In this week's Magazine feature on Antawn Jamison, I mention a night of pick-up hoops in Chapel Hill in which Jamison wins three of four games. What I didn't note was my part in the outcome -- until now. I was there, playing on the other team.

It's a perk of my job that I sometimes get to play in some pretty cool places -- Houston's Compaq Center, the Alamodome, Conseco Fieldhouse and any number of NBA practice courts among them. I was all too happy to add the Dean Dome to the list. The original plan was to have a battle of Dukies vs. Tar Heels and tape it for The Life show, but that fell through. Instead, a wide range of talent made up this particular run, from Antawn Jamison and Shammond Williams at the top, to Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang and Melvin Scott in the middle, to, well, me and Shammond's barber and Antawn's younger brother, Albert, Jr. Suffice it to say there would be no need to roll tape.

I wound up as a swingman and the way the teams were picked, I couldn't have had it better, what with Shammond at the point and Haywood posting down low. There are runs where the best players on the floor are going to be taking the most shots, regardless of matchups, but in true Tar Heel tradition, that wasn't the case here. I wasn't our best player -- I might've been our worst -- but I had the best matchup with a size and speed advantage against the guy guarding me, a friend of Jamison's who shall remain nameless. Shammond made it clear I'd be getting the ball and he expected me to knock down shots.

Now, if you've never played with a seven-footer like Haywood or an NBA point guard like Shammond, it makes the game frightfully easy. Haywood drew double-teams and set picks that gave me all kinds of room and Shammond fired the ball right in my wheelhouse the second I flashed open.

It's also an experience to be playing against someone like Jamison. I was not too far away when he came down the lane and crushed one on Haywood, and later when he buried a long 3. Playing with guys of that size and speed and leaping ability changes all the angles of the game, darn near taking it into a fourth dimension. You think a courtside seat gives you a taste? Try being in the shadow of Jamison soaring to the hoop or having him close on you as you enter the paint.

It's the stuff of dreams -- unless, of course, your shot is not falling.

Mine wasn't. I could blame the late start (after 10 p.m.) or jet lag (I flew in from the West Coast), but the truth is I was off, as in awful. I had open 19-foot looks from the wing and baseline all day. When one finally dropped, Haywood said, "I've been waiting all night for that." A shared sentiment.

No stats were kept but I'd guess I was no better than 4-for-12 over the four games. Shammond and Brendan were cool, waving off my apologies. The barber, who even trash-talked Twan at one point, had a harder time with the outcome and left without saying a word. Bottom line, had I made even half of my shots, Twan would not have won three of four.

But then the story wouldn't have been quite as good, either, right?

AND ONES: In case you're wondering where the rest of the Bulls stand on the feud between Charles Oakley and coach Tim Floyd, know that Oak's teammates offered to pay the $50,000 fine levied by the team for his remarks last week about Floyd's substitution pattern. This feud is not over -- the two had a shouting match the next day behind closed doors at the Bulls' Berto Center practice facility -- but sources say neither one will be moved. GM Jerry Krause won't fire Floyd because it would suggest Oakley's criticism was valid, nor will he trade Oakley because it would come off as if he had been forced to do so ... Rumors about Hornets coach Paul Silas being on a short leash, initiated when he received only a one-year extension after last year's impressive run, continue to circulate. The popular pick to replace him is Mike Fratello, who has personal ties with Hornets ownership.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail ric.bucher@espnmag.com.