Garden Party: 2010 NBA Draft Diary

NEW YORK -- If you've never been to the NBA Draft, there's one thing to know: it begins with a rush.

When the doors open at 6:30 to the Madison Square Garden Theatre for the 2010 NBA Draft, there are Knick fans aplenty. Appropriately, one is wearing a "LeBron" Knicks shirt and yelling "LeBronnnnnnn!" Another yells, "Do something right Knicks!"

Does it matter that the Knicks don't draft until No. 38? Nope, not at all. This is draft night. The draft's bright lights are ready to shine as the fans flock into the intimate venue with the hope that this is the night for their team's fortunes to change.

But if there's any tension and anticipation, it quickly dissipates at 7:29 p.m. ET as ESPN anchor Stuart Scott announces that the draft is about to start and the crowd lets out a roar of approval. A group of 15 twenty-somethings start yelling in harmony, "Stuart Scott, Stuart Scott!" When he doesn't acknowledge, they yell, "Jeff Van Gundy, clap clap, clap clap clap, Jeff Van Gundy!" When he acknowledges, they go crazy.

That atmosphere remains constant even as NBA commissioner David Stern makes his grand entrance to boos. He smiles and proceeds.



Share "We want to thank our unruly fans."

More boos. Washington is now on the clock. Let the games begin ...

After the first two picks were announced, Nets fans, one with a vuvuzela, rock the theater. The pick: Derrick Favors. Nets fans go nuts showing Knicks fans how it was done.

Often, it's the smaller moments that catch the eye. Golden State Warriors pick Ekpe Udoh embraced Stern as if he had been at sleep away camp all summer and just saw mom for the first time. This is why we love the draft, though.

So often we see these players on the court, battling and grinding. The draft brings about a human element that is both refreshing and gratifying from a fan's perspective. We as fans want to relate to the players.

There were many human moments like this at the draft.

At Cole Aldrich's presser, a reporter asks if Aldrich has embraced the "tough guy mentality since he got a tooth knocked out during a game two years ago."

"Did I?" Aldrich jokes, flashing a grin clearly void of a front tooth. Relaxed and confident, he mentioned that he got nervous during the Nos. 9-10 range, but that he was able to deflect the anxiety by sending his friends funny texts.

Late in the first round, as the Grizzlies prepared to pick at 28, the buzz begins about Maryland point guard and ACC Player of the Year Greivis Vasquez. Perched right next to his camp in the general admission seating, Vazquez screams and embraces his father screaming with emotion.

But among the smiling faces and crying parents, there is also tremendous agony. Hassan Whiteside -- the talented enigma out of Marshall -- sat hopelessly in the general admission seating as he plummeted down the draft board and into the second round.

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His agent tries desperately to reassure him, but the look on his face is worth 1,000 words. His shoulders sink lower and lower as the night progresses. Finally, his name was called at No. 33 by Sacramento.

Craig Sager asks him how disappointed he is not to be a first round pick. "Whatever team," he says, "you're still in the NBA."

Whiteside walks by and you can feel the weight of the world on his shoulders.

That, too, is draft night.

As the night grows longer, the crowd's antics ramp up. The remaining fans ride Scott, who yields nothing. Finally ...

"Stuart, show me how to soldier boy."

Even the normal stone-faced Scott can't resist laughing.

It's a light moment as the NBA enters the most serious of offseasons -- perhaps the biggest summer in league history. But tonight is about 60 young men who have realized their dream. The atmosphere at the draft is a mixed bag of optimism, pessimism, and insanity. Tonight, though, they can celebrate. Tonight is their night.

Tomorrow ... we can second guess.