Warriors G STEPHEN CURRY "sat in the front row" at Friday night's Braves-Giants game at AT&T Park, "decked out in Giants gear." He was "motivated to attend a Giants game" after seeing RF HUNTER PENCE "sit courtside at a Warriors game." Giants President & CEO LARRY BAER said, "He wanted to return the favor. We offered him and his family a suite, but he wanted to sit" in the crowd (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/30). Curry's trip came "two nights after" Baer attended the Warriors' series-clinching Game 5 win against the Rockets at Oracle Arena (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 6/1). The Giants "rolled out the red carpet" for Curry, whose visit included "a pregame visit in the clubhouse and meeting" with Baseball HOFer WILLIE MAYS. Curry's appearance "drew some ire" from A's RF JOSH REDDICK, who "regularly attends Warriors games." Reddick said of Curry, "Who knows, the Giants probably did something to get him over there." Meanwhile, Warriors G KLAY THOMPSON attended yesterday's Yankees-A's game at O.co Coliseum. The A's "offered Thompson a similar experience" to what Curry got, but Thompson "politely declined in favor of a more low-key attendance" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 6/1).
NET MINDER: In N.Y., Douglas Robson profiled ITF Dir of Communications NICK IMISON, who "coordinates thousands of mandatory and elective interviews during the two weeks at the French Open." He "does the same" at the Australian Open and the U.S. Open. He "deals with emotional players like VENUS WILLIAMS, who last Monday skipped her required postmatch news conference after a first-round loss to SLOANE STEPHENS." He also is the "messenger of news, good and bad, about whether a one-on-one interview request has been approved." Imison: "You learn not to take it personally." Tennis player MADISON KEYS said of Imison, "I feel like he probably has 80 people talking to him at once. But he always seems so in control of the situation" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/31).
NAMES: The annual Best Buddies Challenge in Hyannis Port, Mass., "kicked off Friday evening with a flag football game at Harvard Stadium -- and a tailgate party afterward hosted by the Food Network's GUY FIERI." Several Patriots players and alums participated in the game, including QB TOM BRADY, WR JULIAN EDELMAN, TE ROB GRONKOWSKI, WR DANNY AMENDOLA, OT NICK SOLDER, LB JEROD MAYO, free-agent C DAN KOPPEN, ESPN analyst TEDY BRUSCHI and Patriots radio analyst SCOTT ZOLAK (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 5/31)....Giants WR VICTOR CRUZ on Friday night was "honored at a gala" in Paramus, N.J., "for his contributions to the Boys and Girls Club of Paterson and Passaic" (NJ.com, 5/29)....New Orleans civil court judge KERN REESE on Friday “shot down a request by media companies ... to give the public access to the lawsuit over the estate” of Saints and Pelicans Owner TOM BENSON (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 5/30)....Saints QB DREW BREES and defensive coordinator ROB RYAN “both hit the floor for charity” last week, “accepting the ‘Drop and Give me 10’ push-up challenge in honor of fallen patriots” (ESPN.com, 5/30)....Mavericks coach RICK CARLISLE recently “showed off his piano skills” at a BRUCE HORNSBY concert in Dallas by playing a solo on “Rainbow’s Cadillac,” much to the “delight of the crowd” (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/30)....DONALD TRUMP was recently spotted at N.Y. restaurant Fresco by Scotto with USGA President TOM O’TOOLE, VP DIANA MURPHY and Exec Dir MIKE DAVIS (N.Y. POST, 5/31).
IN MEMORY: Graphic designer JERRY DIOR, who created “the silhouetted batter that has long symbolized” MLB, died May 10 at his home in New Jersey. His wife, LITA, said that the cause “was cancer.” His death “was not made public” until last week (N.Y. TIMES, 5/30).
