He Camped Out 24 HOURS to Watch LeBron! (Interview)

This is Colin Barrett, the guy who went viral for being the first person camping out in Seattle to watch LeBron at the crossover event over 24 hours in advance of the game. Colin, let's start with this. Try to sum up your overall experience over those two days you were there. Oh, yeah. I mean, I would kind of describe it as a combination of a ton of fun, but then also just absolutely hectic at the same time. Actually getting to see LeBron, but at the same time to the crowd, the security and stuff, they were really out of hand. So that kind of made part of the craziness and the whole experience too. So what made you decide to camp out for 24 hours? Give us a timeline of how the decision came to be. And then was there like a motive? Was it to see LeBron? Was it to go viral? Yeah, exactly that. So we wanted to go see LeBron. I honestly didn't expect the viral part of it. Someone just drove by with their car and took a photo of me. Yeah. And I was just like, Oh, that's kind of funny. Like, I guess send that to the friends and stuff. And sure enough, people were texting me that was on overtime bleach report and stuff. But the main motivation behind it was a couple of my friends and I had basically planned to camp out there. Since we had a friend of a friend that worked with the crossover, tell us that LeBron and more were coming. So we were all at work. I work at a vintage sportswear store over in Capitol Hill called Throwbacks Northwest. And basically, we had a plan that one of the three of us once they announced it publicly would drive over there and set up shop camp out for the night. We didn't expect to be the first ones there. We just wanted to actually be the first couple people in line so we could try to get it. So yeah, it was definitely unexpected, but also kind of crazy at the same time, too. Very cool. We heard a lot of people, you know, camped out overnight, waited 14 plus hours, and we're very close to the front of the that didn't end up getting in. How did how did that happen? Yeah, no, I mean, that that's 100% true. Something I said in the video earlier today was basically that there was a girl about 20th in line. She was actually going down and counting out people were in line throughout the night just to kind of give everybody a tally of me were there. And she didn't get in. And that's basically because around 910 am the kind of mob mentality started because people showed up super late realized they wouldn't get in just the lines just over a mile and a half. And basically ignored the line that already been formed. And there was no like tape or barriers up or anything. So they just kind of rush towards the all the pavilion doors when they're all trying to find the left side. Did you ever feel like there's a chance you might not get in? Kind of but more so because the event was probably going to be shut down. Just based on the number of people there Seattle Fire Department actually threatened to shut down the event multiple times unless like people could crowd off off the stairs, which is some of the security guards were saying, but with that many people and when you have one of the biggest athletes in the world, like LeBron James, people aren't really going to follow direction. So they're just kind of going to do whatever they can do to try to get to the front of line and see that especially for a free event where anyone can go. I have a hypothetical question here. Oh, yeah. Like, let's say you didn't even get in like, at all. Like, how mad would you be? I'd be absolutely heated. It would have been and I don't blame people who didn't get it. A lot of like the first five I think that were kind of camping out there did get in since we all knew each other the night before. My guy Isaac actually got there 10 minutes after me, so he was second in line. And then two other people, Robert and Tate also got into but other than that, I also do not know how many people behind me got in. I think the first 10 maybe got in since they were already near the front. But after that, it became like very sketchy to get in. So yeah, I would have been absolutely pissed off. Yeah, makes sense. So it's crazy. You were in a tent the whole night. Like, did you get like any sleep? And I guess kind of like, what was the overall vibe? Because I feel like that's kind of crazy. So yeah, I do have a confession here. Basically, since I had three other people that I worked with, I got the first shift about three to midnight. And then I live in there. So I have to go back home, sleep in my own bed for about four hours. That was clutch for me. And then I got up in the morning, made my friend's breakfast, came over and just hung out for the rest of the time too. You had a good plan set? Oh, yeah. No, we kind of knew earlier in the week that he was coming. So like, gotta have game plan here to actually get in. Smart. And what was so what was the vibe like in the middle of the night? I guess like when you were there at night? What were people doing? I mean, during the night, it was actually great. People were playing basketball all throughout the night. Someone brought a hoop probably around like 9, 10pm. People just playing basketball on the street for a bunch of time. There's a whole bunch of pickup games, big circle around it. And people were super nice. Everyone who camped out overnight there. Essentially, just it was a great friendly vibe. It wasn't until 9, 10am when people started showing up and realizing we're screwed that essentially kind of turned to a mob mentality. Some people are saying this was like the worst RAN event ever. You were there for the entire thing. What can you say about the overall way the event was ran? I don't know about the worst RAN event ever, but it definitely was not good. All around, I think some of the things I would have recommended would be kind of forming the line and having that cut off beforehand, which they didn't. Campus Security actually knew about the event. They came and talked to us prior. They actually told me to take down the tent after that photo was taken. And then SPD and the security guards didn't get there until it was basically too late. So it was a very poorly ran event. And the majority of people actually inside the gym were VIPs and friends and family of people playing in the AAU games before. So I'd say roughly maybe like 300 people got in. Could be less, could be more out of the crowd. I don't know the exact number, but it was very limited. And when you have people like Steve Ballmer who showed up, which are billionaire owners for a free Pro-Am event, again, a free Pro-Am event, it's kind of a bad look in my opinion. So you think maybe like 300 people got in. How many people do you think, this is probably a hard question, but how many people do you think were in line at night or in the morning? And I can show you guys a video of it. I have a time lapse going kind of like three quarters of the way back. But at one point, I think it stretched for over a mile for people camping out overnight with tents and stuff. And I've lived in an area my entire life. I've never seen that many people in the area. So I'd say it could be anywhere around 5,000, but that's a rough estimate. So yeah. And it's only a 2,600 capacity gym too. So realistically, half of them weren't even going to get in, even if it was only the people out there. Yeah, that's insane. So anyone that knows Joe and I knows that we're huge LeBron fans, right? So what was it like when LeBron stepped through those doors and you saw him? Absolutely ridiculous. It actually almost got the event shut down because people were rushing the court, trying to dap them up and stuff. And he was visibly annoyed about it, as I think anyone would be. And Tom Crawford actually had to come out and calm everyone down himself, try to get the event going. But just being in the same room as him, kind of watching him and just seeing his stature and the way he played, which he didn't play the best, quite frankly. But basically, just seeing him play was awesome. And seeing all the NBA talent there, because I don't know when I'm going to get another chance to see LeBron play, even if it's for only a quarter and a half. I mean, I guess he didn't have that much time to play, didn't he? Yeah, no, he never turned on to warm up. And yeah, there was a lot of sweat on the court there, too. So could have been a San Antonio in the finals with no AC situation. That's hilarious. Yeah, Joe and I kind of have a similar experience, like being that close to LeBron, we, we were at one of Ronnie's AU games, and he was there was for peach jam. So we were just like, even we weren't super close. But like, at one point, I feel like Joe was like 10 feet away, I was probably like 50 feet away. But it just kind of it kind of hits you. It's just like, wow, I mean, we think he's the goat. It's like, this is the greatest player ever. This is someone you grow up watching for years. It's crazy. It's a it's a crazy experience. But you actually got to watch him play that close, which I feel like is a little bit different. Oh, definitely. We actually camped out because we expected to get court side seats. And that was kind of the goal there. But then all the VIPs mess that up. Yeah. You mentioned the the how hot it was in the gym and all the the sweat on the floor. The game obviously got shut down due to the condensation on the floor. How hot was it in that gym? Absolutely ridiculously hot. I mean, it was kind of not I wouldn't say sauna level, but kind of close to that. And that's mainly because there's no ventilation or AC in the gym. And the actual people mopping up the sweat. They were trying their best, but there's maybe two people with small little mops trying to mop it up and a couple more with towels. So when people were in there for that long, it was that hot in the gym. There was like really no shot to actually get the floor clear of that condensation. I also heard that they couldn't like open up the doors because to like let air in because people would have just like stormed into the into the stadium. Exactly. Yeah. Up until like, right after the game ended, people were sitting there like kind of pounding on the glass waiting. I have a video I can send that of you guys to that one of my friends took. But yeah, so they couldn't even open up the doors or anything like that as well. I mean, a lot of NBA stars were there. Did you have any close, really close encounters with any of the guys any starstruck moments other than obviously LeBron just walking in? Oh, yeah, no, I did go to get water at one point and Aaron Gordon was sitting on the bench, which was cool. Like all the rest of us in the gym, he was absolutely drenched in sweat. And I'm just looking at him and I see his bicep, which is probably about as big as my leg, maybe as thick as my head. So that was just kind of crazy to see the like the massive like scale of how big these guys are and the level that they're playing at. So that was great. Very cool. That's awesome. So after it's all said and done, 24 hours of waiting, you're in the gym for I don't even know how long, probably under an hour. Was it worth it? I think so, partially for the crazy experience. And because I don't think I'm ever going to see LeBron in this level of NBA talent again, they bring a team back, which LeBron could be retired by then. So just to say that I got to see LeBron, it was worth it. But at the same time to the level of craziness and pandemonium pandemonium that came along with it was absolutely ridiculous. And I don't think something that anyone expected, possibly including the event organizers as well, too. So that's another aspect of it, too. I just say it was worth it. And it's a great story to tell people going forward, but definitely a lot of craziness. So it's kind of 50 50 on that front. It's definitely something you're never going to forget. Yeah, no, and probably not going to camp out for the pro game again. It'd be worth it for the Twin Cities program if we have now. No, I'm joking.