By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Golden Knights men’s 4x400 metre relay team had another shinning “priceless” moment when they sat at courtside to watch the Miami Heat put a 20-point spanking on the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday at the American Airlines Arena.

Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown, Demetrius Pinder and Ramon Miller represented the team that made the trip without Michael Mathieu. They were accompanied by Obie Wilchcombe, the Minister of Tourism and some members of his staff.

Brown, the leader of the quartet, said it was a fantastic experience watching the National Basketball Association (NBA) together as a team.

“It was a great experience. I enjoyed spending time with the minister and my team-mates, and even Andretti Bain, who came along,” Brown said. “It was a great experience. I really enjoyed it.”

In addition to having their up and close seats to the action on the court where they were recognized by the Heat organization and the Bahamian delegation also got a chance to tour the facility and visit the two teams in their locker rooms.

“The experience was priceless,” said Brown, who visited a number of NBA games, but the first watching the Heat and the Lakers rivalry in Miami.

Brown, however, declined to comment on who he was pulling for. He opted to leave it out.

Miller, who anchored the team to the storied come-from-behind victory over the United States’ veteran Angelo Taylor in the final of the relay at the Olympic Games in London, England in August, said he enjoyed himself.

“It was good. It was an awesome experience. To have a front row seat on the court was a privilege. It felt like a VIP star among the stars,” Miller stressed. “we got a chance to see Kobe (Miller) and LeBron (James) battle it out.

“We saw them before at the Olympics when they played together, but we never saw them play against each other. So it was a good experience, especially since we met them at the Olympics.”

And to top it off, Miller said the Heat organization treated them like royalty.

“We met the owners and all of the top people in the organization,” Miller stressed. “So I felt like a superstar then. I was sitting on the courtside and meeting all of the celebrities. It was all about promoting the Bahamas, which the Ministry of Tourism wanted us to do.”

Miller said his only regret was that Mathieu was unable to join them as his wife, Kenisha Mathieu, is due with their first child.

“We have been able to reunite for the first time in about a month, but we have been communicating through the various social networks,” Miller said. “We would have liked to have Mike with us, but he didn’t want to leave her stranded, so we had to go without him.

“We wanted him to be there, but we know what he’s going through right now. We just wish him all of the best. I think we enjoyed some of the fun for him.”

Although he’s a die hard Boston Celtics fan, Miller said surprisingly he was pulling for the Lakers to win.

“Even though I don’t like them, for some strange reason, I wanted them to win,” he said. “Unfortunately, LeBron and the Heat have some big guns on their team. They were playing in the front of their home court. We had more to lose. But it was good to watch them play.”

Pinder headed back to Texas and was unable for comments.

Efforts also to contact Wilchcombe for comments was unsuccessful. But it’s understood that the trip was just a series of activities that the ministry have the athletes engaged in ti help promote the Bahamas.

All of the athletes are now preparing for the start of their outdoor season that should start in May as they get ready for the long haul to the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, Russia in August.