My Reflections from the NBA Rookie Shoot [David Stefanini]

"Today I consider myself, the luckiest man on the face of the Earth." That is exactly how I felt on Friday. I was lucky enough, along with J. Mark English and the American Legends staff, to attend the NBA Rookie Shoot 2007 at the New York Knicks practice facility. This was the second year in a row I was able to attend. Needless to say, this years rookie class is far greater than last years.

I had the privilege to sit down and talk with Greg Oden for roughly 10 minutes. Talking to him I was just asking how its been dealing with the media; but all I got from him was one-word answers because he said he wasn't feeling well.

I also got a chance to speak to Mike Conley Jr. A player who I feel is going to be one of the best point guards in the league in a couple of seasons. I was talking with him for about 25 minutes. I asked him how he felt when Ohio State was down often in the NCAA Tournament. He told me, "we never lost confidence, coach kept tellin' us we gonna win."

I then asked him what was he most looking forward to entering the NBA. He responded with, "just playing against all the stars, the guys I looked up to when I was young."

It was a fabulous day and I hope I have the chance to do it again next year. My final thoughts on the Rookie Shoot is this: The NBA is lucky to have a group of men that are this much fun to be around. All of them signed everything I put in front of them, all of them were very open for conversation, and all of them seemed like good kids.