Running Diary of 2006 NBA Draft Lottery

7:23: Welcome to My Running Diary of the 2006 NBA Draft Lottery. I’ve currently been banished to the bonus room of the Lewis’ household in beautiful Scott Depot, West Virginia. Never heard of it? Don’t worry because you aren’t missing anything. We are T-minus 7 minutes and counting until the Draft Lottery begins. Everything I have read and watched in the last 24 hours has the top three draft prospects being Tyrus Thomas (LSU, F), LaMarcus Aldrige (Texas, C/PF), and Mark McIntosh, I mean, Adam Morrison (Gonzaga, SF). I’m willing to bet these won’t be the top three guys selected when the June draft rolls around. Twenty dollars anyone?

7:26: Another Mobile ESPN commercial. I am beginning to think these are shown just so that ESPN can showcase its lesser-known anchors (Trey Wingo in this one). Granted, I like Trey, but he’s no Scott Van Pelt. No one has the presence to command a room like SVP.

7:29: ESPN is finally wrapping up the KIA NBA Shoot-Around. Thank goodness. I couldn’t watch much more of Greg Anthony, Tim Legler, and STEPHEN A. SMITH. I almost cancelled the running diary because the KIA NBA Shoot-Around was so painful. By the way, let’s end the debate once and for all, “Legs” is the worst analyst of all-time. No one can convince me otherwise.


7:30: Dan Patrick voices over the NBA Lottery introduction with shots of all the college stars and past draft-winning General Managers celebrating. I think it is safe to say we all need more DP in our lives. My dad literally comes home every day and tells me something new that Dan has said on his radio show that day.

7:31: First shot of the ping-pong balls. Does anyone really know how they work? I realize that the actual lottery takes place in a back-room with all of the representatives watching, a supposedly “unbiased” observer making sure that the proceedings maintain their integrity, and four ping-pong ball combinations that tell the winners. Even with all that information, I have no clue how it works, and I think it just fuels the conspiracy theories. Interesting side note, Dan Patrick also just said that Greg Anthony watched a lot of college basketball this season. I’m guessing that was a lie since he was doing NBA shows (including the KIA NBA Shoot-Around) all-season long.

7:33: Steve Lavin’s 3-top players: Tyrus Thomas (best athlete in the draft), “Silky-Smooth” LaMarcus Aldrige (his words, not mine), and Adam Morrison. Thanks for going out on a limb there Steve. You are clearly earning your money from ESPN right now by providing tremendous insight (interesting side note, Steve won’t be heard from again this evening).

7:34: Dan asks why J.J. Redick isn’t a lottery pick since he and Adam Morrison were always talked about in the same breath all season long. He throws it to Greg Anthony who says that, according to his piles of research, there are questions about his ability to create his own shot. I’m so thankful that these guys are here to point out the obvious (although Redick will be better than people realize according to the Sports Guy). Also, it warrants mentioning that in his mock-draft after the picks are announced, Andy Katz has J.J. in the lottery. Sports Illustrated’s mock draft also has him among the lottery picks.

7:37: The Dockers commercial with broken glass and spinning bottle just came on TV. I think I do want a “Sunday Kind of Love” now that I think about it; just something to last past Saturday night.

7:39: Return from commercial break for an interview with David Stern. Great interviewer by the way – I especially enjoy the always smug look as he answers questions. Dan’s really trying to make him choose sides (dynasty versus parity, best storyline of the playoffs), but the Commissioner is swatting away these shots like Tyrus Thomas in the NCAA tournament. If he keeps this up, he may end up being the number one overall pick instead of the big three. Dan also asked him why he began the lottery twenty years ago, and every SG fan is thinking so that the Knicks could get Patrick Ewing. I was busy thinking of this conspiracy and didn’t catch the Commissioner’s answer; sorry.

7:40: As they cut to commercial, the show the envelopes being brought into the main room. When they come back, they are taking us from picks fourteen to four. The suspense is almost too much to take (ok, not really).

7:44: New Maria Sharapova ESPN cafeteria commercial that is pretty funny – ESPN really does a great job with their Sportscenter commercials. As Mark and I once liked to joke about Kristin Kreuk of Smallville, “So Hot…want to touch the hiney,” and Sharapova has definitely reached that status. Also, there’s no way Stewart Scott can be upset about John Anderson’s decision to give Maria his seat in the commercial. John made the right call, and no jury could be convinced otherwise (even if he has no shot with her).

7:46: They are now introducing all of the team representatives including Chris Paul of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Backhanded compliment to Pat Hill of the Orlando Magic – “you’ve been here many times before” - which means that your team never makes the playoffs. Congrats. By the way, it is a bit disappointing to not see fellow lottery veteran Elgin Baylor. There’s still hope he can make it next year.

7:47: JoJo White, representative of the Boston Celtics, wore underwear tonight for good luck. I think it is safe to say he won’t be the third wheel in the next Michael Jordan and Kevin Bacon Hanes commercial.

7:48: Gerald Wallace is representing the Bobcats. Interesting side note that may only interest me, but I actually played against Gerald Wallace in high school. This was back in the day when he was rated the #1 player in the country in my class. He was a member of the Alabama Ice, and I was riding pine for the Georgia Stars. We both played in the same game (although definitely not at the same time). I love name-dropping by the way.

7:50: Russ Granik, NBA Deputy Commissioner, is reading the results the draft lottery results fourteen through four in a monotone voice. Quickly, they are: Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, Orlando Magic, Seattle Supersonics, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks (ouch), Portland Trailblazers. Only the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trailblazers are out of order there (if you are going from best to worst record, they both should be higher with Portland at 1 and Atlanta at 4).

7:53: Another Sunday Kind of Love commercial. Why can’t these “accidents” happen to me? Maybe it’s because I don’t have any weekend khaki’s by Dockers? I think I will buy a pair tomorrow to find out (and yes advertising works).


7:55: Quickly back to Russ; I wasn’t ready for that: 3rd pick – Charlotte Bobcats; 2nd – Chicago Bulls (from the New York Knicks), 1st- Toronto Raptors. I’ve just become convinced that this draft is definitely rigged. I love Brian Colangelo (and not the Raptors don’t need this pick), but this result is a little shady. He leaves Phoenix after rebuilding them (and winning the executive of the year award the previous season), his dad is the savior for USA Basketball, and now he’s going to turn around the Raptors (all of those successes without even mentioning that David Stern told Mike Dolan to fire Isaiah Thomas and hire Brian Colangelo). I am briefly wondering if he has a daughter that is single just so I could say that I’ve married into the most successful NBA family of all-time.

7:57: Dan Patrick just showed that he doesn’t know his NBA teams, which is very disappointing for me personally. He was speechless while trying to list players on the Raptors after he gets past their best player Chris Bosh. I’m very disappointed in Dan, although I doubt most NBA fans can name more than one player on the Raptors. Still, I have lost a hero.

7:58: Startling revelation that Brian Colangelo is also wearing underwear. It’s safe to say that we are firmly entrenched in TMI (Too Much Information) territory of the program, and that the NBA draft lottery doesn’t need to last 30 minutes. Can we go back to a halftime draft lottery because that clearly worked much better? Please?


7:59: Portland is looking forward to the 4th pick according to their owner. My thoughts immediately go to my good friend Josh Carlton, whose team can’t seem to catch a break. The only consolation is that this is a really weak draft, so it isn’t like his team missed out on the next Lebron James or anything. Plus, the best player in last year’s draft was taken at the 4-spot.

8:00: Alright, the Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 is about to tip-off, so I’m out. Hope you enjoyed the NBA Draft as much as I did. Remember to support the NBA because it is FAN-tastic (and all executives wear underwear at the Draft Lottery – whether they do at the actual draft remains to be seen).