I'll just post the my favorite part, between the Kings pick and NJ getting Williams. The entire Knicks debacle was fantastic, trainwreck TV entertainment. It was like the Kings pick was "dinner", and the Knicks pick was "the show".
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060629
9:31 -- After Washington takes a giddy Ukrainian dude who looks happy just to be on national TV (never a good sign), Patrick interviews Larry Legend (looking disgruntled, like he spent the whole night trying to unsuccessfully trade Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley) and the Kings jump on Rutgers gunner Quincy Douby (one of my sleepers in this draft), followed by DP joking, "He can really light it up." And that brings us to our featured attraction of the evening ...
"THE KNICKS ARE ON THE CLOCK!"
ESPN wisely works the MSG crowd into a hostile frenzy by showing the obligatory "KNICKS UNDER ISIAH THOMAS" graphic. Has there ever been rioting at an NBA draft before?
9:34 -- Stephen A. on the No. 20 pick: "I'M A BORN AND RAISED NEW YORKER, OK? YOU HAVE GOT TO GET A DOG ON THIS ROSTER, I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU FIND HIM. I DON'T CARE, YOU GOT TO GET SOMEONE WHO WILL BE IN PEOPLE'S FACE, SOMEONE WHO'S HARDCORE. YOU LOOK AT ISIAH THOMAS AND HIS DRAFT HISTORY ... YOU KNOW THAT HE KNOWS TALENT ... THIS PICK HAS GOT TO WORK. IT'S GOT TO WORK!"
(Translation: The Knicks need to pick someone good.)
9:36 -- There are those moments in sports when you expect something great, and then it actually happens. And then there are those rare moments in sports when you expect something great, and something even greater happens. This was one of those moments: The Knicks on the clock, the crowd pushing for Marcus Williams, and then ...
--Stern: "With the 20th pick, the New York Knicks select ... Renaldo Balkman."
(Crowd explodes in horror.)
--Stern (over the boos): "Renaldo is not here."
--Patrick (without missing a beat): "And it's probably a good thing."
(Shot of a beaten-down Spike Lee laughing hysterically.)
The rioting will not stop here.
9:36 -- That was fantastic. Everyone kept e-mailing me to write about Isiah and the Knicks last week ... what else was there to say? OF COURSE Isiah was meant to coach this team as his final job in the NBA before retiring to a life of greeting people at casinos and doing informercials. If somebody clogs your toilet, you ask him to clean up the mess. That's just the way life works. I'm telling you, we're going to remember the Isiah/Knicks Era the same way we remember things like Enron, the Hindenberg and the Bay of Pigs. It's reached that level. I don't know what else to say. Honestly. I have Knicks fans e-mailing me every day asking me if it's OK to root against their own team. What else can you say at this point?
(Wait, I know ... Renaldo Balkman!)
9:37 -- A stammering Bilas sets off three minutes of Isiah-bashing by saying, "This to me is a stunner, I'm stunned. This is a second-round player. Nobody else would have taken him in the first round," followed by Greg Anthony using the word "befuddling" and Stephen A. (maybe for the first time ever) admitting, "I'm almost speechless."
I mean, when Stephen A. is almost speechless ...
9:39 -- Who's going to be the first one to make the obligatory "Is it possible that Isiah thought he was taking Rolando Blackman?" joke. Screw it, I'll do it.
9:40 -- Just when this draft couldn't get any crazier, my beloved Celtics just bought the 21st pick from Phoenix to take Rajon Rondo, the Kentucky guard who Chad Ford touted all summer because he mistakenly thought Rondo was foreign. Unfortunately, Rondo can't shoot. This is an understatement. As Bilas says, "Teams in the SEC didn't even guard him." Put it this way: The list of NBA teams that won an NBA title with a point guard who couldn't shoot looks like this:
1. (empty)
2. (empty)
3. (empty)
On the other hand, my Celtics moles told me that Rondo absolutely DESTROYED Foye and Williams in their workout a few weeks ago. So who knows?
God, I'm a sap ...
9:43 -- My dad's reaction: "So we have two new point guards, but one of them's 5-foot-11 and the other one can't shoot? And I'm supposed to be happy about this?" Tough to argue with that one. I'm not even going to bother telling him about Rondo's freakishly long fingers. Maybe tomorrow.
9:45 -- Just trying to cheer myself up by thinking about all the Knicks fan/friends I'm e-mailing tomorrow with "Renaldo Balkman!" in the subject heading. That's gonna be fun.
9:49 -- The Nets grab a relieved Marcus Williams at No. 22, followed by Stern shaking his hand with one of those "Let's hope this is the last time we cross paths, mister" looks on his face. That's followed by Bilas questioning Marcus' body fat by saying, "14 percent body fat is fine if you're hibernating." I'm thoroughly enjoying the Marcus Williams Era already.
9:51 -- During the Williams interview, ESPN chickens out from running a "MUST IMPROVE: KLEPTOMANIA" graphic.
10:00 -- Well, I got one wish granted: The latest "miked up" montage with Rudy Gay included his conversation on stage with Stern. Here's how it unfolded:
--Stern (shaking hands): "Congratulations, OK."
--Gay: "Thank you."
--Stern: "That's very exciting."
--Gay: (nods)
--Stern (turning): "Look out there to the camera."
And ... scene.
All right, maybe it was better NOT to know.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060629
9:31 -- After Washington takes a giddy Ukrainian dude who looks happy just to be on national TV (never a good sign), Patrick interviews Larry Legend (looking disgruntled, like he spent the whole night trying to unsuccessfully trade Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley) and the Kings jump on Rutgers gunner Quincy Douby (one of my sleepers in this draft), followed by DP joking, "He can really light it up." And that brings us to our featured attraction of the evening ...
"THE KNICKS ARE ON THE CLOCK!"
ESPN wisely works the MSG crowd into a hostile frenzy by showing the obligatory "KNICKS UNDER ISIAH THOMAS" graphic. Has there ever been rioting at an NBA draft before?
9:34 -- Stephen A. on the No. 20 pick: "I'M A BORN AND RAISED NEW YORKER, OK? YOU HAVE GOT TO GET A DOG ON THIS ROSTER, I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU FIND HIM. I DON'T CARE, YOU GOT TO GET SOMEONE WHO WILL BE IN PEOPLE'S FACE, SOMEONE WHO'S HARDCORE. YOU LOOK AT ISIAH THOMAS AND HIS DRAFT HISTORY ... YOU KNOW THAT HE KNOWS TALENT ... THIS PICK HAS GOT TO WORK. IT'S GOT TO WORK!"
(Translation: The Knicks need to pick someone good.)
9:36 -- There are those moments in sports when you expect something great, and then it actually happens. And then there are those rare moments in sports when you expect something great, and something even greater happens. This was one of those moments: The Knicks on the clock, the crowd pushing for Marcus Williams, and then ...
--Stern: "With the 20th pick, the New York Knicks select ... Renaldo Balkman."
(Crowd explodes in horror.)
--Stern (over the boos): "Renaldo is not here."
--Patrick (without missing a beat): "And it's probably a good thing."
(Shot of a beaten-down Spike Lee laughing hysterically.)
The rioting will not stop here.
9:36 -- That was fantastic. Everyone kept e-mailing me to write about Isiah and the Knicks last week ... what else was there to say? OF COURSE Isiah was meant to coach this team as his final job in the NBA before retiring to a life of greeting people at casinos and doing informercials. If somebody clogs your toilet, you ask him to clean up the mess. That's just the way life works. I'm telling you, we're going to remember the Isiah/Knicks Era the same way we remember things like Enron, the Hindenberg and the Bay of Pigs. It's reached that level. I don't know what else to say. Honestly. I have Knicks fans e-mailing me every day asking me if it's OK to root against their own team. What else can you say at this point?
(Wait, I know ... Renaldo Balkman!)
9:37 -- A stammering Bilas sets off three minutes of Isiah-bashing by saying, "This to me is a stunner, I'm stunned. This is a second-round player. Nobody else would have taken him in the first round," followed by Greg Anthony using the word "befuddling" and Stephen A. (maybe for the first time ever) admitting, "I'm almost speechless."
I mean, when Stephen A. is almost speechless ...
9:39 -- Who's going to be the first one to make the obligatory "Is it possible that Isiah thought he was taking Rolando Blackman?" joke. Screw it, I'll do it.
9:40 -- Just when this draft couldn't get any crazier, my beloved Celtics just bought the 21st pick from Phoenix to take Rajon Rondo, the Kentucky guard who Chad Ford touted all summer because he mistakenly thought Rondo was foreign. Unfortunately, Rondo can't shoot. This is an understatement. As Bilas says, "Teams in the SEC didn't even guard him." Put it this way: The list of NBA teams that won an NBA title with a point guard who couldn't shoot looks like this:
1. (empty)
2. (empty)
3. (empty)
On the other hand, my Celtics moles told me that Rondo absolutely DESTROYED Foye and Williams in their workout a few weeks ago. So who knows?
God, I'm a sap ...
9:43 -- My dad's reaction: "So we have two new point guards, but one of them's 5-foot-11 and the other one can't shoot? And I'm supposed to be happy about this?" Tough to argue with that one. I'm not even going to bother telling him about Rondo's freakishly long fingers. Maybe tomorrow.
9:45 -- Just trying to cheer myself up by thinking about all the Knicks fan/friends I'm e-mailing tomorrow with "Renaldo Balkman!" in the subject heading. That's gonna be fun.
9:49 -- The Nets grab a relieved Marcus Williams at No. 22, followed by Stern shaking his hand with one of those "Let's hope this is the last time we cross paths, mister" looks on his face. That's followed by Bilas questioning Marcus' body fat by saying, "14 percent body fat is fine if you're hibernating." I'm thoroughly enjoying the Marcus Williams Era already.
9:51 -- During the Williams interview, ESPN chickens out from running a "MUST IMPROVE: KLEPTOMANIA" graphic.
10:00 -- Well, I got one wish granted: The latest "miked up" montage with Rudy Gay included his conversation on stage with Stern. Here's how it unfolded:
--Stern (shaking hands): "Congratulations, OK."
--Gay: "Thank you."
--Stern: "That's very exciting."
--Gay: (nods)
--Stern (turning): "Look out there to the camera."
And ... scene.
All right, maybe it was better NOT to know.
![T[MaC]](/data/avatars/m/1/1105.jpg?1377970461){kind=avatar}
