Draft Day
When I was a little kid I would always be excited for the NBA draft. I remember there was even a routine behind it. I would hang out all day with my oldest cousin, who is practically my brother, and we would have lunch go swimming and eat otter pops until it was time to start. Then we would go watch it in my grandparent’s room because it was by far the coolest in the house and was the only air conditioned room. We would like to see what teams our favorite college players would go to and get mad when the Lakers drafted “nobody’s”. Some of the more memorable drafts my cousin and I watched included:
1993 Chris Webber was drafted and then traded for Penny Hardaway, creating one of the most dynamic duo’s in the NBA (Shaq and Penny)
1996 – A high school kid by the name Kobe Bryant was taken 13th by the then Charlotte Hornets and traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Vlade Divac. Little did we know this move would change basketball in LA for years to come.
However, now the draft doesn’t have that aura around it like it once did. I don’t know if the players aren’t as talented or do we just have to wait for the next generation of stars to emerge. Since players are forced to go to college now it takes away from the game of college basketball. College basketball used to be based on guys who wanted to go college and develop before going to the NBA and you were able to become familiar with them because they would stay for 3-4 years. Now players come and go so fast in college you really don’t get a chance to really like them because by the end of the year they’re gone. For example Kyrie Irving, last year’s number one pick, was at Duke for all of maybe half a season and was still the number one pick. John Calipari’s Kentucky teams two out of the last three years were basically filled with freshmen who were one and done.
No matter what we love the draft and no matter if it’s a deep draft or a weak draft we will watch it. We will cheer when our team selects a future superstar and groan when they pick someone we never heard of. We will continue to boo David Stern every time he comes to the podium and we will cheer Adam Silver when he comes out to replace Stern for the second round. We look back five years after the draft and see who flopped and who flew under the radar to exceed expectations. The draft can set you up for the next few years like the Oklahoma City Thunder or leave you flailing for help like the Charlotte Bobcats. I can’t wait to see how these picks are going to turn out because there are an exciting core of players that can be really good if they can reach full potential.
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