TORONTO -- As the Dallas Mavericks celebrated their win over the Portland Trailblazers on Thursday, there was one person in the stands who was celebrating a personal victory of their own.
NBA superfan David DeLooper had just successfully completed day 30 of an ambitious project: to not only attend 30 basketball games in 30 days in 30 different cities, but to get featured on the Jumbotron every single time.
With the aid of numerous costumes and what he described to CTV News as 鈥渟ubpar dance moves,鈥� he did just that.
Starting on Christmas Day in Philadelphia, DeLooper made his way across America, travelling constantly to keep up with his breakneck schedule.
He documented the journey of the dance moves that got him on the Jumbotron.
Dressed in a costume often themed around one of the teams playing that night, DeLooper pumps his fists, pulls faces and gyrates his way through each video. He flaps his arms in a bird costume for the Atlanta Hawks, pulls off some karate moves in a Miami Vice themed costume for Miami Heat, and bows for his subjects in a crown for the Sacramento Kings.
Collectively, the Instagram videos of him on the Jumbotron have garnered over a million views.
DeLooper told CTV News he only got into basketball around three years ago. He had played soccer in college, and said the NBA filled that void in his life.
鈥淭hat transition from being an athlete to not playing a sport anymore is tough, and basketball really helped me out of that,鈥� he said. He made friends through watching and discussing the NBA, and once he started going to games himself, he said he 鈥渏ust fell in love with the sport.鈥�
Visiting the reigning NBA Champs in Toronto was a highlight, he said.
鈥淭he Raptor (mascot) actually came up to me in the stands and actually fell on me and I kind of caught him,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he atmosphere that the Toronto Raptors have is amazing.鈥�
He said the month-long project wasn鈥檛 as expensive as it sounds, largely because he purchased plane tickets on cheap flights so far in advance.
鈥淚鈥檝e been this for well over a year,鈥� he said. For accommodation, he stayed predominantly with friends and family. 鈥淲e were definitely frugal.鈥�
But as his quest gained traction online, it wasn鈥檛 long before others wanted to pitch in to help him reach his goal.
鈥淲e ended up getting on Reddit, and actually through that we had people from each team -- whether it was the sales team, whether it was people from the NBA, whether it was even (a) mascot -- message us on Instagram and say, 鈥楬ey, like are you coming? Do you need tickets, do you need a place to stay?,鈥欌�� DeLooper said. 鈥淭he NBA community is so well put together that it鈥檚 been an awesome journey because everybody鈥檚 been so supportive.鈥�
So what is the perfect formula for being featured on the Jumbotron?
DeLooper said it came down to look and location.
鈥淭he number one thing is wear a costume, and sit in the lower bowl, because that鈥檚 where the cameramen are,鈥� he advised. The lower bowl refers to seats on the first floor of the stadium.
鈥�(The cameramen are) on the court, and they鈥檙e not going to look all the way up at a nosebleed section, so if you can sit in 鈥� lower bowl, you have a good chance.鈥�
He added that he made a point of arriving early and making sure to 鈥渄o a wave to a cameraman, make some eye contact鈥� before the game, so that they might think to pan to him later.
Judging by DeLooper鈥檚 Instagram videos, a lot of enthusiastic arm waving and dancing goes a long way as well.
He said he鈥檚 still thinking about what to do next, but is interested in possibly repeating the experience with the WNBA or the NHL.
鈥淣HL is a lot of fun, I鈥檓 just not great with cold weather,鈥� he said. 鈥淣o offense to you guys in Canada. But there鈥檚 definitely something in the works, I really want to keep the momentum going.鈥�
