I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 4

New York, Madison Square Garden.

The NBA's annual draft is held here.

Since the distant 1949, the NBA Draft has been held here.

In the following 60 years, 10 of the 8 draft conferences were held here.

Who made the NBA headquarters close to here?The league president and a large group of staff don't want to travel around.

Today's league commissioner, David Stern, has presided over this momentous effort for 25 years.

From the time the New York Knicks selected Patrick Ewing with the No. 1985 pick in [-], everything went smoothly.

The only trouble he faces every year is to listen to the huge boos of the audience after he takes the stage.

This is already a repertoire for New York's demanding fans, and Stern has to pretend to accept it every time.

Then he opened the envelope and read the name that everyone already knew.

For example, this year's No. 5 pick, the moment the Clippers won the No. 20 pick on May [-], everyone knew that the No. [-] pick belonged to Blake Griffin.

Because the Clippers CEO Roser triumphantly displayed his suit lining in front of the camera, embroidered with the fabric of the Clippers' No. 23 jersey.

That's the number Blake Griffin wore at the University of Oklahoma, the Clippers had drafted him, and the world knew it.

Therefore, David Stern couldn't understand what kind of plane the Clippers team was working on.

There is only 6 minute left until 1 o'clock when the conference reservation starts, why haven't they handed over the envelope with their names on it?
After another minute, still nothing, it has timed out, and the draft has not started yet.

This was the first time in NBA history, and Stern quickly asked the staff to go to the Clippers working group to inquire about the situation.

"No! Don't go. Adam, you go! If they don't give the envelope again, their first pick will be cancelled!"

Stern stopped the staff and asked Adam Silva, the vice president of the league, to question and put down his harsh words.

The Clippers are such a shabby team. I heard that they changed a Chinese general manager yesterday?
Is there something wrong with this draft?Stern felt uneasy, this was the first time in so many years.

At this time in the work group of the Clippers, the player director Gary Sachs had just put down the phone, and his eyes showed confusion.

Adam Silva pushed the door in and said sharply: "Sachs! What's the matter with you, why didn't you send the envelope over, the draft has already started!"

"If you don't give a candidate, the league will cancel your No. [-] pick!"

Facing Silva's stern warning, Sachs quickly said: "The Los Angeles side has already issued an order, and we have made a decision."

Speaking, Sachs wrote a name on a card, stuffed it into a white envelope, and handed it to Adam Silva.

Silva snatched the envelope and muttered: "I really don't understand what the hell you are doing, the candidate that has been decided long ago..."

He trotted all the way to the backcourt of the draft stage, panting and handed the envelope to Stern.

Stern took the envelope and walked onto the stage, booing immediately.

The host of ESPN TV station, who reported the whole process of the draft, saw Stern on the stage, and said with a oh:

"Finally, David Stern finally showed up with an envelope. He was 3 minutes behind schedule. Did something happen backstage?"

"Did some New York fan break into the back and replace the Clippers envelope with Patrick Ewing's name."

Because of Stern's late arrival, the boos were louder than in the past.

Stern had to turn his body sideways, sticking out his ears and pretending to listen, meaning "I can't hear you any louder."

It was a standard response to booing.

And he was already cursing in his heart, "MMP, you sons of a bitch, New York shit fans, if you don't do shit all day long, you will shout and boo, and the venue for the draft will not be held in Madison Garden. Already!"

That is to say, from this year onwards, the host of the NBA Draft has been transferred to the home court of the New Jersey Nets, and then to Brooklyn.

Anyway, the president doesn't want to be pissed off by the people in Manhattan, New York anymore.

Stern was grinning, MMP in his heart, thinking about changing the venue.

But when he opened the envelope in his hand, the smile on his face suddenly froze.

The booing in the ears is nothing, but the name in the envelope is a big deal.

Stern swallowed his saliva and paused for a moment. The hosts, guest commentators, and reporters at the scene all noticed that Stern was abnormal.

The rookies sitting in the small green room area under the stage suddenly became nervous.

It stands to reason that there shouldn't be anything wrong with the No. [-] pick, and Griffin's election is a certainty.

Now the president is late again and is in a daze. What happened to the kidney?
Stern paused for three seconds, cleared his throat, and read:

"In the 2009 draft, the first pick in the first round, the Los Angeles Clippers selected Stephen Curry from Davidson College."

As soon as the name was pronounced, the audience was in an uproar.

The first to be confused was Stephen Curry sitting in the audience.

His big eyes were filled with a lot of confusion.

Why did the Clippers take me with the No. [-] pick?

He looked confusedly at his father Dell Curry sitting next to him-his father was also an NBA player, played for the Hornets, and was an excellent shooter.

Dell Curry hugged him and whispered, "Stand up, stand up kid, the Clippers got you!"

Curry stood up, then turned to ask his girlfriend Ayesha, "Ayesha, is that really my name?"

Ayesha looked at Curry with the most sincere eyes, then nodded vigorously, "Yes, it's you, it's you!"

Ayesha was also very happy. Firstly, she did not expect her boyfriend to be the No. [-] pick, and secondly, he was actually selected by the Los Angeles team, so that the two of them could work and live in the same city.

I always thought that Curry would be selected by the Knicks. If he wanted to play in New York, it would be different.

Curry finally convinced that Stern was reading his name, took the Clippers cap handed over by the staff, stood on the stage and shook Stern's hand.

The hosts of the various TV stations were also stunned. All the scripts prepared before were discarded, and everyone started to play freely!
"The Los Angeles Clippers selected Stephen Curry with the first pick in the first round! God, this is a very, very unexpected selection. It is hard to imagine what happened to the Clippers management."

"I heard that Sterling hired a new general manager yesterday, a Chinese basketball manager. Could it be that he just took office?"

"The possibility is very high. Currently, the information about the new Chinese general manager is still blank. I only know that his name is Smart. But judging from this draft decision, he is not very Smart."

"Let's look at the intro about Steph Curry... the tape is misplaced, cut, cut..."

There was an error on the TV screen, showing footage of Griffin's college game, which had been prepared long ago.

The director immediately cut the shot, showed it to the draft conference, and pointed at Blake Griffin sitting in the small green room area.

If Stephen Curry is confused, then Griffin must be even more confused.

By the time Stern opened the envelope, he was ready to get up and go on stage.

But in the end, what he heard was not his own name, and his mind went blank with a bang.

You know, when the Clippers just won the No. [-] pick, they contacted Griffin and said they would definitely choose him.

Roser showed the world his No. 23 jersey embroidered on the lining of his suit when he won the No. [-] lottery, just to show his determination.

Griffin's family has taken an optimistic view of the house in Los Angeles and plans to live in Los Angeles for a long time.

Now that the Clippers have changed their minds, Griffin's heart has mixed feelings for a while, and his face changes again and again.

At a young age, he felt the impermanence of the world, which is not a bad thing for him.

On stage, Curry and Stern shook hands for a photo before stepping off the stage to be interviewed by reporters.

Stern returned to the backstage, leaving 5 minutes to make a choice for the Memphis Grizzlies with the second overall pick.

The atmosphere at the draft conference suddenly became extremely tense and weird.

Because the Clippers changed the No. [-] pick, the entire draft plan and predictions were disrupted.

The draft offices of NBA teams are all in chaos.

(End of this chapter)