Before all that talk began, the ushers inside the Rose Garden were just doing their job when they held a red rope leading from the court to the visiting locker room tunnel that blocked a group of Blazers courtside ticket holders until Hill finished his interview.
Any of the fans seemingly trapped at the bottom of Sections 103 and 104 could have easily walked up the area stairway, spilled into the concourse, and located an exit that would have led to the parking garage. What was really blocked by that rope was the shorter and more glamorous exit route that led from the courtside seats through the arena tunnel, past the Courtside Lounge bar and bowels of the arena, where exiting fans sometimes catch a glimpse of an NBA player, out to the parking garages.
"I neeeeeeed to go that way," one woman said. "We pay a lot of money for these courtside seats and I valet-parked my car down there."
A second ticket holder --a twenty-something male in a flat-brimmed baseball cap -- refused to step away from the rope. He eventually got mouthy, then belligerent, and three gray-coated security guards showed up on the scene and walked him up the stairs. He turned back and shouted at the ushers as he climbed the stairs.
They ignored him and explained that they couldn't allow anyone to pass beyond the rope until all players from both teams had left the court. Hill was still on the court, doing that interview.
Of course, Hill was oblivious to the wait he created. When the league's three-time sportsmanship award winner finished the interview, he began to run off, then saw a group of Nike executives on the other side of the court. So the Suns guard jogged over for a back-patting chat. Also, Blazers president Larry Miller saw Hill and walked over and hugged Hill, and joined the chat while those ticket holders across the way folded their arms watching from behind the red rope.
Hill wrapped up 10 minutes later, and walked toward the ropes, which set off a sarcastic round of applause from the waiting Blazers fans who were done with the season.
Hill, of course, missed the joke. He must have figured that the applause came from Suns fans because Hill reached out and tried to high-five the miffed Blazers fans as he brushed past and disappeared down the tunnel.
The fans mostly left him hanging.
