There are quite a few young basketball players with a lot on the line this week. It is time for the annual NBA Draft. During the course of one day, a player’s whole life can change, dramatically change. Like, from scrounging around the dorm room looking for beer money, to having a whole room full of money.
Just 60 names were announced by NBA Commissioner David Stern and those 60 guys will be getting the chance of a lifetime to prove themselves in the big leagues the NBA. There is not an aspiring player among them who is not aware of the great traditions of professional basketball and the great players that have come before him.
College players have to declare themselves for the NBA Draft. Some will be leaving college early to turn pro and some will forgo college altogether and join the NBA right out of high school… just like Kobe Bryant and other greats have done… although new NBA rules state that, to be eligible for the draft, a player must be at least one year out of high school and be at least 19 years of age.
The powers that be in the NBA invited 10 of the top draft prospects to attend the NBA Draft ceremonies at the new Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. This elite group included Victor Oladipo of Indiana University, Alex Len of Maryland, Nerlens Noel of Kentucky, Anthony Bennett from UNLV, Ben McLemore of Kansas, Otto Porter from Georgetown, Trey Burke from the University of Michigan, Michael Carter-Williams of Syracuse, C.J. McCollum of Lehigh University and Cody Zeller also from Indiana.
These guys get to do their waiting and nail biting in front of the whole world because all eyes will be on them throughout the evening. There are other players out there, more or less as good as these guys, but they get to do their waiting at home… away from the camera. If even one of these top players manages not to get picked in the first round, the cameras are going to zoom in on him until something happens. The pressure will be excruciating.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have the first pick this year thanks to their luck in the lottery and there will be a lot of young players and their families sitting on the edges of their seats to see just who it is they pick as ‘number’ one in the 2013 NBA Draft.
