Nuggets guard Atkins deals with wheels

Player has second career customizing cars for players, public

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 23, 2008 at 10 p.m.

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Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood / Nbae/Getty Images

The Nuggets' Chucky Atkins enjoys driving the lane as well as getting behind the wheels of customized cars.

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Chucky Atkins' first love was named KITT.

That is, the first car.

As a kid growing up in Orlando, Fla., Friday was a big night at Atkins' home. That's when the show Knight Rider came on during the early to mid-1980s.

But, unlike Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, who has been known to be a big fan of David Hasselhoff, Atkins didn't tune in to watch the show's human star. He was more interested in seeing KITT, a 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am that had been fitted with artificial intelligence and spoke to Hasselhoff's character, Michael Knight.

"I always liked Knight Rider, with the car KITT," said Atkins, 33, a Nuggets point guard. "Cars were my thing."

Atkins also was a fan of the General Lee, the 1969 Dodge Charger on The Dukes of Hazzard. And he liked the Ferrari 308 GTS from the early 1980s in Magnum, P.I. even if it didn't have a name.

"I just grew up being a car guy," Atkins said. "We had a Mercedes dealership not far from my neighborhood. Obviously, your parents couldn't afford Mercedeses, but we used to drive by there and you'd say, 'I wish I had that car.' "

Atkins, in his ninth NBA season and in the first year of a three-year, $9.7 million contract, steadily has moved up tax brackets through the years. And he has turned his love for cars into a second career.

In the fall, Atkins co-founded Immortal Kustomz, a car-customizing business about a 20-minute drive south of Memphis, Tenn., and counts a half-dozen current or former NBA players as clients. Before the Nuggets play at Memphis tonight, Atkins will check in on the shop.

If you ask around the NBA, it's doing just fine.

"It's a great business," said Memphis forward Mike Miller, a repeat customer. "They take their time and do it right. They don't do it as much to make money. They do it because they like to."

Word spreads in NBA

Atkins started the business with Yusuf Boyd, 32, a former Grizzlies assistant athletic trainer and fellow car buff he got to know while playing with Memphis from January 2006 through last season.

Though Atkins doesn't do hands-on work, he stops in as much as he can and says a lifetime of involvement with cars has given him the expertise to work closely with customers on "what will look good."

Other Immortal Kustomz's clients include San Antonio guard Damon Stoudamire, New Jersey forward Stromile Swift, Grizzlies forward Hakim Warrick and former Memphis players Lawrence Roberts and Tarence Kinsey.

All the players got turned on to Immortal Kustomz when they were with the Grizzlies. But with Stoudamire and Swift having recently moved to other teams, that might lead to increased awareness around the league.

"Chucky has the blueprint to what it takes to be successful in the car business," said Stoudamire, who had a strut kit done on a white 2007 Cadillac Escalade and is having a 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible restored. "He does a good, quality job, and, usually, when people do good work, the word will spread."

It sure spreads when Boyd tools around the Memphis area. His company recently customized a silver-and-blue 2006 Chrysler 300 SRT, which was lowered 21/2 inches, has a customized paint job, 22-inch wheels, an all-suede interior and an elaborate stereo system.

It's a conversation starter, often when the car is stopped at a red light.

"The first reaction will be, 'Where'd you get this car done?' " Boyd said. "Then we'll hand out our cards and stuff."

Providing a service

The business is off the beaten track. One must travel south from Memphis, just across the Tennessee-Mississippi state line.

It's a plain-looking, 8,000- square-foot building. A yard in the back resembles a car graveyard, with several vehicles waiting to be resurrected.

On a typical day, Boyd is doing paperwork and meeting with visitors. The company's hands-on experts, Jaycee Poulsen, an airbrush specialist, and Paul Raffanti, a chassis builder and custom fabricator, toil away in the shop.

"We've got a great group of guys that are very, very talented," Boyd said. "They can compete with anybody in the country."

NBA players make up just a small part of the company's customers, although they're the most high-profile. But, while players say they're charged fairly, you still need a stack of cash at a business with an hourly shop rate of $96.

Miller already has had a 2008 GMC Denali detailed with black paint and bright red rims. On the grille and windows were placed his company logo "M33M," his initials and uniform number.

Miller is having a 1964 Lincoln with suicide doors customized and turned into a permanent convertible. It will cost Miller $65,000 to $70,000 for a job that will take nearly six months.

Swift got the Lorinser package, a body kit for his violet pearl 2007 Mercedes CL 600. That set him back $20,000, which he called a "real good deal.''

"Guys in the NBA have money, and we spend money," Atkins said. "But I'm just trying to provide a service. . . . What I've learned is, as soon as you step on somebody's lot who does cars and they know you play ball, they're trying to (overcharge) you because they know you've got money. But I ain't getting rich off this stuff. . . . It's a labor of love."

Luxury and classic

One can bring in a car to be customized, choose from a limited number on hand or ask the company to locate a specific vehicle. For help with that, Immortal Kustomz has teamed up with The Motorsports Gallery, a Denver company that locates pre-owned luxury vehicles.

Immortal Kustomz primarily works on late-model luxury cars or in resurrecting classic vehicles. Cars in the back lot waiting to be brought back to life include a 1961 Chevrolet Nomad, a 1965 Buick Riviera and a 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu.

Atkins, who has a home near his business, owns four custom cars. He has a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible, a 1967 Pontiac GTO, a 2007 Escalade and a 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8, for which Immortal Kustomz provided, among other things, 22-inch wheels, an all-suede interior, a complete stereo and a brandy wine and charcoal paint job.

Cost of the car: $45,000. Additional cost to customize: $25,000.

Atkins has come a long way since he tooled around in the early 1990s in his first car, a 1988 Honda Accord DX. When he first started to earn good money in pro ball, playing in Croatia from 1997 to 1999, he got his first fancy car, a late-model, sky blue BMW M3.

For now, Atkins said he has enough cars. Then again, it remains to be seen what he might do if KITT or the General Lee became available.

These wheels have the Atkins touch

Mike Miller, Memphis Grizzlies

* Wheels: 2008 GMC Denali.

* What they did: Car detailed with black paint and bright red rims. Emblems were placed on the front grille and windows with company logo "M33M," Miller's initials and uniform number.

* Miller says: "There's no better advertising for them than having NBA players. They do a great job. I trust them. Now I'm having a '64 Lincoln done and I'm excited to see what comes back."

Damon Stoudamire, San Antonio Spurs

* Wheels: 2007 Cadillac Escalade.

* What they did: Installed a strut package. Customized the front grille and the side vents.

* Stoudamire says: "They cater to the customer. I really like the job they did. It's great, inside and outside. They really made it look nice."

Stromile Swift, New Jersey Nets

* Wheels: 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL 600.

* What they did: Installed the Lorin ser package, a Mercedes body kit in which front fenders, side skirts, and front and rear bumpers are installed, prepped and painted.

* Swift says: "They started out just by doing some local people, some of the guys from Memphis. But word got around how well they did stuff. So I let them do my car. It turned out real nice. Chucky is going to give you a real good deal and take care of you."

Melo's car toys

Mississippi is a bit far for many of Chucky Atkins' teammates to take their cars. But another Nuggets player is in the car-customizing business.

Forward Carmelo Anthony has a majority stake in Capone Carmelo Kustomz in Lakewood. But he's not the hands-on owner. Atkins is, letting expert Vett Capone pretty much handle matters.

"I'll go over there every once in awhile," said Anthony, who has had many cars done at the shop, including a 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle that can be seen on YouTube. "I just make sure the company runs smoothly."

The shop has done work for Marcus Camby, Steven Hunter, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith.

"I had about three cars done," Camby said. "I got a (Lincoln) pickup that's over there. . . . I didn't even see it. I just ordered it and sent it right over there. They do a good job."

Camby said he's having work done on "the rims, the tint, a little audio system. . . . the basic customization."

Well, there's nothing basic about the price.

"Hell no," said Hunter - he had a 2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom hooked up with rims, tint and audio - when asked if Nuggets players get a discount. "They are expensive."

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