Must read article from Creative Loafing on Charlotte’s mediocre late-night party scene — not for the article per se, but for the two awesome cameos.

First, Bobcats Baseline rec league basketball teammate Vladimir Males makes a major appearance. Big ups, Vlade — but that’s not why I’m linking.

A bit later in the piece, Alexis “Freedom Fries” Ajinca shimmies onto the scene and is promptly deemed a “weird motherfucker” by the author:

After leaving HOM, we head down the street, noticing that Uptown is clearing out pretty quickly. It reminds me of Winston-Salem’s downtown, except I don’t see any tumbleweeds blowing across the empty streets. Just as we’re about to pack it up, we sight a celebrity. And no, it’s not Dale Jr. It’s seven-foot Alexis Ajinca, a Charlotte Bobcats rookie from France. Damn, he’s tall.

His entourage is different than most NBA players’; no one is sporting cornrows or a bunch of bling. The guys with him are short and seem to be seeking companionship from any woman who walks down the street. Ajinca watches with a look of amusement as one of his homeboys gets a woman’s phone number. (I’m still trying to figure out who is drunker, the man who asks the woman for her phone number or the woman who gives it to him? He has Saturday Night Fever vibe going — not really a good luck. I wonder if she gave him the rejection hot line number: 704-208-1658.)

So, what is this NBA player doing roaming the streets of Uptown at 3 a.m.? I couldn’t help but ask.

“Nothing,” he says with a pronounced French accent and then proceeds to do some kind of weird dance that scares me a little. It’s time to go. Obviously, Uptown is closed and filled with weird motherfuckers.

Enjoy Charlotte now, Lex. It’s certainly no Miami or Vegas, but it’s better than Sioux Falls.

-E