On May 31st, before Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the San Antonio Spurs, I sent out the following tweet just after 8pm:

Do the spurs win again tonight?I’m taking okc – Durant with 53!!!Haha

— Kenny Eller (@KennyEller) May 31, 2012

Then a little over 30 minutes later I was on the pre-game show on TNT with Ernie, Kenny, Chuck and Shaq, very unexpectedly of course:

httpvh://youtu.be/yHo7yuRHnQY

[Click here to see video of me on NBA on TNT Pre-Game Show]

I actually had the TNT pre-game show going in the other room at the time and was in my office on the computer when my buddy Justin called and said, “Nice job making it on TNT!”

I laughed and said, “Yeah, right, that would be nice.”

To which he responded emphatically, “No I’m serious, they just showed your tweet!”

I of course had no idea which tweet he was referring to.  At the same time, while he was talking to me, I could hear my phone blowing up with messages, as I held it to my ear.

All I can say is, thank goodness for the DVR!

The funniest thing to me is how worked up Charles Barkley got and he was actually agreeing with me, even if he didn’t know it!

“Well you’re wrong Kevin Eller! (Shaq in the background “Kenny, Kenny, Kenny…Kenny Eller, haha”) OKC is going to win tonight!  The Thunders going to win tonight!”

Chuck and I were both right on that night.  OKC did win (Though KD didn’t come close to 53, haha)!

The odds of the TNT staff picking my random tweet out of the millons of tweets being sent are obviously extremely slim.

To me, it is just further proof that I’m on the right track!

me vs. MJ…the sometimes you get on the NBA on TNT journey continues!!!  As always, thank you for following along!

####

Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

####

If you’re new to the site, I set out in August 2010 to get a game of 1-on-1 vs. my childhood hero Michael Jordan.  This site is about that journey…through every valley, to every mountain top of triumph!

I woke up yesterday morning and the first thing I read was, “That would not be possible.”

It wasn’t the response I had hoped for when I sent out the the request, but I emailed them back, thanking them for responding nonetheless.

Head up, I then sent out the following update to Twitter and Facebook:  “Woke up to a ‘That would not be possible’ this morning, but I won’t stop until I hear it from Michael Jordan himself!”

Then a few hours later something HUGE happened!

Something that very well may be the turning point in this journey of mine to play Michael Jordan!

The BIG NEWS!!!

At 10:29 a.m. on Monday, May 2, 2011 my cell phone rang:

Me:  Hello this is Kenny.

Caller:  Ken…(long pause)…this is Nick Anderson.

Nick Anderson’s NBA Career

Nick Anderson averaged 15.4 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Orlando Magic over his ten year career with the team and over 14 ppg during his 13 year NBA career.

Anderson was the first ever draft pick of the Orlando Magic (11^th overall).  He is also the Orlando Magic’s all-time leader in scoring, steals and games played.  He ranks third overall in rebounds behind only Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal.

How “The Call” Happened!

I received a text from a good friend of mine asking if I had ever gotten in touch with Nick Anderson.  I replied no, that I hadn’t.  In the past, in passing, I had mentioned to her how cool and BIG it would be to make contact with someone like Nick.

She then said, if you write him (Nick Anderson) an email about your site and forward it to me, a friend of mine said that he could forward it on to Nick for you!

A few minutes later I sent the email.

An hour later I was talking with Nick Anderson!

Talking with Nick Anderson

After I got over the shock of who was calling me, I explained to Nick exactly why I began mevsMJ.com, what I’ve done thus far and what I’m looking to accomplish and he loved it!

He said,

“My dream growing up was to always play in the NBA, so I can relate to what you’re doing.  You only live once, so you might as well go after your dreams!”

Nick went on with,

“I’d be more than happy to do anything I can to help you.  You’ve got my cell phone number now, lock it in, call me tomorrow and we can set a time to meet at a court and shoot around.  We can start from there.”

Blown away by his kindness, I thanked him profusely, asked him at one point, “Seriously?!?!?!” and threw in some “THIS IS SO COOL!!!”

Life is Amazing!

My slogan this year has been “Life is amazing, if you allow it to be!” and that has never been more true than now.

When I began this journey in August, if someone would have told me that in a little over eight months my cell phone would ring one morning and on the other end would be former NBA player Nick Anderson, well, it would have been tough to believe…even for me.

The kindness of people along the way has been the most inspiringly rich part of this journey of mine to play Michael Jordan.  The selflessness and want of others to HELP ME achieve my childhood dream humbles me and I am so forever grateful.

I really can’t fully express in words what I’m feeling right now, other than to say that I am so thankful.

Me and Nick Anderson

Thirty minutes after our conversation, still so very excited, I sent Nick a text message that said, “Wow, I am so thankful!  You have no idea how much I appreciate this!!!”

Nick responded back, “You are more than Welcome :-)”

So later this week, I will meet Nick Anderson on some court somewhere here in Central Florida!

Proof, that if you work hard, have faith and believe, anything truly is POSSIBLE!

Proof that right behind the disappointment of a NO could be the BIGGEST YES you’ve ever heard!

me vs. MJ…this fantastic journey just went BIG TIME!

Stay tuned, it’s about to get VERY COOL around here!

Thank you all for the love, support and for following along!

**Note:  I want to give a very special thanks to my great friends Dani Sebaali and Eric Nourse for being amazing people and for connecting me with Nick Anderson!  You have no idea how much this means to me!  THANK YOU!  YOU GUYS ROCK!!