They had never conversed prior to the night of the 2007 NBA
Draft, but shortly after becoming the No. 1 pick, Greg Oden was connected via cell phone with a 17-year-old in Lakewood, Calif., named Renardo Sidney. "[Oden] just told me to keep working hard and listen to my parents," Sidney said. "Then he had to go do some interviews." Sidney was not a random teen selected to receive an inspirational message from a new millionaire. The 6-foot-10, 245-pound high-schooler received the call because he's expected, by everyone from pundits to shoe merchants to unscrupulous businessmen, to follow in Oden's footsteps and be No. 1 on the 2010 draft board.
