Every new NBA Draft night, they show us old NBA Draft nights, the footage of the first picks and fashion and faces. The faces. It's them, but it's not them — they're so young, impressionable, incomplete. Davidson's Stephen Curry, Duke's Jayson Tatum, St. Vincent–St. Mary High's LeBron James. A manchild with a baby face. At the time, we probably didn't think they looked that young, just like on Wednesday as we watched Georgia's Anthony Edwards go No. 1 to Minnesota. But looking back at luminaries and legends on their draft nights, it's like a snapshot of the before, the cusp captured.
Draft night is one of my favorite nights on the sports calendar, and even during the virtual draft during the pandemic — without the lane-drivers known for their tear-drops dripping tears while shaking the commish's hand — the draft was still great drama. It's also a fascinating night, because we don't know who is going to be who. Of the players drafted, somebody is going to be that draft's star, somebody is going to be that draft's bust. Somebody will be the what-if guy, the injured guy, the underachiever, the overachiever. Even the most sure-minded, globe-scouring scouts and general managers don't totally know.
"I may end up like Greg Oden and my knee gives out because I grew too fast — or I get in the wrong system with the wrong coach, who snatches my confidence out of me," said Anthony Bonner, the Vashon and St. Louis U. hoops legend who was drafted in the first round 30 years ago. "All of these external things come into play when you're a professional athlete. You blossom, not just according to your talent, but also according to the system that you're blessed to go play in. ...
