Top comical NBA/NFL Draft moments

[jaybird2001wi]

With the NBA Draft tonight, there has always been hilarious moments where a player getting drafted is not happy where he landed or a player ends up in the Green Room for an extended amount of time. Here are some hilarious, sometimes embarrassing moments in no particular order:

 

1. Grizzlies drafting Steve Francis and the camera showing him bawling his eyes out.

2. Rashard Lewis declaring for the NBA Draft out of high school and ends up as the last guy in the Green Room, dropping to the second round.

3. Stephon Marbury crying after being drafted by the Bucks, then traded to the TWolves for Ray Allen.

4. (NFL) Chargers drafting Eli Manning and him forced to hold the Chargers jersey with NY fans chanting, "Put it on! Put it on! Put it on!"

5. (NFL) A camera crew stationed at Thurman Thomas' house watches him fall asleep through the first round with him not getting selected.

6. Joakim Noah wearing a tacky all white suit ensemble.

7. Any moment where David Stern misprounounces a foreign guy's name.

8. Any moment where the TNT/ESPN analysts act like they know the foreign guy drafted only to throw out cliches to make them look smart.

9. Whenever an actual college graduate selected in the NBA Draft uses big words leaving Peter Vecsey looking for the right response.

10. (NFL) Any time the Jets and Giants make a bad pick leading to a sounding of boos (see: Kyle Brady, Blair Thomas, etc.)

11. Anytime the NBA Analysts mention the recent draft pick either a) never played high school basketball or b) "just picked up the game three years ago" leading the team that picked them exclaim to themselves, "What have we done!?"

12. Anytime a draft pick swap is made and the players who are picked must act excited about wearing the team cap for a mere five minutes:

Scenario: Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter traded for each other. Jamison acts excited to be a "Raptor" while Carter gets excited to be a "Warrior" only to know they will be sent to the other team within five minutes.

13. Anytime a blockbuster trade is made and and David Stern makes a long pause, only to learn the trade is sending Foreign Guy A and a 2nd round pick in next year's draft to the other team for Foreign Guy B and cash. This leaves fans speechless and wondering what is going on.

14. Anytime the Knicks make a selection.

15. For this year's draft, when the Seattle Sonics make their pick and they must interview the pick. Only for the player to realize he doesn't know where to ship his belongings.

[Oldcity]

Bit surprised you left the Vikings running out of time for their pick two years in a row. I think that might top it for me.

[bjkrautk]

The Kiper / Irsay shout-off was a draft highlight to me. The Vikings failing to make a timely pick in consecutive years was also great.

 

I also can't help but remember the Hawks (NBA) drafting Priest Lauderdale, a 7-4(?) foreign-born center back in the 90s. He was in attendance, and slowly made his way up to the stage. Not saying the guy was slow....but I think the next team picked before he reached the podium.

[PaulRigdon]

Not to nitpick but wasn't Priest Lauderdale born in Chicago?

[bjkrautk]

Not to nitpick but wasn't Priest Lauderdale born in Chicago?

 

Wikipedia agrees with you, so who am I to argue. I really thought he had a foreign accent when they interviewed him, but it was 12 years ago.

[tristarscoop]

This is one of my all-time favorite YouTube's. During the draft a few years ago ESPN put together a flashback of Jets picks and the accompanying fan reactions.

 

[fondybrewfan]

Can someone refresh my memory on the Kiper incident?

[T B0NE 10]

The Atlanta Falcons select Brett Favor

[bjkrautk]

Can someone refresh my memory on the Kiper incident?

 

ESPN's coverage of the 1994 NFL draft was less than eight and a half minutes in when Kiper said, "The Colts have to come out of this draft with a quarterback." Tennessee's Heath Shuler and Fresno State's Trent Dilfer were regarded as sure-fire future NFL stars, and Indianapolis' starter was Jim Harbaugh. The Colts wound up with two of the first five picks. With No. 2, they chose running back Marshall Faulk from San Diego State. With the fifth pick -- Shuler having gone to the Washington Redskins with the third pick -- the Colts were expected to take Dilfer. Instead, they chose Trev Alberts, a linebacker from Nebraska. Kiper's reaction to this was "To pass up a Trent Dilfer, when all you have is Jim Harbaugh -- give me a break. That's why the Colts are picking second every year in the draft, not battling for the Super Bowl like other clubs in the National Football League."^[2][/sup]

Less than 10 minutes later, at a location away from the draft site, ESPN's Chris Mortensen was interviewing Colts general manager Bill Tobin. Mortensen asked a question about the Colts' bypassing a quarterback with their top-five choices. Mortensen didn't mention Kiper in his question to Tobin. Tobin's 55-second response was "We got a guy up here ... and who in the hell is Mel Kiper, anyway? I mean, here's a guy who criticizes everybody, whoever they take. He's got the answers to who you should take, to who you shouldn't take. He tells us about your team. He tells us about the Rams. Mel Kiper is a tortoise. He tells us about Tampa and everything else. In my knowledge of him, he's never even put on a jockstrap, he's never been a player, he's never been a coach, he's never been a scout, he's never been an administrator, and all of a sudden, he's an expert. He's in our paper two days ago, telling us who we have to take. We don't have to take anybody that Mel Kiper says we have to take. Mel Kiper has no more credentials to do what he's doing than my neighbor, and my neighbor's a postman and he doesn't even have season tickets to the NFL."^[3][/sup]

Kiper responded to Tobin with a biting tirade that drew huge cheers from the fans in the gallery and wry smiles from Chris Berman and the other ESPN commentators "I'm secure in my position. Obviously, Bill Tobin's not very secure in his position. ... You cannot go with Jim Harbaugh and pass up Trent Dilfer. That's why the Colts are the laughingstock of the league year in and year out." ^[4][/sup]

Trev Alberts retired after three seasons. Dilfer was moderately successful at Tampa Bay, though after being unceremoniously cut by Tampa after six years, he went on to win Super Bowl XXXV as quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens and has been a respectable mentor to young quarterbacks ever since.

 

Source: Wikipedia

[fondybrewfan]

Wow Trev Alberts?

 

I am pretty sure Mel Kiper won that argument.

[jaybird2001wi]

tristar, that YouTube clip is hilarious. I couldn't imagine being a Jets fan and being in attendance every year only to see them muddle their picks. The Jeff Lageman and Johnny Mitchell clips were most hilarious, it was almost if Jets fans were at a loss for words.

 

Also, if you love comedic NBA Draft commentary, Bill Simmons of ESPN's Page 2 is by far the most witty in his perspective of NBA Draft moments:

 

From: http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/020625 , 50 Ways to Love the NBA Draft

 

No. 47

From 2000 ... Commissioner Stern announces the first-ever All-Stiff Draft Night Trade: Houston deals Joel Pryzbilla to Milwaukee for Jason Collier and a future No. 1. This trade was approved by the NBA's official coroner, Dr. Sam Quincy.

 

No. 43

From 2001 ... Near the end of the first round, after Vecsey reports that the Knicks don't have enough to trade for Chris Webber, the New York fans in the building respond by starting an impromptu, "Vecsey sucks! Vecsey sucks!" chant on live TV.

 

No. 40

From 2001 ... Stern announces No. 26 pick Samuel Dalembert being selected by the Sixers, followed by Dalembert suddenly and inexplicably hopping out of the stands to shake hands with a clearly terrified Stern. These are the things that happen when you get rid of the Green Room.

 

No. 38

From 1997 ... Near the end of the first round, Vecsey reports that the Timberwolves and Clippers just made a trade. Dad and I move to the edge of our seats, giddy with excitement, only to have Vecsey tell us that Minnesota traded Stojko Vrankovic to the Clippers straight-up for Stanley Roberts. Can I get fries with that?

 

No. 35

From 1997 ... The Mavs take center Kelvin Cato, a former dishwasher who ended up at Iowa State after a growth spurt. TNT's two "draft facts" about him are "Never played high school basketball" and "Owns a 9-foot Burmese python snake." Apparently rattled by these facts, Dallas immediately deals Cato to Portland for the No. 18 pick (Chris Antsey) and monetary considerations.

 

No. 32

From 1999 ... The Knicks take 7-foot-3 French star Frederic Weis with the No. 15 pick, the funniest pick of the last five years. "Bonjour, Latrell! Bonjour, Marcus! Flustered by the pick, Johnson swings it to a startled Peter Vecsey, who's completely out of info. Vecsey makes up a "Steve Smith for Isaiah Rider" trade rumor on the spot.

 

No. 31

From 2001 ... The Clips trade the rights to No. 2 pick Tyson Chandler to Chicago for Elton Brand. That's right, after 47 years, Elgin Baylor finally made a good trade! Watching the draft live, Dad and I immediately start stockpiling water and canned goods and preparing for the Apocalypse.

 

No. 26

From 2001 ... You knew Shane Battier was headed to the Grizzlies at No. 6, because Stern looked happy walking to the podium for the first time all night. All right, it's a four-year senior! As an added bonus, Battier becomes the first draftee in history to use the word "archaic" in his post-pick interview. A confused Sager immediately throws it back to Johnson.

 

No. 24

From 1999 ... Minutes later, after Johnson tells us that stiff center Todd MacCulloch (No. 47) enjoys bungee-jumping, parachuting, parasailing and cliff-diving and has a dog named Chainsaw who once got his tongue stuck to a frozen pole, Majerus deadpans, "Is there a 'developing a hookshot' story in there?"

 

(The lesson, as always: You know it's getting late when Rick Majerus makes you laugh out loud.)

 

No. 20

From 1998 ... High schooler Rashard Lewis sets the NBA record for "Most Time Spent In The Green Room" -- improbably lasting through the first round, surviving two "Why hasn't Lewis been taken yet?" highlight montages, surviving at least 35 "There's Rashard sitting by himself in the Green Room" closeups, even getting passed on by his hometown Rockets -- before the Sonics mercifully take him as the 32nd overall pick, which means he doesn't even get to shake hands with David Stern. The entire chain of events brings Lewis to tears. They should show this as a cautionary video to anyone thinking about coming out early.

 

No. 17

From 2001 ... Pitino says that the Celtics could be looking at "Troy Parker" at No. 21. Troy Parker? Wasn't he in "Boogie Nights"? After the Spurs take Tony Parker later in the round, Barkley says, "I don't know that much about him, but they got him in the first round, so he must be a good player." Insightful work by the TNT crew.

 

No. 16

From 1997 ... the Sixers take Keith Van Horn, who's forced to wear a Sixers hat and endure an interview with TNT's Craig Sager even though he's headed to New Jersey in a draft-day deal (which can't be announced until after the first round). That leads to a new face for the Pantheon of Faces -- the Keith Van Horn "I was excited to play in Philly, but now I have to spend my career in New Jersey, yet I still have to pretend that I'm excited to play for Philly until this trade is announced" Face.

 

No. 8

From 1999 ... Ernie Johnson tells us that soon-to-be-lottery pick Steve Francis brought 300 members of his extended family to the draft in Washington. Do you even know 300 people? That one might never be topped.

 

No. 1

From 1999 ... after the Grizzlies select Stevie Francis second, a disappointed Francis puts on a Grizzlies hat, shakes hands with Stern and tries to pretend he's happy. But when he and his grandmother head on stage for an interview with Sager, Francis becomes steadily more distraught by the realization that he's heading to Vancouver. When Sager asks him, "How does it feel?", Francis rolls his eyes, holds back tears, leans back in his seat, stares up at the roof in dismay and looks like he might start screaming. Sager quickly throws it back to Ernie.

 

(The NBA ... it's FANNNNNN-tastic! I love this game!)

[PaulRigdon]

No. 47

From 2000 ... Commissioner Stern announces the first-ever All-Stiff Draft Night Trade: Houston deals Joel Pryzbilla to Milwaukee for Jason Collier and a future No. 1. This trade was approved by the NBA's official coroner, Dr. Sam Quincy.

Isn't Jason Collier dead?

[jaybird2001wi]

PaulRigdon, Holy Crap! I just did a check on Jason Collier. Now that post appears to be in bad taste. Apologies from this guy.

 

From wiki:

 

During the NBA off-season, Collier died suddenly at the age of only 28 on October 15, 2005 in Cumming, Georgia. His autopsy indicated that he died because of a "sudden heart rhythm disturbance caused by an abnormally enlarged heart."[1] It was reported that he experienced shortness of breath before losing consciousness. Medical treatment was performed by emergency medical technicians, but Collier died on route to the hospital.

[PaulRigdon]

Well I would think that bill simmons is more inapropriate than your post. Depending on when said article was written...

 

on a funnier note...check out this on Joel Pryzbilla's wiki pages

 

While in Portland, his nicknames have included: "Joel Dolla-Dolla-Billa", "Pryzbila the Thrilla" ," Joel Daddy" ,"White Kong","Joel Zilla" and many other nicknames that go with his thug personality