Last Night's #2 NBA Draft Pick Tweets on Beverly Hills Italian

Photo credit: Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images

Can Hasheem Thabeet save the NBA from tastebud mediocrity?

As Henry Abbot, the editor of the ESPN basketball blog Truehoop often points out, NBA players are known to have pretty bad taste in food (they love The Cheesecake Factory). Could the person to start bucking this trend be a 22 year-old, 7'3" Tanzanian who went #2 in the NBA draft last night? In a visit to Los Angeles earlier this month, new Memphis Grizzly Hasheem Thabeet tried to get people to guess where he was eating Italian in Beverly Hills. Among those who responded was my pal SaulVanGundy. Luckily for gastronomes everywhere, it wasn't The Stinking Rose.

- HasheemTheDream Hello Twitterland.. Nice Day Out In Los ANgeles!! In Berverly Hills Gettin Lunch!! Guess What Italian Restaurant I'm eating at.. ;)3:02 PM Jun 8th from NatsuLiphone

- SaulVanGundy @HasheemTheDream ... Il Pastaio? Enoteca Drago? Sbarro?4:22 PM Jun 8th

- HasheemTheDream @SaulVanGundy ahahah nah u didn't get it right.. more guesses??4:28 PM Jun 8th from web

- SaulVanGundy @HasheemTheDream Oh, I'll bet you went to Il Fornaio.4:34 PM Jun 8th from Tweetie

- HasheemTheDream @SaulVanGundy ahahah nah u still didn't get it right..4:35 PM Jun 8th from web

- SaulVanGundy @HasheemTheDream If you say The Stinking Rose, I may have to give you some pointers on where to eat.4:38 PM Jun 8th from Tweetie

- HasheemTheDream @SaulVanGundy La Scala it was nice..4:44 PM Jun 8th from web

Nice work, Hasheem.

Noah Galuten also blogs at Man Bites World.