NBA stars spare no expense to trick out their rides

Stepping inside is like slipping into a coffin.

"That's the way I like it," Sonics center Jerome James said with a wide smile as he looked around the interior of his silver Hummer H2. The vehicle's slit windows already limit light, but add a dark tint and plush detailing featuring black alligator leather and suede material and James has created a personal hideaway on wheels.

But does it pass the test?

James is handed a CD with instructions to play track No. 8 and crank up the volume. Within moments the record scratches and L'Trimm, a female duo, begins to rap. Stop. What happened? How about the ones we especially like? Which ones? You know the ones with the cars that go ...

And then it hits — bass so strong puffs of air waft all around and you feel like a model on the set of a swimsuit shoot. As L'Trimm sings the chorus to its 1988 debut "Cars with the Boom," James, 29, cracks up at the memory of Miami-based rappers Tigra and Bunny. As he screams across the 520 bridge at 80 mph, other drivers gawk at the loud monstrosity complete with rims created by James with his jersey number "13" dimpled into the chrome plate.

"I hate the attention," he deadpans, turning the music down slightly.

Say what?

"I don't," James said. "I hate it when people come up to the truck and take pictures. I know some are just trying to post my license plate number on the Internet. People act like it's public property, and it's not. It's my own private automobile. Like my momma used to say, 'Act like you got some sense.' Because when I leave it, I'm thinking you're going to steal it."

It's hard to imagine anyone rolling off with this Hummer incognito.

The truck was a gift to himself after signing a three-year, $15 million contract with the Sonics, which expires after this season. When the thumping bass stops, James has pulled up to Superior Auto Trim in Bellevue, where he said he spends most of his time.

Immediately it's understood this isn't some ostentatious gloat of wasted money. It's a passion rooted in James' youth, when his father, Jessie, who repaired cars on the side, taught him the trade. One of 10 children, however, James had to wait until he broke into the NBA before he could afford his dream ride.

Now he has seven, plus the chopper custom built for his 7-foot-1 frame, complete with Louis Vuitton accents.

"I can't even ride it," he said with a pout, mentioning league rules that prevent all players from riding motorcycles after former Chicago Bulls guard Jay Williams' accident in 2003.

"But my dad, we used to put motors in cars, transmissions. We'd do all the work ourselves," James said. "I didn't start taking cars to the shop until I got into the NBA."

It's in the details

James walks inside Superior Auto Trim, to the workroom floor, and blends in with the employees. Owner Moe Pilgrim starts talking about a rough night as rock music plays in the background. All around are cars in different stages of completion.

Sonics forward Reggie Evans' watermelon-green 1973 Chevy Caprice is getting an interior makeover, including a chrome steering wheel shaped like a flame valued at $200. Forward Rashard Lewis' GMC Yukon Denali was just rolled outside, ready for pickup after re-detailing his Louis Vuitton interior because mechanics at the dealership left oil stains on the material after servicing the car. It cost about $3,500 just to replace the seats with the swap-meet quality fabric shipped from Asia.

"I try to steer people from it," Pilgrim said. "It's not quality, everyday stuff. Can't take the ultraviolet rays. It's strictly for show, but some of the guys have to have it."

Car detailing is a billion-dollar business, according to Pilgrim, a native Washingtonian who has been in the mix the past 35 years. The major fall expo where the newest goodies are on display is in Las Vegas, and there are five national traveling car shows a year. Locally, there are dozens of shows, from Greasergrrls to the Seattle Auto Show to one in the planning stages by James and a few Seahawks pegged for March.

Of all of the shows, the ones featuring athletes and their rides are probably the most intriguing. They set the trends, such as spinners (rims) designed by Minnesota Timberwolves guard Latrell Sprewell, sound systems that consume entire trunks, DVD players and seats that'll cool or heat depending on the weather.

The fascination with tricking out cars has grown. There's already MTV's "Pimp My Ride," where a hooptie is converted into a stunner, and now the Speed Channel is debuting with "Unique Whips" at 9 p.m. tomorrow. The reality show spies on the goings-on inside Will Castro's Unique Autosports shop, an A-list custom detailing business in Holbrook, N.Y., where the New York Jets are regulars.

"I would like the viewers to understand how hard it really is to keep these celebrities happy on a regular basis," Castro said of his show, which will feature Denver Nuggets forward Marcus Camby and musician Jadakiss in the first few episodes. "The most outrageous request was we had to fully customize a vehicle in three days for a car show. We will not install a Jacuzzi in a trunk. That's just over the top."

All about showmanship

In the NBA, a nice ride is practically a requirement.

"It's like a competition thing in itself," said Sonics rookie Damien Wilkins, whose uncle, former NBA legend Dominique, has about 20 cars. "People won't say it, but it is. You want to have the nicest car, you want people to look at your car, and that's why you do the things you do to them. You want people to say it looks nice — not just you. When you're driving down the street and people are looking at your car, that's a great feeling."

James, Lewis and Evans are the Sonics' biggest car buffs. James has the flashiest, including a sky-blue Escalade — a color that took him four hours to develop — with ostrich and suede interior that he lets his three young children crawl all over.

Lewis has the most unique tastes, scouring catalogs for rare pieces to separate his cars from others on the road. Evans is constantly picking up wheels magazines and won't part with his classic rides from the 1970s.

"I have a creative mind, especially when it comes to cars. I do my own thing," said Lewis, who had his Mercedes painted a purple bowling ball effect. "I try to be different from everybody else, and nobody is saying the car is ugly. When you get compliments on it, you know you're doing something right. I've been getting a lot of compliments so ... "

And it's not just the American players who fall into the obsession. Forward Vladimir Radmanovic steps out of his silver, two-door Mercedes looking and feeling like a rock star.

"It's an expensive hobby," he said.

Snoop around the players' parking lot at KeyArena before a game and you can see the impact of their innovation. Security guards constantly bark "get out of the flower beds" to fans trying to get a closer look at the rides parked below. In the past, some fans have even thrown candy at the tinted windows, but that's rare.

High-schoolers invited to sing the national anthem also have to be ushered past the lot, frozen in their tracks whispering and wondering whose car is whose.

But one car they won't see is guard Luke Ridnour's.

"I don't have one," said Ridnour, who had a Mercedes on loan last summer and owns a 1976 pickup truck at home in Blaine, but nothing in Seattle. "It's not spending the money. It's being lazy and going to do it. I take a lot of crap for it, though. But I don't even mind. I'm at peace with it. Me and Nick (Collison) are low on the totem pole as far as cars go."

A variety of opinions

Sonics broadcaster Kevin Calabro yawns when he looks at the players' parking lot these days. He has been with the organization for 18 years and quickly reminisces about Steve Scheffler's loaner Rabbit from University Audi. FYI, Scheffler was 6 feet 9.

Or there was guard Gary Payton's fleet of exotic cars and rumors of Sedale Threatt sleeping in his car.

"Sedale likes the night life. Why waste time getting home when you can just park it?" Calabro said with a laugh at the possible validity of the story.

But now with trucks taking over, there's not much fun in peeking in at how the rich spend their money.

"I gotta tell ya, the guys are a little boring," said Calabro, who drives an Escalade as part of a marketing deal. "They've got the big SUVs and the spinners (rims), but that's kind of it. I remember when Rashard got his Navigator his rookie year, and he was really proud of that thing. But by today's NBA standards, it's nothing. It only had one flat-screen TV.

"There's not a lot of variety. If I had that kind of dough, I'd do like Jerome. I'd go late '70s muscle car, trick that baby out. That, to me, has a little more pizzazz to it than just buying a factory car and slapping the tires on."

Sometimes the cars mask the real person. All of the Sonics donate their time to the community, through either foundations or appearances set up by the team. Lewis has built a theater room for the Ronald McDonald House, and Ray Allen hosted a karaoke night benefiting children in need.

Yet, hear about how the players have an average of four cars apiece and the perception of most of their rags-to-riches tales gets distorted.

"Some guys can overdo it. Nobody on this team," said Sonics forward Danny Fortson. "But they can have unnecessary stuff that costs a lot of money. The biggest misconception is that we're stupid intellectually and waste our money, like with the cars. But there's not much you can do about it. Me personally, I'm like a lot of people where we don't have to publicize the good you're doing. God knows, and that's all that matters."

Dreams on wheels

Many of the players are simply materializing their childhood dreams. Lewis used to hook up his all-white Mongoose bike, and now he does the same with his cars. Allen would daydream about owning a Ferrari. Now one sits in the driveway of his Issaquah home.

"It's weird," said Allen, a five-time All-Star. "Right now I have four cars, and I never thought I'd have four cars. Four cars is a lot. But I know guys that have 20 cars.

"It seems like every car fits my lifestyle and personality the way I need them to. But Jerome's got like old-school, tricked-out cars — that's his thing. He likes cars. I don't dislike them; I like them for what they are. Once they're in the garage, they just sit there."

Especially during the season. James, a partner at Superior Auto Trim, describes the feeling of completing a car for a customer as "giving birth to a baby," but he uses the season just to fix his rides. There isn't much time to goof off. The summer is for cruising around Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, his offseason home, with friends — all driving his cars, of course.

As for the impression it leaves on kids, James and Sonics coach Nate McMillan said their children are going to have to earn their way to nice rides.

"He (16-year-old son Jamelle) is already talking," said McMillan, who still owns his 1995 Mercedes with vanity plates. "They talked Mrs. Mac into putting rims on her truck, but I'm not buying into all of that. It's unbelievable. I would never think of getting rid of your trunk to put some speakers in."

In the end, a ride can be decked out with rims, speakers and monogrammed leather seats. But, as Evans said, it's nothing without gas.

That, we all can relate to.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com