BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- 12,444 NBA fans gathered at Legacy Arena Tuesday to see some of their favorite players in person.

CBS 42 talked with everyone from basketball coaches to a father and son from Childersburg who attended their first-ever NBA game together. You never know who you’ll run into at an NBA exhibition game – Auburn’s former head basketball coach Bruce Pearl showed up to cheer on Jabari Smith Jr., who played for the Tigers before being drafted by the Houston Rockets in 2022.

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant drew the loudest cheers. As did Pelicans forward Herb Jones -- a former basketball star at Alabama. Among the thousands of cheering fans at Legacy Arena Tuesday night, a group of young basketball players from Phillips Academy in Birmingham:

“It means everything, b

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