Kyle O’Quinn Absolutely Loves Bar Mitzvahs

Kyle O’Quinn is the life of the party.

Easily the most unexpected NBA story I’ve read today comes from ESPN’s Ian Begley. Knicks center Kyle O’Quinn, it turns out, loves going to bar and bat mitzvahs. 

His agent, Andy Miller, invited O’Quinn to his daughter’s bat mitzvah a few years ago, which O’Quinn called “one of the best parties I’ve been to in my life.” He was hooked, and now he books bar mitzvah appearances on a semi-regular basis. 

"A lot of times, I go and I stay longer than I'm supposed to because it's so much fun," O'Quinn said. "The food's always good. The only thing that gets a little overwhelming is the kids; sometimes they don't listen to the structure of the party and it just gets loose.

"And the [parents] kind of leave it like, 'Kyle, you deal with it.' And it's kids saying, 'Selfie, selfie, selfie, snapchat, what's your snapchat?' But once you get that out of the way, it's fun."

It makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. O’Quinn is the kind of guy who bring a spark to a team with a clutch hustle play. He’s an energizer, whether he’s on the court with a bunch of muscled 7-footers or in a ballroom full of Jewish teenagers.