Reality Basketball's continuing series on High School Basketball stories.
I just read a great story by Ray Brewer of the Las Vegas Sun about a three high school players who found themselves rubbing elbows and sharing ipod songs with some of the NBA’s top young talent.
Joey Felsenfeld always dreamed of playing in the NBA.
A point guard on Boulder City High's state championship team last winter, Felsenfeld took pride in directing the Eagles offense and making the perfect pass to get his teammates in a position to score.
But at 5 feet, 5 inches, Felsenfeld was too short to achieve his aspirations of professional stardom. His career, like most players, was limited to high school glory.
A lot of kids have dreams of playing in the NBA. 99.5 % of of those kids will never even come close to making it in the Association. But for Felsenfeld and a few of his teammates basketball glory came to them in totally different way. With teammates Chris Leach and Ryan Bowen, Joey worked the last three days as ball boys for the U.S. national team during its mini-camp in Las Vegas.
Part of their duties included grabbing rebounds during shooting drills and sending passes back to the NBA hopefuls who were looking to impress during the national team audition.
It was as close to being in the NBA as a group of teenagers from a small Nevada town will get.
"When they (the players) first walked in, you are a little star-struck," Felsenfeld said. "(Chicago guard) Derrick Rose is my favorite player and it was awesome to see him. They expect you to be a little star struck, but you also need to be professional and get the job done."
Boulder City High assistant coach John Balistere, who works national team coach Mike Krzyzewski’s camp each summer at Duke, used his connection to get the boys their job. "It is obviously a good group of guys (the NBA players) in the sense that they are really good to the kids," Balistere said. "My boys were calling their aunt and my brother when they got home to let them know who they got to meet."
Felsenfeld and Leach also worked last year when the national team was in town for an Olympic qualifying tournament. Last year's group featured the likes of James, Bryant and others.
"Dwight Howard let me go through his iPod," Felsenfeld said. "All of them are extremely nice. They always say 'please' or 'thank you.'"
Most of their time was spent filling water jugs, wiping sweat off the floor and organizing equipment. They arrived one hour before the players to set up the gym.
"You do think about how lucky you are and how other kids would love doing this," said Bowen, a senior-to-be guard. "We got to wear Team USA shirts and shorts, which really makes you feel like part of the crew. It was awesome."
These are experiences of a lifetime, pure basketball gold. All three walked away from the experience with a better appreciation of the game. They had the best seat in the house for three days of events.
