Pay attention to #1, #8 in particular http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/020625.html -50 ways to love the NBA draft- By Bill Simmons Page 2 columnist
No. 47 "From 2000 ... Commissioner Stern announces the first-ever All-Stiff Draft Night Trade: Houston deals Joel Pryzbilla to Milwaukee for Jason Collier and a future No. 1. This trade was approved by the NBA's official coroner, Dr. Sam Quincy." Two stiffs indeed
No. 23 From 1997 ... After Houston picks Rodrick Rhodes, Hubie describes him as having "incredible upside." Not just upside, folks ... incredible upside.
No. 14 From 1998 ... After Houston takes Turkey's Mirsad Turcan near the end of Round 1, Majerus compares Turcan to Moses Malone and officially gets cut off by the bar at the Vancouver's GM Place.
Some of my favorites: ------------------------------ No. 35 From 1997 ... The Mavs take center Kelvin Cato, a former dishwasher who ended up at Iowa State after a growth spurt. TNT's two "draft facts" about him are "Never played high school basketball" and "Owns a 9-foot Burmese python snake." Apparently rattled by these facts, Dallas immediately deals Cato to Portland for the No. 18 pick (Chris Antsey) and monetary considerations. _____________________ No. 27 From 1998 ... Talking about Kings pick Jason Williams, Majerus says, "He's got great 'feel for the game,' and you can't coach 'feel for the game.' " (We later find out that Williams also had great "feel for the bong.") ----------------------------------- No. 18 From 1999 ... Johnson tells us that No. 26 pick Vonteego Cummings got his first name after a neighbor combined the names of two cars, "The Volkswagen and the Montego." I don't even have a joke here. ---------------------------------- No. 16 From 1997 ... the Sixers take Keith Van Horn, who's forced to wear a Sixers hat and endure an interview with TNT's Craig Sager even though he's headed to New Jersey in a draft-day deal (which can't be announced until after the first round). That leads to a new face for the Pantheon of Faces -- the Keith Van Horn "I was excited to play in Philly, but now I have to spend my career in New Jersey, yet I still have to pretend that I'm excited to play for Philly until this trade is announced" Face. --------------------------------- No. 8 From 1999 ... Ernie Johnson tells us that soon-to-be-lottery pick Steve Francis brought 300 members of his extended family to the draft in Washington. Do you even know 300 people? That one might never be topped. -------------------------------- No. 6 From 1999 ... more from Sager and Odom (following Odom getting taken No. 4): -- Sager: Lamar, how much does this mean to your grandmother? -- Odom: It means everything. I made a promise to her that I would finish school and that I would make the NBA." -- Dad (doing a double take): Wait a second ... he left school after one year, didn't he? -- SG: Yeah. He's only 19. -- Dad (still confused): What school was he talking about, elementary school? --------------------------------- No. 4 From 2001 ... During the "We're live at the NBA draft!" montage at the beginning of their telecast, TNT shows a closeup of potential lottery pick Eddie Griffin (coming off a checkered season at Seton Hall). So Griffin looks into the camera and smiles with one of those "I'm a nice guy ... I'm sensitive ... I'm not gonna punch you" looks. Unequivocally the highlight of the 2001 draft. --------------------------------- No. 1 From 1999 ... after the Grizzlies select Stevie Francis second, a disappointed Francis puts on a Grizzlies hat, shakes hands with Stern and tries to pretend he's happy. But when he and his grandmother head on stage for an interview with Sager, Francis becomes steadily more distraught by the realization that he's heading to Vancouver. When Sager asks him, "How does it feel?", Francis rolls his eyes, holds back tears, leans back in his seat, stares up at the roof in dismay and looks like he might start screaming. Sager quickly throws it back to Ernie. (The NBA ... it's FANNNNNN-tastic! I love this game!) -------------------------------- YES!!! Rockets are no.1!!!!!! We have 3 of the top 10. I think the Rockets, Clippers, and Bulls lead that list.
After reading that, I've come to the conclusion that Rick Majerus is an idiot. Sorry, but there were just too many stupid quotes by him in there. I think the fact that he doesn't like Yao Ming is probably a good thing.
