The season began with Oberst, the team's 5-foot-8, 125-pound starting point guard, completing a seven-day-on, 10-day-off cycle of oral chemotherapy treatment designed to shove a case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma into the uncertain future.
Oberst has had cancer for six years. Basketball is his passion. And though small, he's bursting with personality.
It was Oberst who entered the dunk contest at the Les Schwab Invitational last December, leaping off the back of a friend as if he were a springboard, looping the ball between his legs in midair and slamming it home with his right hand. For his second dunk, he wore a Superman cape. The crowd loved it. Video of Connar's dunks >>
But the most memorable moment of the season had to be the night, a week before the Les Schwab, when Oberst took his girlfriend and his best friend on a double date with Shaquille O'Neal.
Oberst and O'Neal have been close since the summer of 2003. That's when Oberst, one of the 10 winners of O'Neal's annual Nestle Crunch Hot Shots Camp, made his boldest move.
Then 12, a mere 51 pounds after gutting out his first bout of cancer treatment, he rolled a ball O'Neal's way and glared at him -- challenging the 325-pound NBA superstar to pick it up and go one-on-one.
O'Neal scowled back at the audacious kid. They went head-to-head. Oberst, a dribbling whiz, bounced the ball through O'Neal's legs and made a layup.
They've been friends ever since. O'Neal learned Oberst had cancer a little later. In 2004 and 2005, O'Neal flew Oberst to the camp even though he technically wasn't eligible to enter the contest.
The friendship blossomed. O'Neal makes sure Oberst has tickets whenever his team comes to Portland. Oberst has O'Neal's cell number and e-mail address. They talk about everything.
"He knows what's going on in my life," Oberst said. "He knows my family and my friends and remembers their names."
-- SNIP --
So it was that fellow River teammate Steven Bjornstad, a 6-foot-10 center who has signed with Nevada, joined Oberst on a trip to the downtown Portland hotel where the Phoenix Suns were staying Dec. 19.
Bjornstad shyly shook O'Neal's massive hand. He thought he would turn and go when O'Neal spoke up. "You're coming with us, big man."
They piled into an SUV and a driver took them to El Gaucho, one of Portland's most expensive restaurants, for steak dinners. O'Neal ordered three meals for himself, and the others ordered anything they wanted.
"We hung out and ate, and he told us a bunch of jokes," Bjornstad said.
When it got late, O'Neal called Oberst's mom to ask what time her son needed to be home.
It was past 11 when O'Neal directed the driver to Vancouver.
"He freestyled all the way to my house," Oberst said, recounting O'Neal's nonstop rap. "He's like a big kid."
Oberst had one request.
"If you're taking me home you have to come in and say 'Hi,'" Oberst said.
O'Neal was already planning to.
Outside Oberst's house, O'Neal broke the silence on the sleepy street, shouting "Wake up! Wake up!"
A neighbor from across the street poked her head out the front door.
"Do you know who I am?" O'Neal's voice rumbled like thunder.
"No," the neighbor replied.
"I'm Connar's bodyguard."
... continued at lnk
waaay too true