LAS VEGAS – His game was played Thursday, one of the opening events on a crowded NBA All-Star Weekend schedule that only got more and more crowded as the days went by. The audience wasn’t as large as the one that packed Thomas & Mack Center to see the NBA’s best players on Sunday, and there was no live coverage on national TV.

None of that mattered to Mike Hudson. He sounded like one of the happiest guys in town.

“It’s a big week for us,” he said. “We have the game, and my wife and I came early to celebrate our first anniversary.”

Hudson, 31, is a double-above-knee amputee from Gastonia and a center and power forward for the Charlotte Rollin’ Bobcats NWBA team. He earned his trip west while averaging about 17 points and 11 rebounds this season, claiming a spot on the East roster for the ninth wheelchair basketball All-Star game.

Rollin’ Bobcats guard Jeff Brafford, an All-Star player in 2001, was also chosen but was unable to participate because of an injury.

Hudson’s East squad won the National Wheelchair Basketball Association All-Star Classic 57-54 in Las Vegas, but for him, playing has never just been about results.

“Basketball has really helped me and I have some good experiences to teach my son,” Hudson said. “I’ve met guys from all over the country who have the same problems I have and it’s helped me out a lot to hear their stories. I love to compete and I just love the sport. A lot of people don’t understand the game and think it’s a slow game.

“But we feel like real athletes. You push. You’re constantly cranking the chair. You use your hips a lot. It gets tough sometimes – you’ve got to push (with your hands) and then the ball’s coming at you. I’ve had a lot of spills because it’s a very physical game. But I love it.”

Hudson never played organized basketball until he joined the wheelchair team nine years ago. Earlier he had been active in other sports as a member of the football and wrestling teams at Gastonia Ashbrook High School.

After the amputation Hudson was in rehabilitation in Charlotte when an acquaintance first told him about the wheelchair basketball team, then affiliated with the Hornets.

“I went to one practice and tried to participate but I didn’t have a good chair,” he said.

That didn’t diminish his interest. He went on to become polished at the game and, in his first season playing for Charlotte’s Division III team, he was named Most Valuable pPayer of the 1998 NWBA DIII National Championship Tournament.

He also plays a pretty good game in the neighborhood, sometimes with a group including Chase, his son from a previous marriage.

“The kids want me to get my chair and come out there and play with them,” Hudson said.

Laughing, he added: “I tell them, ‘Don’t make me put my Nikes on.’”

Hudson said he loves being involved in the game, particularly during events such as NBA All-Star Weekend. He and his wife, Marsha, have attended several NBA host-city community events this week, and Hudson and other wheelchair players went through drills for about 80 children.

They have also had anniversary time for themselves.

“We’ve been eating and gambling,” he said. “And we won $50.”

Hudson initially couldn’t laugh as easily.

“This was tough for me at first but I’ve gotten used to it,” Hudson said. “Now I never say I can’t do something. You think you have it bad but all you have to do is look around and see what some other people go through. At home I go around at rehab and talk to people (in similar situations) to try to motivate them, to let them know that life doesn’t end.

“Basketball built my confidence. Now maybe I can inspire somebody. If I can touch one person I’ve done a lot.”

Leonard Laye covered the NBA, ABA and college basketball for more than three decades for the Charlotte Observer and the old Charlotte News until his retirement from writing sports fulltime. He will write a regular column throughout the season for BobcatsBasketball.com for his second straight year.