Tim Duncan claims he stayed at a haunted hotel in Oakland and heard a ghost in his teammate’s room
Tim Duncan
© Kyle Terada - USA TODAY Sports
Just like us, NBA players also fear ghosts and spooky surroundings that come their way. Given that these professional basketball players travel around America during the NBA season, it's not surprising to know they have their fair share of experiences. San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan has had his, and it happened in Oakland, specifically in the Claremont Resort.
Ghosts and terrifying sounds in the hallways
When Duncan and the Spurs traveled to Oakland in 2014 (at that time home of the Golden State Warriors), they stayed at Claremont Resort & Spa Fairmont hotel. When the 5-time champion and his teammate Jeff Ayres checked into the hotel, Ayres noticed he heard weird random sounds in his hallway as he made his way to his room.
"I took my room key," Ayres told the San Antonio Express-News. "I could hear stuff in the hallway, like people in their rooms. So I'm thinking people are watching TV or whatever. So I get to my door, and my key doesn't work, but it sounds like there's somebody in my room. Like I hear a little baby, not crying but making noise. I'm like, 'What the heck?' I keep trying my key and it doesn't work. So I go downstairs to get a new key, and I tell them somebody's in the room," Ayres added.
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Ayres then shared that he asked the hotel's front desk to call his room to check if it was occupied, but not a single person picked up the phone. The front desk kept assuring Ayres that the room was supposed to be vacant, but nobody seemed to know how to unlock it. While trying to open the room again, Ayres kept hearing creepy sounds like kids running down the hallway and babies crying inside the room, so he insisted on getting a new room instead.
Ayres' scary suspicions were then further confirmed by Duncan, who said he heard the same frightening sounds in the hotel. Duncan then pledged that he would never stay in Claremont Resort again.
"I heard a baby in his room. There was somebody or something in his room, yeah. I definitely heard something. It wasn't creepy, because I assumed it was really somebody in the room, and they gave him the wrong room. But when they told me the story the next day about calling up there and no one in the room, it's at that point you get chills. I'd rather not stay there again," Duncan said.
An experience Duncan won't forget
Luckily for the Spurs, the haunted hotel didn't affect their game, as they still managed to defeat the Warriors (99-90) the next day. But Duncan and his teammates would probably never return to Claremont Resort again, which is unfortunate for the Claremont Resort and its business owners.
On another note, at least Claremont Resort still gained publicity in 2014 after Duncan and Ayres shared their experience — if they do, in fact, agree with the famous saying there's no such thing as bad PR.
