If a pick-up game broke out - who would be captains, who would be picked, and in what order?

That was one of the thoughts that occurred to me as I found myself lucky enough to be mingling about inside the Basketball Hall of Fame's pre-enshrinement reception.  As a reporter covering the league going on four years now, you eventually become spoiled and thus accustomed to popping in and out of NBA locker rooms.  Interviewing head coaches, general managers, and players is your job, so you have to become relatively unphased by the process or else you won't be able to do it properly.  However, young journalists would be lying if they didn't admit there were moments when they wanted to sit back and put their 'fan cap' on and just smile, thinking to themselves: "This is pretty effing cool." 

Well, Friday night in Springfield, Massachusetts – was pretty cool.  The sheer star power inside that one room was awe-inspiring.  In one corner, NBA All-Stars of all eras were huddled around the cheese and crackers cracking jokes about each other's wardrobes.  On the other side of the hallway, legendary coaches and announcers sipped drinks by the bar, discussing Team USA's recent Olympic victory.  Everywhere you looked; you couldn't help but spot another NBA luminary.           

Let me rattle off some names so you get an idea where I am coming from: Alonzo Mourning, Mike Fratttelo, Mike Breen, Doug Collins, Bobby Knight, Charles Oakley, Gene Keady, Phil Martelli, Mike Jarvis, John Thompson, John Thompson III, John Starks, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, Stan Van Gundy, Dave Bing, Billy Hunter, Jerry Colangelo, Jerry West, Rick Barry, Isiah Thomas, Moses Malone, Joe Dumars, Geno Auriemma, Bob McAdoo, Jamal Wilkes, Chuck Daly, Clyde Drexler, Gus Johnson, Byron Scott, Dr. Jack Ramsey, James Worthy, A.C. Green, Magic Johnson…

And many, many more.  The number of stars rubbing elbows was just ridiculous.  It is not every day when NBA legends outnumber 'regular Joes' at a party. 

Oh and of course, we shouldn't forget Pat Riley, Dick Vitale, Adrian Dantley, Cathy Rush, Bill Davidson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Patrick Ewing, who were there to be inducted.

The enshrinement ceremony itself was phenomenal.  Adrian Dantley was up first and he described how sweet it was to finally get in after getting passed over the previous six opportunities and waiting seven long years.  As Dantley described it: "a long, long, long time." 

Cathy Rush was next and gave a shout-out to her 94-year old mom watching at home.  "Mom, I hope you found the channel," she joked.

Hakeem Olajuwon spoke about the incredible journey that took him from his native Nigeria, through Houston, and eventually to Springfield, Massachusetts.  

Patrick Ewing was also born on foreign shores, in Jamaica.  Ewing's family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts when he was a boy and Patrick recounted how he had taken field trips with his classmates to the Hall of Fame while in school and never could have imagined back then that one day he would be enshrined in the same building.  Patrick would later go on to, like the others, thank his family, friends, teammates and coaches.  He also addressed the fans back home in the Big Apple: "We had a love/hate relationship… but we had a great run in New York.  Without you (the fans) there is no Patrick Ewing."

Pat Riley described his early memories coaching his first teams and profusely thanked, among others, Magic Johnson, whom he called "the greatest leader I've ever known."  As an aside, one of the more interesting questions asked this weekend was at the press conference earlier in the day.  Riley was asked who, out of all the players he had ever coached, would make up his all-time starting five.  Riley responded:

PG-Magic
SG- Dwyane Wade
C – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Patrick Ewing – "I'm picking those three, don't put me in that position (laughs)"
SF – James Worthy
PF –Alonzo Mourning

"You need a seven-man rotation …..That's a pretty formidable line up of players to be able to just go through your career with. I've had the best of the best. I'm the most blessed man here. I mean it. I started my career with Magic and Kareem. I went to New York with Patrick and Mark [Jackson] and Oak were there. I went to Miami and Zo showed up. Every place I went, there was greatness there."  

However, many in attendance believed the star speaker of the evening was none other than Dick Vitale.  To no one's surprise, Dickie V. brought the house down.  He preached for about a half-hour, and kept the audience engaged the entire time.  Vitale touched on a multitude of topics ranging from his childhood to the recent health scare that made him appreciate his charmed life that much more. 

Vitale told a great story about how, while coaching college hoops in Detroit, he was somehow going to convince a high-school phenomenon named Magic Johnson to spurn Michigan State and other top programs and come play for him.  So Dickie V. heads out to pay a visit and knocks on his door one cold, snowy morning and Magic's mom answers.  He asks her is he can please speak to Magic.  But she informs Vitale that Magic isn't home.  As it turns out, Magic had shoveled the snow off the local playground court and was there playing.  It was 7 am. 

Vitale never landed Magic, but as a result of his passion and unbounded enthusiasm, he later found his true calling.  It was great to hear Vitale speak from the heart about the game he loved - basketball.

…And that is what united everyone in that room that evening.  Basketball.  The players, coaches, fans, announcers, and even lowly journalists – a true love for the game of basketball.