A Family Affair: Trail Blazers' Evan Turner Discusses Real Cubs Love
Twenty-eight-year old former No. 2 pick (2010) Evan Turner grew up in Chicago watching Cubs games with his great-grandmother, Vater Mae Fite, between outdoor summer hoop sessions. For decades, he and his great-grandma, now 102, watched the team fall short of its ultimate goal.
But the Cubs claimed a long-awaited World Series triumph over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday in a thrilling Game 7. Bleacher Report caught up with Turner to reflect on his early days in Chicago and what the team's championship means for his friends, his family and the Chicago community.
Bleacher Report: First off, should I congratulate you on the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series?
Evan Turner: I’m not one of those guys that’s like, "Yo, we lost" or, "We won," but I’m definitely excited for the city. It’s something cool to experience, especially considering it’s been so long since they won it.
B/R: What was your reaction to the news?
ET: I know my great-grandma is extremely happy. I can only imagine how Wrigleyville, how crazy that was in Chicago. So I was super happy for the city, obviously. When I looked at my social media, all my friends on Snapchat and everything like that, all my friends were going crazy, so it’s definitely cool.
You have to be in Chicago to kind of comprehend it, but it’s huge for our city. Every single year, people have been waiting to see the Cubs win one. So it’s definitely cool, and it was a first for a lot of people I know.
B/R: Was there anything from folks on social media about the Cubs that caught your attention?
ET: I think one that was pretty funny—I saw the White Sox kind of kept it classy and tweeted congratulations to the Cubs. It’s a cute picture. It’s like, "Congrats! The White Sox want to congratulate the Cubs on bringing another championship to the city." And then on the other picture, it’s a picture of them celebrating, the White Sox celebrating back in '05, so I thought that was kind of funny. Obviously, just seeing from my drunken friends on social media was funny.
B/R: Did you watch games with your great-grandma growing up?
ET: I watched some of them. I was a hyper little kid, but I was always aware. I would sit down and watch some of them. It wasn’t like I would do it all the time because I was a kid, so I barely had any patience to sit down for the whole three-and-a-half hours. If it was nice out and fresh in Chicago, I was going outside to play basketball. But I know I would go to my grandparents' house, and I would always hear her cheering or standing up in front of the TV or hollering at the TV and everything like that.
Her love for baseball, as I got older, became more contagious. I’d seen how much she loved it. And I grew to appreciate baseball games more as I got older. ... One of my most vivid memories about the Cubs was watching Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in the home run race. I was like nine or 10 years old at the time. I remember Kerry Wood having the 20-strikeout game. When I was a kid, those memories definitely stuck out, of Harry Caray and all those guys.
It’s definitely a bond that I’ve had with her. Each of the past few years for her birthday, I would take her to a Cubs game. Anthony Rizzo was super nice to her when he met her and got her a baseball bat for her birthday.
B/R: Do you know how she got into baseball and the Cubs in particular?
ET: No. I really have no clue. I just know she’s always loved it. As long as I can remember, she’s always watched it, like literally every single day. I’ve never even asked her. I always knew where she was at, just watching TV, watching the games.
B/R: Did you have a chance to talk to her about the game?
ET: No. We were in Phoenix. We had a flight at 2 a.m. her time, so we had to hurry up and get moving and stuff. Once momentum has calmed down and everything like that, I’ll give her a call. I know for sure she had a big night last night. Today we had a busy, busy day, so I’ll for sure talk to her this weekend about it.
B/R: Did you go to any Cubs games this past summer and see this team that won the World Series?
ET: Yeah, I took my great-grandma. She and I went when they played the [San Francisco] Giants. It was probably around, I think, Labor Day weekend, actually.
It was great. They had a comeback win. I think it was a game where Jason Heyward had, like, four hits or something. He had three of the biggest hits of the game. It was a great game. They played 13 or 14 innings.
My great-grandma, she was saying she was tired, and I said, "Well, we can go to pass up all the traffic [and] everything." She was like, "No, I want to sit and watch the game. I want to see everything."
She’s like, "I want to go back and tell my roommate" because she stays at a retirement home, so she has, like, a roommate. And she’s like, "No, I need to tell my roommate about what I saw." Even though she was tired and stuff, she was not leaving, even a 13-inning game or something. She wanted to enjoy every minute of it. I’m glad it was a great game and a great win.
B/R: What does this Cubs win mean for your family and friends in Chicago?
ET: I think it’s just great for the city. I was talking to my AAU coach, and he was saying: "I’ve been a Cubs fan for years. So many heartbreaks and stuff like that, and [I've] never ever ever been able to see a World Series win." It’s crazy. A hundred and eight years. That’s a long time. It’s huge, and I think definitely for the diehard fans, that’s a great reward for sticking on and sticking together and weathering definitely the tough times and everything like that.
B/R: Are you ready to forgive Steve Bartman?
ET: I feel so bad for that dude! I feel so bad for him. I hope everybody is. When it first happened, obviously, you could teeter around on if Bartman really did interfere with the ball, [and] there were errors after that play. As a pro, you have to snap back into it.
But I felt so bad for Bartman, and I hope for his sake and just the sake of his family that’s all stopped and people accept him back.
B/R: Are there any other baseball fans on the Blazers? Any other Cubs fans?
ET: Ed Davis, he’s a big baseball fan. So is Pat Connaughton. He got drafted I think by the [Baltimore] Orioles. ... He’s definitely a big baseball fan. Since I’ve been here, we’ve always been talking about baseball and stuff like that. So those dudes I think more so are fans of baseball as opposed to Cubs fans. Pat’s from Boston, so he’s a Red Sox fan.
I think Davis was rooting for the Cubs a little bit, and Pat was enjoying the series. They were definitely saying how crazy the game could’ve been because of the extra innings and home runs and just looking at the scoreboard. We’d see it was 6-3, and then it would come back, and it would be 6-6 and all that stuff. Everybody got excited a little bit.
B/R: Did you have any friendly wagers with friends of yours from Ohio State?
ET: Yeah. David Lighty is from Cleveland. Me and him made a little friendly wager. That’s really it. He’s a big Cleveland sports fan, so as soon as the World Series started, we kind of had a deal.
B/R: What was the wager?
ET: Just, like, 1,000 pushups.
B/R: His arms should be pretty tired pretty soon then, huh?
ET: No, David’s pretty big. He’ll be all right.
B/R: Have you rubbed in the win with anyone you know from Ohio?
ET: Oh, no. Just, like, trash talk. That’s pretty much it. I know a couple friends from Ohio State. They’re actually from Cleveland. Just basically saying, "I told you so." That’s pretty much it. Obviously, Dave [Lighty] and a couple of my other friends from Cleveland wanted to win really bad, but they already got a championship in June with the Cavaliers. I guess it’s a good time for them.
B/R: There was also a comment from Luke Walton, who was a Warriors assistant, about it after he saw the score on TV. Any thoughts on that?
ET: [Laughs.] I mean, I think that’s kind of funny. Obviously, when you’re a competitor and you see something like that, you’re going to feel some type of way. I guess his response was a real emotion. It is what it is.
B/R: Do you have any plans to go back and watch Game 7?
ET: Yeah, I definitely want to watch it and check it out. We’re on a road trip for about three or four more days, so right now, I’m just going to focus on the task at hand. On one of my days off, I’ll go check it out. It’s crazy. When you look back on it, judging from just the box score and everything else like that, it’s probably one of the best games. I would definitely sit down and check it out and see everything that I missed.
B/R: Have you been in touch with any other Chicago guys from around the NBA about it?
ET: Actually, I talked to Iman Shumpert this morning. He’s pretty excited about it. I think just growing up, you don’t really have to guess what people’s reaction is. You know what it means for the city. On my social network and on my Snapchat, you could see how crazy people were going.
Even prior to the game, before the game, pregame and everything, half of my Instagram was loaded with just, like, well wishes for the Cubs. Afterward, my whole Instagram feed was just going crazy. I’ve seen how excited everyone is and how happy everyone is. I wish I was there to celebrate.
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