The San Antonio Spurs head to Oklahoma City to take on the undefeated, Western Conference-leading Thunder tonight. The last preseason game between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City took place earlier this month on October 7, and the Thunder won 112-107. It was one of the only games that Victor Wembanyama played in and he had a solid performance with 14 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks. Asked about the game tonight and his re-match with Chet Holmgren, Wembanyama said he’s been keeping a close eye on the undefeated young squad:
Oklahoma City is shaping up to be one of those places that most NBA teams would prefer to avoid visiting, but it isn’t for hoops related reasons alone. You see, Oklahoma City is home to a luxurious historic landmark with a reputation for being one of the most haunted hotels in the United States.
The Skirvin Hotel, named after its founder William Balser Skirvin, was first opened in 1911. More than a century later, in 2006, the Hilton Hotel Chain took over operations of the Skirvin after it underwent a significant renovation and restoration. Those renovations didn’t get rid of the hotel’s most infamous guest- a female ghost who most often targets and appears to men, a great number of NBA players who spend the night there before facing the Thunder among them.
As the story goes, a tragic event allegedly led to its haunting. A young maid named Effie had an affair with the hotel's owner, W.B. Skirvin. When she became pregnant, Skirvin locked her in a room on the top floor to hide the scandal. After the baby’s birth, she was kept under lock in the room when the desperate and distraught, Effie eventually jumped to her death from the window, taking her own life and that of her newborn child.
Since then, guests and staff have reported a variety of paranormal activity, including footsteps, whispers, and even the sound of a crying baby have been heard throughout the hotel. Objects have been moved or disappeared, and doors have opened and closed on their own.
Despite the spooky reputation, the beautiful historic location had been a popular destination for visiting NBA teams though many of them have begun to scratch it as a place to stay given a growing number of complaints from players and staff- including assistant coaches.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, someone who works for an NBA team shared a scary first-hand account of their experience with an apparition of the ghost of Effie on what is now the 10th floor of one particular building in the newer three-tower complex each with 13 floors.
In the middle of the night, the NBA person woke up to go to the bathroom. When he was done, he flushed the toilet and had just gotten back under his covers, when suddenly he realized that a woman was standing theee looking at him from the foot of his bed. His initial reaction was shock. “I could still hear the toilet refilling with water and here was this person who had gotten in my room,” he explains dramatically as he re-lives the moment. “I thought I should grab my phone and call someone so I look for it next to me on the bed and I notice it’s just past 2 AM. Then just as I turn back to look at her, she’s gone from where she was and is now staring right at me just inches away from my face at the side of my bed!”
It paralyzed the person, who then explained that the phantasm walked straight through both the nightstand and wall and disappeared.
The next morning, during the team’s shoot-around the distraught victim approached an assistant coach with the team and asked if he had any say as to where the team would stay when visiting Oklahoma City in the future. The coach said he did, but wanted to know why. The NBA person then very hesitantly shared his story and was met with the tale of an occurrence the coach himself had experienced. This one, however, much more benign, involving repeated loud knocks at a door that, when opened, revealed only a quiet empty hallway. There are many other accounts, including that of one NBA player who had the female specter appear next to him suddenly as he was taking a shower.
Though the NBA employee who shared this story appeared very credible- especially when asked for more details.
Before dismissing it altogether, a little research revealed that NBA star Kyrie Irving was one of the players who was fascinated by the hotel’s ghostly encounters. In 2019, the entertainment publication Variety, announced that Irving would star and executive produce a feature film with Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment about the haunting. Imagine Entertainment had even preemptively optioned a Players’ Tribune article that listed an oral history of experiences from NBA stars who have stayed at the Skirvin Hotel, but the project seems never to have been completed.
Interestingly enough, Irving’s only bad experience at the hotel involved an encounter with bed bugs that affected his performance on the floor against the Thunder the following day.
Former NBA player Ron Artest, however, thought about a lawsuit after the Skirvin ghost “inappropriately touched him.” Even the toughest NBA players have been spooked there. Charlotte Hornets center Taj Gibson has opted out of staying at the Haunted Hotel. Detroit Pistons wing Tim Hardaway Jr., once a skeptic, had a chilling experience there that changed his mind when he played for the Dallas Mavericks. Now retired Lou Williams may have been fearless as a scorer, but he won’t enter the haunted premises to this day.
Yes, the paranormal activity adds an extra layer of intrigue for those who are interested in the supernatural, but this year’s Thunder are scary in the most real basketball sense and they’ll present a challenge for the visiting team from San Antonio tonight.
Oddsmakers have the Spurs, who are still without the services of starter Devin Vassell and point guard Tre Jones, listed as 13-point underdogs for the nationally televised game. Tipoff is at 8:30 pm Central.
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