Same Old, Same Old, at the Draft Lottery.
It was the same old, same old at the NBA Draft Lottery. Same ping-pong balls, same Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik opening the envelopes, same Los Angeles Clippers earning a high pick in the draft, same B.J. Armstrong looking younger than he is, same Pat Williams and the Orlando Magic winning the lottery.
OK, maybe everything did not follow a set path, but this year’s lottery was as predictable as the climax in “Sweet Home Alabama.” If only Granik’s envelope opening and Williams’ fist pumping occurred in slow motion, it could have been billed as “Orlando and the Lottery, Part III.”
The plot started before any ping-pong ball entered the cool lottery machine thingy. Unlike last year, when it really was the LeBron Lottery, this year’s version returned to the Who’s the Best Player in the Draft Anyway Lottery. It had that same old feeling of uncertainty; what are the winners really winning?
ESPN’s Mike Tirico hosted the show, as usual. His first order of business – explaining to the TV audience the scrolling names along the left side of the screen, which serve vital information on each team in the draft. This must be the 50th time ESPN has explained the scroll to its audience. Now come on, is there any reason to believe that anyone watching at home has never turned in to the NFL Draft, PTI or any other ESPN programming? (And why is ESPN cramming this scroll down our throats anyway? Am I the only one who misses a full screen of programming?)
Next, guess who sits down for an interview with Tirico, Jay Bilas and Tom Tolbert? That’s right, NBA Commissioner David Stern. And guess what they talk about? That’s right, how more and more high schoolers are entering the draft, how many will fail and how unfortunate it is, and how the NBA needs to do something about this predicament. Wow, didn’t see that one coming. The last time I heard an issue talked about for this long while nothing was done about it… wait a sec, you say they still haven’t done anything about alleged steroid abuse in Major League Baseball?
So they move on to scanning the room and introducing each team’s representatives. There’s Chris Mullen, still sporting the flat top haircut even though it went out of style. When he was seven. There’s the token NBA player from his team, this year it’s Toronto’s Chris Bosh. There are the Clippers for the umpteenth time, although they do seem to have a new representative almost every year. And there’s Armstrong, who still does not look a day over twelve. (He’s got be close to 40 now, too.)
Phoenix managed to throw one of the few curveballs during the 30-minute segment. Their representative was Diana Taurasi, the former UConn star and now member of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Good choice Phoenix.
And oh yeah, this year’s draft was the Nokia NBA Draft Lottery. That’s right, even lottery shows have sponsors now. I guess this is not that big of a shock. After all, nowadays we have jockeys wanting to turn themselves into billboards.
Plus, fourteen teams were present at the draft instead of the usual thirteen. The expansion Charlotte Bobcats were invited, despite owning the No. 4 spot in the lottery. All this meant was the other ten teams who did have their ping-pong ball selected moved down one more spot in the draft.
The selection went without a surprise, except the Clippers jumped up from fifth to second. Really though, is this that big of a surprise. The Clippers and the Draft Lottery are like Bert and Ernie, or for sports maniacs the St. Louis Blues and the NHL Playoffs. The Clips have been here so many times, I’m surprised they’re not the sponsors instead of Nokia.
And in the end, it was Williams and the Magic who won the lottery. We all remember the last two times the Magic won – Shaq one year, Penny the other – so it’s safe to assume Orlando and Williams are ecstatic. (Williams’ fist pumps cleared up any doubt of that real quick).
And that was a wrap. Another lottery under the NBA’s belt. Another predictable script. Another Orlando top choice. See you all at the draft in a month.
