Last night the Orlando Magic selected Cole Anthony with the fifteenth pick in the NBA Draft, and I haven’t been this optimistic about a draft pick for a long time, at least since they picked Mario Hezonja at number five in 2015.
Mario Hezonja was a high-flying Croatian, a pro from the age of 17 and still only 20 years old when he moved to the NBA. Before that he played with unmatched swagger for FC Barcelona, a franchise that’s either the Celtics or Lakers of European basketball, depending on your opinion of the Celtics and Lakers. Hezonja was so confident, and talked trash at such a high level, that he was even gunning for elite athletes in other sports, famously stating that he had no interest in seeing the greatest soccer player in the world ply his craft across town, instead Lionel Messi needed to come watch Mario.
Hezonja turned out to be a total bust for the Magic, but seeing him drafted inspired hope. After him, the draft picks have been “meh” at best. The team has hoarded long and lean athletes who show strong defensive promise, with little-to-no evidence they are able to score baskets against a competent NBA defender. This includes current building block Jonathan Isaac, who may turn out to have a long career if his spindly legs stop snapping like toothpicks. But even if he comes back next season, after two devastating knee injuries in a row, Isaac is not particularly adept at making a basketball go through a hoop. At one point, this was considered an essential skill for basketball players.
Reading the pre-draft guides from The Ringer and then re-reading them, the thing that sticks out is that almost every one of the top prospects has the same weakness – they can’t shoot. NBA general managers have collectively forgotten how basketball is played. They’re like the clueless layman who sees a tall person and says, “You must play basketball,” when agility, balance, eye-hand coordination, visual awareness, and a whole host of other skills come into play. This caveman declaration – “you tall, you play” - it’s an odd phenomenon. If you have any friends who duck to get in doorways, just ask them if people assume they play basketball. And it doesn’t seem to translate across sports. I used to be 295 pounds and no one ever asked me if I was an offensive lineman.
But the madness seems to have stopped this year. The Magic finally selected someone whose core competency is getting buckets, or, the thing required to win basketball games. Cole Anthony scored over 18 points per game in college last year, the second-most ever for a freshman at the University of North Carolina. To put that in perspective, that number tops former Tarheel Jerry Stackhouse; it’s more than Hall-of Famer James Worthy; and it outpaces, Michael Jordan, a UNC student who was allegedly very good at scoring the basketball. Allegedly.
Anthony being available for the Magic at the fifteenth pick is a scenario that was unthinkable a year ago, when the young point guard finished high school projected as a potential number one pick in this draft. But he was on an uncharacteristically weak Carolina team this last season, which led to inefficient play. He didn’t rack up as many assists as a top floor general should. And he had to have mid-season knee-surgery.
But the word out of pre-draft workouts is that he looked stronger than ever, and that he’s ready to contribute to the Magic squad as a combination point guard/shooting guard, capable of playing either with or without Markelle Fultz. Truly, if you’re a Magic fan, this should be a reason to celebrate.
Spike Lee hasn’t had a reason to be happy about anything basketball-related since Linsanity became a worldwide craze in 2012. The perpetually frustrated Knicks fan happens to be Cole’s godfather, and a close friend of former NBA Knick, Greg Anthony. I don’t think it should really matter who your dad is, when it comes to evaluating basketball talent, but I also suppose it doesn’t hurt that Cole has a stellar example to learn from in Greg. Greg Anthony became famous first for being very good at basketball, and then became famous for being very smart about basketball, in his current role as television analyst. Cole Anthony has a cool dad, and being good and smart are qualities worth cultivating.
I hadn’t been enjoying the NBA Draft much lately, when it used to be something I eagerly anticipated. The cycle was always the same: research; research more; raise hopes unreasonably high that X player from Y mock draft is going to be zee-answer to all the Magic’s question marks. When things inevitably go a different direction it’s either abject disappointment or blergy indifference. Watching the draft took up too much emotional energy.
But this year I decided to experience the draft as a dad. That didn’t mean getting all paternalistic with the young stars, even though I am now officially old enough to be a father to each and every one of them. Admittedly, this would have required me to be very busy between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two. No, I decided I was going to watch the draft like a dad by checking any expectations I had about who would be delivered to the Magic. Players arrive as full people and children arrive as full people. A baby has all the bones and skin and other important stuff that they’ll ever have. Their brain. Their heart. It’s all there.
And, of course, part of the parenting gig is to be a teacher, but let’s be clear: there is absolutely nothing I can teach Cole Anthony about basketball. And so with this new player, just like it is with a newly born person, my job is mostly to learn.
I usually handle the wrap-up for our toddler’s bedtime routine. It’s an incredibly special time that we get to spend, just us, together. After the last book of the night is shut we transition out of the chair where he and his little bear are draped under a handmade quilt with berries he likes to pretend-eat. The lot of us - father, son, blanket, bear - move over to the crib and I tell him, “I’m so lucky that I get to learn with you, and learn about you, and watch you grow.” I turn the sound machine on, and the lamp off, and then it’s goodnight and goodbye.
On the day after the draft, it feels so refreshing to have had no expectations, and only a pleasure and curiosity towards seeing how this new Magic player learns and grows. And in this moment we can celebrate, just because we’re all here together.
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