Today in LA i had a thing i had to do for the company 2K. It was alot of fun and i was joined by one of my good friends Michael Conley Jr. It was a good time. I haven't seen him since Vegas summer league. We had a long day today. We had to be down stairs in the hotel lobby at 8.30. We didn't get done till about 5. We did motion capture, which was really cool, with the tight suits and the censor things all over you. It was my first time doing all that stuff and it was weird being in tights all day, with people looking at me and little kids around. I didn't have alot to do, just post up and dunk. They actually got me shooting some jump shots. I made them so i told them to put my three-point shooting at like 50 % (I wish). We also had a photo shoot in our Ohio State jerseys that was pretty cool. Then finally the highlight of my day, Michael and i shooting a commercial for the game College Hoops 2K8. It was my first commercial so i had a good time with it. Its a pretty funny commercial so when it comes out i hope people will like it and go out and buy the game that im on the cover of. When it comes out it shouldn't be to hard to find. It has this handsome African American fellow who played at The Ohio State University and he looks like he is 40. Thanks again to 2K for putting me on the cover and being my first commercial.

hey guys, check out this video of my crib in indy. this is where i'm staying for the summer. Ballin! lol.

This past friday I went to Cleveland, to do an appearance for Topps. I did something that I have never done before, go to a card convention. It was called The National. There were alot of people there for trading cards and other sports memorabilia. It was really cool. Most of the time i was with ERIC from Topps, he is a cool dude. They made everything harmless and I had fun. I had a chance to help in on a Pack War session that was pretty fun. When I gave out cards, everyone was screaming and grabbing. It was a good atmosphere. I ended up getting on the Ferris Wheel that was there. It was cool and it didn't move that fast, but it was big. I'm not even gonna lie though, after about three times going around I was like I need to get off this thing. After that convention, I went back to my hotel and went to work signing over a thousand stickers within a hour and a half. It wasn't too bad. ERIC and i watched "End of Days" on USA. It's with Arnold S. (i dont know how to spell it), but it was one of his movies. Then I went up to my room to get ready for this Topps party that they had going on at this restaurant called Fahrenheit. It is a really nice place. When I get back i def. will stop in. The party was cool though. They had a Topps thing that i took pictures in front of and they printed out the pictures right then. I enjoyed my night. People showed up to the party, but it was funny cause it was phat for a good thirty minutes then I noticed people were leaving. It was still cool because i got to go to another place were Daequan Cook was and I chilled with him for a little bit, then when he left to head back to Dayton, David Lighty showed up and I chilled with him for the rest of the night. Cleveland is a really cool city, I had fun, and i got to see my teammates. I did have an eight o'clock flight the next morning so that sucked really bad, but it was worth it. Thanks to Topps and ERIC!!!!!!

Today was the day that all the rookies in the NBA came together and took pictures and did interviews for the upcoming season. They said that we were going to be in New York City but we ended up in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. We are like 30 minutes from downtown Manhattan. We all came in a day early, well those of us that could have. When i got there, i saw mostly all the people from Topps. It was cool. I got to meet the people who gave me that great card contract. I gave them hugs. So we had to get up at like 8 and we were there till like 7 at night, it was a very long day. I also signed alot of the autographs that i need to do for Topps. It wasn't that bad though. They made it fun for me. They were really cool and they had the tv on with some music. My friend and teammate Josh McRoberts is here in my room right now and he is going to guest write about what his day was like at the T-Mobile Rookie Photo Shoot day, "Whats up everybody in Oden Nation...The Rookie Photo Shoot was definitely a long day, but it was a lot of fun to see everybody in their NBA Jerseys for the first time. We took alot of pictures obviously and did some interviews...most of the questions that I field have to do with the interesting fact that I personally know Greg Oden. The best part of the day for me was trading signed cards with most of the other players...right now its not that exciting, but it will be a cool thing to have a few years down the line when I'm done playing, so at least I can prove to my kids that I knew some of the guys from this years draft class. I can't wait to get back to Portland in late August and get the new season started. Thanks for letting me get a shout out on Greg's blog...if i get some good feedback he might even let me write a sequel." All in all it was a good day, but I'm looking forward to going back home and finally being able to work out which i can on monday. Theres a picture of Josh in my profile, check it out.

check out this video of an interview I did with Miss Gossip

Saturday i got my tonsils out. It was a surgery that i needed to get done. If i did so i wouldn't have any problem with my tonsils during the season. I usually have like 4 or 5 sore throats a year. At the end of last season i had the worst one yet. i couldn't even swallow water, it hurt to breathe out of my mouth and i lost like 15 pounds. Most of my sore throats got to the point where i couldn't swallow water without having pain. I look crazy when i go out to a restaurant and drink water and tense up every time i take a drink or eat something. The surgery went fine. it was early saturday morning. It was like a 45 minute surgery. They put the stuff in my IV to make me go to sleep and i was just laying there on the table. The next thing i remember was in one of the hospital beds saying when we gonna get started, but it was already over. It was very painless. I was rushing to get out of the hospital and get back to the hotel. When i got there, the first thing i did was turn the air to cold and then get in bed. I passed out sitting up, i was in that position for like 5 hours until i woke up. The first night wasn't even that bad. If i felt any pain, then i'd take some medicine which was in liquid form. The little pain that i did have would go away just like that. I actually ate kraft mac and cheese that night. The next night when i woke up i had a puddle of blood where i was sleeping. It was in the spot where my puddle of slobber is usually at. I had to gargle with cold water which would stop the bleeding. To keep my weight up I'm actually drinking protein shakes with my meals. On the second day i shouldn't of because my stomach was feeling weak just from the little bit of food i had but i forced down the protein shake which sent me over. I got sick. I didn't even make it to the toilet -- just to the sink. It was mac and cheese, ugh it was nasty but i felt better. Other than those incidents i've been doing pretty well. My throat gets sore and dry and i can feel the scab now but when i take my medicine I'm usually fine. Hopefully they let me go home with my mom because they usually want you to stay for 2 weeks, but im doing good and its gonna suck being out here by myself in a hotel room all day.

Well last night was the taping of the ESPY awards. I had a blast. I got to go with Michael Conley Sr and Chris Talbott aka GQ. It was a great time. When I arrived somebody said "may I take your bag Mr. Oden". I just smiled because honestly I'm still thinking that no one knows my name if they don't play basketball. When I walked in, I saw a whole bunch of football players. They are real cool and diesel. They like to talk and they are friendly. A lot of them talked about their colleges and most of them were from Michigan. They gave me a hard time. They were all cool about it though. That first night was the TI party at the Roosevelt. There were a lot of people there when I got there. All I wanted to do was watch him perform, but I couldn't cause i was way too hungry to pass up the food. When I finally got to the place where he was performing, he did one song and was done. I was in there for 15 mins after hoping he would come back out but when I realized almost everyone had left the place I got the hint that it was over. The next day I got to present the Gatorade Player of the Year, an award that I was involved in two years ago and last year. I won it last year. Those times spent with the Gatorade people where the best times of my life. I got to see almost everyone from the previous times I was there and I missed them. For them to ask me to be a part of it, I answered yes with no hesitation. After that I had to go get ready for the ESPYs. I was looking all good in my suit. People usually say the man makes the suit. Well, in my case the tie made the suit, honestly. I got to be on the red carpet with all the stars and celebrities. It was crazy to me because I still don't look at myself as one. But people would come up and say hi to me and I would be star struck. I'm not gonna leak too much about the show except that whoever watches it, you have to watch the beginning when it first comes on because Mr. Kimmel talked about me. I also presented the 4th or 5th award. Shaq called me out -- it was funny. The show was hilarious. I was sitting next to LeBron's Mom. She and I laughed almost the whole show. Also 2 seats down was Ms. Regina King and she was very beautiful, but I didn't talk to her. The post party was cool. It was packed. I was excited to meet everyone there, but the two that I smile about the most are Kendra from "The Girls Next Door" and Sarah Underwood "Playmate of The Year" -- she is from Oregon ;). They were two of the finest women I have ever met, hands down. Those two were the stars that I won't stop telling people I met for years. In a wrap, the ESPYs were a blast and I would love to go back again.

Sorry I haven't been blogging for a couple of days, but I'm pretty busy. With the summer league and all these interviews and practices, it's kind of hard to find time. It doesn't help that my hotel does not have free internet access. I hate that. I finally had some time tonight. I'm really not that tired so I just want to write about some things that are on my mind. First of all, every time I come out to Las Vegas I'm always out here to play basketball. I never get a chance to just come out and be here to go see the sights and walk around. I always look like a little kid when we drive to the gym. I'm always looking out the window with my mouth open still amazed. It is ok though, one day when nobody will notice me, I will come out to "Vegas Baby." I'm here for the summer league right now though and my first game was not as good as I had hoped. I didn't score a lot of points which isn't what got me down. I didn't rebound as well as I should of either. Guys are stronger and bigger so it's just something that I have to get used to. It is a good experience for me though just to get me ready. I know what is to come because right now I'm playing against guys who are trying to get jobs or fighting for spots. So when the season comes, I'm going to be playing against superstars. I just have to learn and go through it. That's something a lot of people have told me. The autograph seekers are everywhere, it's crazy here, guys just pull basketballs out there a**. A picture these people rarely pull out is one of me getting a rebound in my gray Ohio State jersey. I know it's very random, but the funny thing is I'm going to be on the cover of 2k8 and that's the picture that they will use. So even when I'm like dang I'm signing all these autographs when I see that picture I'm like save that one cause that's the million dollar picture. I didn't know I could talk about it, but actually there was a party for it in New York during the draft, and I got to meet the people who worked on the game and the designers. It was cool and I was playing against the President of the company and I won. Since they already had covers printed, I figured he wouldn't change it if I smash him. A funny thing is that the week before I went to New York my friend was playing 2k7 and he showed me some moves, so that's probably why I beat him. I'm usually horrible at video games, but since I'm on the cover I might as well learn and be a beast and rule the game.

I'm in Portland, Oregon. it is a very beautiful place, a place that i can now call home for a long time. Being drafted # 1 is great but to be drafted by Portland and # 1 is the best thing in the world. I'm feeling really good right now in my life. I'm finishing off the greatest year of my life. Enough about my feelings, let me tell you about how great the place im going to be living is and representing for sometime. The summers here are the greatest thing in the world. It rarely rains in the summer, the temperature is always perfect, there is no humidity, and when there's a breeze, you can feel it. Now the winters on the other hand, that's a different story. I haven't experienced it but from what people have told me, it rains but not very hard, and not a lot at a time just slow drizzled spread out through a long time. I'm sure i'll be able to handle it. The people here are great, they love their Trailblazers. When i got here i went to the Rose Garden and met the staff, they all had on ODEN shirts and gave me a big welcome. I loved all of it. They showed me the video of what had happened draft night when people went crazy and stormed the court after they called my name. The staff is really cool. i cant wait to get to know all of them. After i met the staff the staff and i went to downtown Portland where they had a rally for me. There was a whole lot of people there. When i'm in interviews and i say i dont want to put a lot of pressure on myself, it is very hard when you see all of these people and the excitement they have for the Trailblazers, how they look at me as the savior. It's hard cause you want to be, to make everyone happy and just have a good time and enjoy basketball. A lot of people do not get to do that for there city or themselves. The rally was fun. i got to introduce my family. I introduced my brother first so he got all excited. He thinks he's gonna get every lady in Portland now. After the rally i went and did media, where the length of the week really hit me. I just had nothing in me, but after that i had a photo shoot, jumbo tron video and an audio voice over. Actually the guys who were doing all that stuff gave me energy so those were fun. I also got to see one of my good friends that night, Josh McRoberts. He's here with me and thats gonna make everything that much better. To be here in this great city with one of my good friends is awesome. I love it here and i'm glad to represent this city and i will do everything in my power to give this team the chance to bring back a NBA championship, and i know it will not be easy.

People of YardBarker Nation, I'm going to tell you all first. The number I'm going to wear is 52. It's a mix of my high school and college number. So wherever I go, I hope to get 52. I know it's an ugly number but to me it's just a number, and if I do good I think one person may wear it. I know the number 20 wasn't that attractive, but as the year went on it grew on me. This one will too. One last thing, thanks LZ, ESPN, and Rachel for putting me on the cover of the magazine, making me look good, and giving me a lifetime memory of me being able to say that I was cool at one point in my life. Thank You.