The legend of Shannon Sailes, the Detroit Pistons’ dancing usher, began at the beginning of the 2011-2012 NBA season. Sailes was manning his post at sections 115 and 116 on the lower level of the Palace of Auburn Hills, when his section was featured on the arena’s jumbotron. The camera and the music triggered an impulsive burst of dance moves that drove the crowd crazy. The rest as they say, was history.

Sailes became a national sensation in November 2013 when the Detroit Pistons were hosting the New York Knicks and the Pistons organization staged a “dance off” between he and a young fan. Needless to say, the video footage went viral on Youtube. Afterwards, Shannon made appearances on national television shows including Good Morning America, The Today Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live The Houston Rockets recently attempted to copycat Shannon Sailes earlier this week by hiring a fake usher to dance during a timeout at the Toyota Center.

What makes Shannon Sailes so special is the way he warmly interacts with basketball fans during games and all of his dance moves are unrehearsed. Although he can easily imitate Michael Jackson, MC Hammer and James Brown, he credits Fred Astaire as his dance inspiration. Shannon is very passionate about his job and is proud of the fact that he never fled Detroit, Michigan like so many others. He lives in Detroit’s East Side and is a graduate of Highland Park High School. Shannon recently made the move from Auburn Hills with the Detroit Pistons and can now be found at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit, Michigan.

 

Reference:

Freep.com

  

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