The University Daily Kansan
Monday, July 1, 2013
Page 19
COLUMN
Dispatch from the draft: Jayhawks in Brooklyn
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Barbosa is pictured with alumni Josh Swade (center) who made the ESPN documentary "There's No Place Like Home," about Dr. James Naismith's original rules of basketball.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — About 50 people, including us, filed off the Brooklyn-bound N train onto the musty, underground platform at the Atlantic Avenue subway station. I checked the time on my phone — 7:28 p.m. The 2013 NBA Draft was officially scheduled to kick off in two minutes. "Dammit, we're going to miss the first pick, and we'll probably miss the second pick, too," I said to Tyler Burtscher, my friend and fellow University student, who'd traveled down from nearby Stamford, Conn. — where he's working this summer — to see the draft with me.
Missing the first, and possibly second pick in this year's draft would have been devastating for any Jayhawk fan, especially when you consider the uncertainty surrounding this year's draft, and the fact that Ben McLemore could very well have been picked first overall. He was who we were there to see — and Jeff Withey, of course — and there was a good shot wed miss his selection. Id read plenty of rumors about how the Cleveland Cavaliers
could possibly trade their No. 1 selection if they didn't bite on Kentucky's Nerlens Noel. What if they had traded it while we were in the subway with no cell signal? What if the team they'd traded to was one that could use a silky-smooth shooting guard like McLemore? Even if the Cavs were going to use their No. 1 pick, tons of "mock drafts" predicted that the Orlando Magic would surely take the one-and-done Jayhawk with the second pick. That was the likeliest of scenarios — or so we thought — so if we hurried, wed maybe have a shot.
We could hear faint cheers inside the arena, but there weren't any boos, so that meant NBA Commissioner David Stern wasn't yet at the podium. We still had time.
As we eventually got our tickets and made our way to our seats, we heard more than a few "Rock Chalk" hollers from passers-by and doled out our fair share of high fives to other Jayhawk fans. Bear in mind that we're more than a thousand miles away from the holy land — Lawrence — and in a place where most college basketball fans' blood runs Syracuse orange. In a city of eight million, it's comforting to know that good people — Kansas fans — are around, and that night, they were all at the Barclays Center.
He spoke about something for a few minutes — no one was listening, they were more focused on booing — before dropping perhaps the biggest bombshell of the evening: "With the first pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select... Anthony Bennett."
ANTHONY BENNETT?! What? Who the hell is this guy? He's the first pick? Not Nerlens Noel? The entire arena let out a collective "Whaaaat!?!!" before booing, because this was the draft, and that's what you do: you boo. Then, the Magic were on the clock. "This is where Ben's supposed to go," I said to Tyler.
That smug con-artist David Stern was approaching the podium to the tune of more than a thousand boos as we finally found our seats.
Nope. Victor Oladipo. He got a rousing ovation from the thousands of Indiana fans in the house, and a few claps from me because the dude can ball. But still, why didn't they pick McLemore? We waited ... and waited some more. Otto Porter. Cody Zeller. Alex Len (WHAT?). Nerlens Noel (finally).
hugged Coach Self and made his way to the stage. I let up on my cheers for a second and noticed something weird: We're like the only people who are cheering right now.
But as far as I'm concerned, this was the best possible draft we could have
And then, Stern gave us what wed come for: "With the seventh pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings select Ben McLemore." We burst out of our chairs in applause as Ben stood up, hugged his family.
gone to. Each pick was followed by thousands of people thrusting their hands up onto their heads, jaws agape in surprise. People were throwing their hats down in frustration. We got to watch the weirdest draft in recent memory. That's hard to beat.
The Department of Theatre cordially invites all KU students to our Theatre Rally Sunday, August 25th at 4 p.m. The Crafton-Preyer Theatre, Murphy Hall Learn about the University Theatre and how you can be involved in the 2013-14 Season!
Auditions Open call auditions begin Monday, August 26th at 7p.m. Open to all students of every major! Sign up online at sites.google.com/site/ukantheatre/ or call 785-864-3381 for more information.
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Shows coming Fall 2013 Dracula by Bram Stoker, adapted by Dennis Christilles And I and Silence by Naomi Wallace Adding Machine: A Musical by Joshua Schmidt & Jason Loewith The Maderati by Richard Greenberg