Letter Perfect

In 1985, the Kansas City Kings held a practice at American River College. Among the many attendees were Shane Singh, his brother, Kevin, and their father, Sam.

Later that year, the Kings would officially reside in Sacramento. “There was a line out the door. We couldn’t even get in; we had to stand outside in the breezeway and watch,” recalls Singh, then 11. “When practice ended, the players came out and signed autographs. I just thought it was great to see the community enthusiasm to receive its first pro team.”

The experience left an indelible impression on Shane, now 50 and an employment litigator. “Part of the reason I’m a lawyer is I like writing and, back then, if you wanted to get something done, you’d write a letter,” he says. “I got an inkling to write the trainer, Bill Jones … that I’d love to be a ball kid, if that was possible.”

It worked and, from 1988 to 1992, Singh got to do just that.

“On my first day, I’m kidding you not, Bill Russell showed me how to open the water cooler for this Summer League game,” Singh says. “I’m 14 years old and one of the hallmarks of the sport is training me!”

The importance of the experience has only grown with time. “For someone from an immigrant family—my mom and dad are from the Fiji islands—to come to Sacramento and their son gets to hang out with the who’s who of athletes … it’s remarkable.”

The Kings weren’t making many headlines back then, but Singh worked alongside the likes of Vinny Del Negro, Kenny Smith, Danny Ainge, and Ralph Sampson—not to mention all the referees and visiting teams. “It was always courtesy for the players to sign autographs for the ball boys,” Singh says, noting that the best he ever saw was Michael Jordan. “He was sort of an introvert, just keeping to himself in a little corner of the locker room and not talking to anyone. But, when the buzzer rang, man was he ready to play.”

In those days, Singh says, teams didn’t have the extensive support staff they do now, and his role was a part-time, game-only gig. But that wasn’t the only difference between then and now.

“Ball boys were basically clubhouse attendants, like in baseball,” he says. “We would make sure that they had beer stocked in the locker rooms—and soda. There was no Gatorade yet. We collected the warmups when they came out of the game and then returned them to their locker at halftime. We would hang on to their valuables. … Anything the players needed, that’s what we ran and got. They’d be like, ‘Young fella, can you go grab me a hot dog?’ and they’d let us keep the change. If the player would see a woman they liked, sometimes we’d go try to get their number.”

Singh recalls a game against the 76ers in which the roof was leaking rain onto the floor, suspending play. “One of the owners, Gregg Lukenbill, was a construction guy by trade. He went up, pulled down one of the banners in the rafters, and held it under to collect the water for the whole fourth quarter so they could resume,” he says.

After graduating from John F. Kennedy High School, Singh headed to Cal Berkeley, where he majored in political science. “The first thing I did, I wrote a letter to the basketball coach at the time, Lou Campanelli,” he says.

Singh got the job as team manager, but it wasn’t the letter that did it.

“Jim Hadnot, a scout for the Kings, somehow I made friends with him,” Singh says. “He’s Jason Kidd’s godfather, and Jason Kidd was a high school phenom at the time. When I find my way to the basketball office at Berkeley, [Campanelli] starts explaining my tasks. I said, ‘I thought this would be an interview,’ and he says, ‘No. Jim Hadnot called me and he’s the godfather of my best player.’”

Singh spent four years managing a Golden Bears basketball team that also included Shareef Abdur-Raheem and Tony Gonzalez. “My locker was next to Tony’s, so I got to kind of know him. One of the nicest guys ever,” Singh says. “With most Division I teams, managers were part of the team: You’re in team photos, you get all the gear. I was a little big man on campus—a five-foot-seven guy hanging out with players.”

The gig came with more responsibility than he had as a ball boy. Singh would coordinate all the practices with coaches, ensure the equipment was ready; run the scoreboard and manage the time; and handle all travel. “Imagine being in the middle of nowhere and practice ends at 9 and you’ve got to book a place for 25 people to eat,” he says. “Some of the skills I developed, in terms of communicating effectively and persuading people, are from when I was a manager. You had to just to get things done.”

When it came time for law school, everyone assumed Singh would end up doing sports law. But, he says, “After I started doing litigation, I found I loved it. I love taking depos. I love trying cases.”

While the connections Singh made may not pay professional dividends, they still pay personal ones. “I get a text almost daily from an old player or coach about something or other,” he says, noting that he enjoys being on the fan side of things.

“Last year, I went to Vegas for the 30-year anniversary of Cal beating Duke in the 1993 March Madness,” Singh says of upsetting the two-time defending national champion. “All of a sudden, I was going to Berkeley and going to the Sweet 16 and being in a parade on campus. It was crazy. I’ll never forget that.”