arrived at the arena midway through the first quarter. He suited up and made his NBA debut in the second quarter, defending Howard. He ended up playing 5:36 and grabbing one rebound in the Knicks' win over Atlanta.
Quite an eventful Sunday for the ex-Duke big man.
“It was crazy," he said. “I feel I could write a book about it."
E. Carchia
@Sportando
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