I wrote this over the last couple of days. I've been really enjoying reading everybody's essays so far and I hope you guys enjoy mine.

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Hey all, I'm actually a Blazers fan but I thought it would be good to pass along the story that appeared in the Oregonian today about a kid in the Vancouver, Washington area who has lymphoma and has had a personal friendship with Shaquille O'Neal for the last seven years. It's a great story, and very classy on Shaq's part to give the kid so much attention. Here's the story below:

http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2009/03/the_true_meaning_of_best_frien.html

The true meaning of 'best friends'

by Doug Binder, The Oregonian Friday March 27, 2009, 6:59 PM

via blog.oregonlive.com

Shaquille O'Neal was in all-business mode as he trotted from a tunnel at the Rose Garden toward the court and a pregame warmup.

Amid the cheers and a crowd's eager anticipation of Thursday night's Trail Blazers game against the Phoenix Suns, Connar Oberst's shouts of "Shaq! Shaq! Shaq!" finally caught O'Neal's ears.

He turned, his serious expression morphing into a grin, and quickly turned to the kid behind the bench. He leaned over, greeted Oberst with a kiss on the forehead.

"See you after the game?" Oberst shouted over the din.

"Yeah," said O'Neal, before turning back to his work.

The friendship forged over several years between a 7-foot basketball icon and a high school senior from Vancouver who share a love of basketball was evident in just a few brief moments Thursday.

 

It's do-or-die time for the Phoenix Suns, who are fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. And Thursday's game, a 129-109 thrashing by the Blazers, only made that hill steeper.

It was more relaxed last December, when O'Neal had an extra night in Portland and took Oberst and two of his friends out to dinner at El Gaucho and then visited the Oberst family home.

Oberst, all of 5-foot-8 and 125 pounds, has battled non-Hodgkins lymphoma for six years. He is waiting to hear whether his cancer has officially receded into remission for the second time. A point guard for Columbia River High School, his team reached Washington's Class 3A championship game this month at the Tacoma Dome.

On April 25, he will vie for the title of Mr. Columbia River, a pageant of sorts that is decided by who raises the most money for Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Oberst's fund-raising plans include putting on a spaghetti feed, and he's kicking around the idea of hosting a dance.

He also brought two new basketballs with him to the game so O'Neal could scribble his name on them -- significantly increasing their value when they are auctioned off.

As O'Neal signed, a group of 50 people behind Oberst clamored for the star's attention. But O'Neal's gaze was focused on Oberst, who introduced his big friend to an uncle and a teammate he brought with him to the game.

"This is my uncle Steve and this is my friend Kyle," Connar said, looking up at O'Neal.

"How you doin' uncle Steve? What's up, Kyle?" O'Neal said, reaching over the top of Connar to shake hands.

It was a brief interaction, heartfelt if a little rushed.

O'Neal and Oberst became acquainted when Connar, then 12, won a contest to attend an exclusive camp sponsored by Nestle Crunch in Los Angeles. It was a few months after Oberst's first cancer treatments. He weighed a mere 51 pounds, but his playful, cocky attitude caught O'Neal's attention.

In the years since, Oberst has maintained contact primarily through phone calls, e-mails and meet-and-greet moments at Blazers games. O'Neal leaves complimentary tickets whenever he's in town.

"He's just like a really big kid," Oberst's father, Steve, said of O'Neal. "He's been very good for Connar."

At a game last year, O'Neal waved Oberst past security to stand beside him on the court for the singing of the national anthem.

Thursday night, as he waited for O'Neal to emerge from the locker room, Oberst received a text message from a friend to tell him the pregame kiss had been caught by TNT's national telecast.

After a few more quiet words -- O'Neal tells Oberst, "I love you," at each meeting -- the friends part.

O'Neal walks down the loading dock and admires Travis Outlaw's flashy green Impala, looking inside with the valet as a throng of autograph-seekers chant his name.

Connar Oberst and his group head in the opposite direction. He and his mom, dad and three brothers zip home to Vancouver to finish packing for a 3:30 a.m. flight departing to Hawaii for spring break.

-- Doug Binder: 503-221-8161; dougbinder@news.oregonian.com

Just thought you Suns fans would like to see this story, I really enjoyed it. Best of luck to the Suns the rest of the season.

-Sean

Just stumbled on this, no idea how legit it is, but given how they swooped in on Teixeira at the last minute I wouldn't be surprised if this were true.

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NBA.com just sent out an email confirming that our own Rudy Fernandez is the winner of the vote for the fourth contestent in the Slam Dunk Contest.

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