By Venancio Valencia Jr.
LOS ANGELES - He was only 10 years old when he saw his first NBA game live at the then-named Staples Center.
Up there in the 300 section with his dad and brother, he watched with bulging eyes former Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin soar for a vicious, thunderous dunk. The crowd roared and the arena shook.
That night, Dariush Sayson became a Clippers fan for life.
But this fairy tale story only gets better. Three years later, Darius ended up working with his favorite player and the rest of Griffin's teammates with the notoriously famous "Lob City" crew.
How he ended up with the prized gig was a stroke of fortune. Sayson's coach at that time was roommates with the Clippers team manager and it just happened that they were looking for a ball boy.
He has since been promoted to game operations assistant. And the rest is history.
"Over the course of 11 seasons, I'm in my ninth year with the Clippers," he told SPIN.ph. I oversee and provide guidance for the younger and newer ball kids. Our role is to maintain court integrity and ensure court conditions are safe to prevent player injuries."
Dar hosts visiting teams
Hoping "to build relationships and rapport with all organizations around the NBA," Sayson chose to work with the visiting teams, assisting superstars such as Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and many others with their pre-game routines.
It's not an easy job, one that starts four hours before games and ends 15 minutes after.the final buzzer sounds.
PRICELESS PERKS.
"I've met Drake, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Kevin Hart, Israel Adesanya, DJ Khaled, 2 Chainz, Vini Jr., Eduardo Camavinga, Floyd Mayweather among many other celebrities," said Dariush, who has also seen the Kardashians and Nicki Minaj cheer for the Clippers flock.
With only 41 scheduled home games a year, the Clippers job is part-time, but Dar intends to work for the team "for as long as I can because I truly love being in the NBA atmosphere watching players work on their craft."
Sayson is just as busy during non-game days. He is also a personal trainer who recently started working as Director of Fitness and Health for seniors at a non-profit organization.
After taking up sociology at Pomona College in Claremont, California, he intends to pursue a dual degree with a Masters in Social Work (MSW) and Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
Born and raised in sun-drenched Santa Monica where he still lives, Dar likes to hang out with his family and girlfriend when he is away from work. His Philippine roots are from Mindanao and Manila.
At age 24, with the world in front of him, Dariush has a dream side job, a loving family, and a path toward earning two masteral degrees.
In basketball, it's called a grand slam.
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