Haunting rumors have long surrounded California's Claremont Hotel Club and Spa, and now two NBA players say they had a firsthand encounter with the supernatural inside the historic hotel.
San Antonio Spurs players Jeff Ayres and Tim Duncan were staying with their team at the Berkeley hotel last week when, they say, they overheard some creepy sounds.
"I took my room key. I could hear stuff in the hallway, like people in their rooms. So I'm thinking people are watching TV or whatever," Ayres told Spurs Nation. "So I get to my door, and my key doesn't work, but it sounds like there's somebody in my room. Like I hear a little baby, not crying but making noise."
Detroit Pistons forward Josh Smith, right, shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Jeff Ayres as Spurs' Danny Green (4) looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Ayers said he went downstairs to speak with the front desk about getting a new key and to let them know that someone was in his room.
"So they call the room, and nobody answers. They're like, 'We can get you a new key and send you up with security and make sure nobody's there, because there shouldn't be anybody in there,'" he recalled. "Then they're like, 'We'll just get you a new room.' It was the creepiest thing."
Image source: Claremont Hotel Club and Spa via Facebook
Ayers said his teammates also heard babies in the hallway and children running, even though no kids were apparently there.
"It was crazy," he added.
Duncan told Spurs Nation that he also heard a baby and was convinced the room was occupied.
"I heard a baby in his room. There was somebody or something in his room, yeah. I definitely heard something," he said. "It wasn't creepy, because I assumed it was really somebody in the room, and they gave him the wrong room."
San Antonio Spurs' forward Tim Duncan questions a foul call during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, March 21, 2014. The Spurs won 99-79.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
While at first unmoved by the noise, Duncan said he was freaked out after he heard that the front desk called and there was no one in the room.
"There was a baby there, absolutely. I heard about the history of the place, and I'd rather not [stay there again]," he added.
Read more about the rumors of a haunting at the hotel here.
(H/T: Deadspin)
