Links: Draft Me
Also, Greg Oden takes on Gene Simmons…
I’ll be completely honest: I’m pumped about the Draft tonight. I was laying in bed last night at 3:00 a.m., wide awake, just wondering what’s going to happen. Will my team, the Hawks, screw things up tonight? I hear the Horford pick is still on, but the Ridnour trade is off. I hear different things every thirty minutes, all from people I trust. So I don’t know what’s going on.
Still, this is fun, right? Rumors, crazy talk, outright lies…and my Hawks are right in the center of everything. I’m getting quoted in stories, I wrote a thing today for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and I’ve been doing radio and TV every day. Am I a Hawks Draft insider? No, but I do know which stories are true (talk of a Ridnour or Monta Ellis trade) and which ones are totally false (that Belkin vetoed the Amare deal).
After the Finals we just witnessed, the NBA needed a good kick in the pants, an injection of excitement. And I think it’s getting one right now.
New York has been a fun place to be this week, because there’s been a lot going on. I went out yesterday afternoon to the Draft Media Day, which is always just a big clusterf…well, it’s a mess. There’s tons of local reporters around each guy fro their area, all asking the guy if they’re excited. Um, duh. Which is why I spent the hour out in a hallway chatting up various writers and reporters, trying to figure out who was going where. At one point I was talking to an agent-type when came walking by. The agent-type was holding a basketball at the time and Oden motioned for a pass, so he zipped the ball over to him, hitting Oden in the hands about waist high.
And Oden dropped it.
Oden immediately started dribbling it, saving the possession as it were, and Greg ran up to us saying, “See how I went right into my dribble, though? Did you see that?”
Oden also performed a dance routine wearing his dress shoes on the slippery carpet that he claimed was some sort of imitation of Gene Simmons. Very odd but very funny.
(By the way, I’d still take Durant first tonight if I was Portland. Oden will be awesome, but Durant will be better. And if you look at the picture to the left, Durant suggests that I should be the first pick.)
Last night after work I rolled out of the SLAM Dome and met up with a couple of buddies from adidas, Travis and Young B, to hit a few parties. First we went by a bash thrown for (and by) Greg Oden. There were a ton of people in this luxe penthouse apartment way downtown, and everyone was sweating bullets because it was about 98 degrees (with no Nick Lachey). Bumped into Sonny and Pam Vaccaro there and caught up with them (Ryan, Sonny says what up) and spoke to a few other folks.
(By the way, the breaking new that Oden was going to be drafted by the Blazers? I walked into that party last night and immediately saw about 5 people who work for or are associated with the Blazers. So I figured something was up.)
We rolled out of there around 9:00 and went by the No Mas party, which we told you about a week ago. And it was just as great as Ben predicted it would be. We hung there with Elena and C-Palm from ESPN the Mag while we watched people freak out over the various photos. All I know is if JR Rider’s picture didn’t go top ten, the people there weren’t real NBA fans. Inexcusable.
From there we rolled out and got a late dinner, and I found myself ’round midnight trying to catch a cab in the rain. I got soaked, but I didn’t care. Less than 24 hours until the Draft. Let’s do this.
By the way, I’m going to do a first tonight and attempt to live blog from the Draft. Cross your fingers that the NBA’s notoriously fickle internet access at their events is working. And come back to the homepage of SLAMonline around 6:45 so we can roll through the first round together.
See you guys later…
48 Responses to “Links: Draft Me”
Jun.28 at 4:04 pm
Kadavour says:
first?
Jun.28 at 4:10 pm
Ryan Jones says:
CANDACE PARKER IS ENGAGED TO SHELDEN WILLIAMS???!?!?!?!?!?!!
Jun.28 at 4:11 pm
Ryan Jones says:
WHEN AND HOW THE F*CK DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!?!?!?!?!!
Jun.28 at 4:12 pm
Ryan Jones says:
SERIOUSLY!!??!??!?!?!
Jun.28 at 4:13 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Also: Hello, Sonny. You are missed.
Jun.28 at 4:16 pm
white hot eboy says:
Lang, to reference a Kiss song, Oden may have a few years in Portland were “Tears Are Fallin” but he could wind up with a cool nickname like Gene Simmons, maybe the God of Thunder, to make him more marketable. I bet “The Demon” could promote the sh*t out of him with half a chance.
Jun.28 at 4:20 pm
Nadav says:
didnt oden sign with nike?
Jun.28 at 4:23 pm
A-Money says:
And with the first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Portland TrailBlazers select Lang Whitaker from Slam Magazine. Pretty nice ring to it huh?
Jun.28 at 4:26 pm
A-Money says:
Ryan, I second your sentiments.
Jun.28 at 4:29 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
Oden said that’s what Gene Simmons did when they were introduced. He was also wearing a suit like a southern lawyer might. Very bright colors!
Jun.28 at 4:29 pm
jbn74sb says:
Lang - There is this thing outside in the sky called the sun. Go check it out, Casper.
Jun.28 at 4:33 pm
white hot eboy says:
Chuckaz is on fire over in Sam’s D’Day post.
Jun.28 at 4:40 pm
nothin _personal says:
Can we please have mr Bengston doing his Draftashamockery from in front of his TV please? See, I can’t ask more politely!
Jun.28 at 4:42 pm
Detroit11 says:
I’m with Ryan as well. Lang, when did hell freeze over?! Seriously, Candace couldn’t do better?! Really?!!
Jun.28 at 4:45 pm
Cheryl says:
Lang, I’ve been a “linkstigator” for what, six years? And I have never seen a picture of you that doesn’t have you with a Braves cap on. Wassup with that? I always kinda thought you might be “hair-ily” challenged up there or something. Like I used to think LL had lost his hair at 17 cuz I never saw him without the Kango (was that what it was called? school me). This is a “wow” moment!
Jun.28 at 4:48 pm
white hot eboy says:
Cheryl, maybe Durant’s finger postion is a sign for all of us to focus on that fact.
Jun.28 at 4:48 pm
H to the izzo says:
Cheryl:Aren’t you forgetting something?
Jun.28 at 4:52 pm
Cheryl says:
Izzo, you ruined it for me. But, yeah this is just ASPOV…
Jun.28 at 4:54 pm
The Brooklyn Boy says:
Ryan - I found out about that in Mid-May via The Big Lead, even making a crack about the kid being a shoo-in for the Raptors (”Shelden=Dinosaur” was a popular comparison during my time at UNC.)
Jun.28 at 4:56 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I’ll definitely be covering the draft from in front of my TV. It won’t be constantly updated—I’ll probably just throw the whole thing up at once after it’s all over—but I won’t go back through it before I post or anything. So it’ll be liveLIKE. Or something. DRAFTASHAMOCKERY™.
Jun.28 at 5:00 pm
Cheryl says:
Hey Russ, thanks for the idea! From now on ASPOV is trademarked. No more biting guys, seriously.
Jun.28 at 5:00 pm
H to the izzo says:
Cheryl don’t stop,it was an homage to you not a mockery.
Jun.28 at 5:01 pm
jbn74sb says:
Cheryl - Just beware that one of the more pereverted series of Eddie Griffin’s preferred movie types is titled ANAL POV. At least that’s what I hear…
Jun.28 at 5:01 pm
Kadavour says:
i forgot what “aspov” stands for. anyone care to remind me?
Jun.28 at 5:08 pm
Cheryl says:
A Sista’s Point of View. coming soon to the blogosphere… –ASPOV
Jun.28 at 5:12 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
That picture is about two months old, before the sun was out and before I was back on the golf course. I had the ill Oakley sunglasses tan lines going for a while there. I think they’ve worn off now.
Jun.28 at 5:13 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
And Cheryl, I have all my hair. If anything I have too much because I have to get a cut like every two weeks. I just like the Braves.
Jun.28 at 5:14 pm
Kadavour says:
thanks for clearing that up Cheryl. lmao and shame on dude who closed with “anpov”
Jun.28 at 5:16 pm
Chukaz says:
Is everybody at Slam old. I’m not saying that you are old, it’s just that I would imagine that Slam would have people on their early 20’s working. Slam just seems too cool for some one who is past 25.
Jun.28 at 5:17 pm
Greased Up Deaf Guy aka Clay Davis says:
lang, im with you, id take durant too. r.o.y. and durant?? sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet got any pics of the no mas arte?
Jun.28 at 5:20 pm
Chukaz says:
I’m sorry Lang, but the sh*t you wrote for the ATL Journal Constitution didn’t seem too proffesional.
Jun.28 at 5:28 pm
H to the izzo says:
I’ll be a visitor to the ASPOV blog,Cheryl and maybe contribute something to it?
Jun.28 at 5:28 pm
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop fame claims he actually instigated the Oden dance routine by shouting he’s heard Oden was ready to “Stomp the Yard”, in reference to the eponymous movie, which Oden and former teammate Mike Conley Jr. used to watch repeatedly. So, there.
Jun.28 at 5:40 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
I’m actually 47 years old, Chukaz. And Slobo, Henry wasn’t around when Greg did his Gene Simmons dance. I think he was talking about another instance.
Jun.28 at 5:42 pm
MagicChicken says:
Just wanted to post this here too, since it happened to day ….ESPN put the Hawks on blast today: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2919016 … my favorite parts are where they called the fanchise”disfunctional” and where the supposed trade fell through on Atlanta’s end because of “financial reasons”. Good gosh Lang, u got it tough!
Jun.28 at 5:45 pm
Greased Up Deaf Guy aka Clay Davis says:
lang looks like Penn. and maybe … chukaz can be teller and lang can shoot chukaz “accidentily”
Jun.28 at 5:46 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
Oden dances a lot. A LOT. He loves to dance.
Jun.28 at 5:48 pm
Greased Up Deaf Guy aka Clay Davis says:
lang, you should talk the sternbot into adding a dance contest at allstar. shaq, dwight, oden, 25 cent, tippietoes walker, and 2ss2lls would be the inaugural contestents
Jun.28 at 6:01 pm
Cheryl says:
Absolutely, Izzo. I’ll keep you all updated, Probably up and running by next week… –ASPOV
Jun.28 at 6:54 pm
DP says:
If Sheldon W. and get Candance Parker, I am going after Ciara. play wit it.
Jun.28 at 6:57 pm
DP says:
YO LANG, YOU GUYS DO A ROOKIE DIARY AND HIGH SCHOOL DIARY. WHY NOT HAVE A COLLEGE DIARY? JUS ASKIN CUZ I THOUGHT SLAM WOULD ALWAYS DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT. PLAY WIT IT.
Jun.28 at 7:16 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I’m pretty cool for an old guy. And to answer the college diary question, we tried it once (with Li’l Dun, if I remember correctly) and it got squashed quick-like by the NCAA (proving once again that it’s the worst organization in the history of the universe).
Jun.28 at 7:25 pm
Greased Up Deaf Guy aka Clay Davis says:
so whats lil dun up to this offseason?? studying jim carrey movies and practicing his facial contortion(sp)
Jun.29 at 1:57 am
Mike C. says:
Chukaz: how old are you? I’m guessing around 10, maybe 12, since you seem to have no concept of what the real world is like. It would be incredibly difficult to be on staff for an international publication like Slam and be under 25 years old. Publications like Slam tend to hire people with a post-secondary education and journalism experience. They don’t hire 6th grade retards like you to write for them because they need someone that can string together an intelligible sentence. Go change your pee pants and play hop scotch. Basketball is for the big kids.
Jun.29 at 4:45 am
Boing Dynasty says:
Pee pants.
Jun.29 at 7:29 am
Froggiestyle says:
Mike C - stating the painfully obvious - - - - - - - - - PS. It’s really “Schmukaz” - trust me on this.
Jun.29 at 9:31 am
Greased Up Deaf Guy aka Clay Davis says:
mc pee pants in the hizouse! I WANT CANDY!!
Jun.29 at 1:29 pm
Mike C. says:
I was drunk when I wrote that post last night. “Pee pants”. That’s funny. I’m laughing at my own jokes. I am Jimmy Fallon. Laughing out loud during skits and ruining them. This post needs more cowbell.