How Brooklyn’s The So So Glos hung out with NBA champion Matt Bonner

The So So Glos are many things: rockin’ punk band. Brooklyn influencers. The DIY heroes behind Shea Stadium. They’re also sports fans. If Shea Stadium’s name and giant Mets logo mural weren’t enough of a tipoff for you, there’s also the above picture the band took with San Antonio Spurs power forward Matt Bonner in March, which they excitedly tweeted yesterday to celebrate the Spurs’ 2014 NBA championship.

How do scrappy punk rockers from Brooklyn wind up hanging out with a two-time NBA champ? We emailed the band for an explanation, and heard from guitarist/vocalist Ryan Levine who told us how they met Matt Bonner, sat next to David Robinson at a game and what other high-profile basketball celebrities are rumored to be fans of the band.

Was Bonner at one of your shows or did you just sort of run into him in San Antonio and you recognized him?

RYAN LEVINE: If I’m not mistaken Matt Bonner and Luke Bonner first saw us at a show in Boston at a club called the Middle East. The brothers were into the fact that we are brothers in a band (Ryan Levine and Alex Levine, Zach Staggers is our step brother) and they also were into the music.

We then heard from the Bonner brothers when they invited us to play after a Spurs game in San Antonio during SXSW this year alongside Mobb Deep. It was very nice of the Spurs, who may be the best franchise in the NBA over the past 15 years, to take in us underdogs from Brooklyn. Along with having the pleasure of meeting the Bonner brothers we also got to sit courtside at the game. I mistakenly sat next to [former Spurs all-star] David Robinson for a quick minute before being ushered away. Meeting the Spurs cheerleaders was not too bad either.

Did meeting him turn you into Spurs fans?

I’ll have to admit that I am a Knicks fan turned Brooklyn Nets fan, but we have always respected the class of the San Antonio Spurs on and off the court. And we definitely feel close to the Spurs after the way they treated us during our visit to the AT&T Center. After Brooklyn fell to Miami, I was very happy to see the Spurs crush them. Lebron may be the most talented player in the NBA right now, but I love to watch the best lose.

Any plans to try to get him to play on the Shea Stadium team at the next DIY venue basketball tournament?

I had not thought about getting the Bonner brothers to play, but that is a good idea. As the rules go, they would have to put in a little time working the door at Shea Stadium Bk. Or maybe we could get them to curate a couple shows. Then the DIY basketball league couldn’t keep ’em out.

Do you think there are other NBA teams with So So Glos fans on the roster who you just haven’t met yet?

I heard from a source that someone overheard Charles Barkley and Shaq talking about our new album Blowout off camera during a halftime show. I can’t reveal my source.

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