NBA Rookie JaKarr Sampson Hazed

It is not unheard of for first-year NBA players to become victims of hazing pranks by their fellow team players, and the newest recruit to the Philadelphia 76ers, JaKarr Sampson was no exception. The player headed to the underground parking lot, only to find that his truck was wrapped from bumper to fender in aluminium foil.

Robert Convington, Sampson’s team-mate had the honors of recording the rookie’s reaction to the hazing routine, and other players gathered around to laugh at his initial reaction. Sampson proved a good sport and laughed along with his team.

Rookie hazing seems to be part of the initiation process for many new NBA players, and fooling around with the player’s car is a popular prank.  In 2013, then-newcomer to the Golden State Warriors, Festus Ezeli, found the wheels of his car removed and hid the tires around the building.  Ezeli took it all in good humor and later tweeted: “Does anyone want to gimme a ride home?”

Not all players on the receiving end of a prank react with humor and acceptance. On April Fools Day in 2010, a ball boy for the Denver Nuggets entered the team’s locker room and took the keys belonging to player, Kenyon Martin.  The prankster then went on to fill the white covered  interior of Martin’s car with buttery popcorn.  Fellow players reported on Martin storming into the locker room demanding that the culprit confess up, with a tirade of expletives used to show his frustration.  Martin even threatened to sit out of future games with the Denver Nuggets if the guilty person didn’t own up.  The ball boy eventually admitted it was him and offered to have Martin’s car cleaned professionally.