NBA Draft Lottery Held In Chicago
- PostEagle
- June 6, 2018
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By James Dombrowski
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – NBA Commissioner Adam Silver chats with Chicago Mayor Ron Emmanuel and his wife at the pre-Draft Lottery reception at the majestic Palmer Hotel in Chicago. This was the first time the NBA Draft Lottery was held outside the metropolitan New York area. The Lottery was usually held in the NBA Offices in Secaucus, NJ before moving a few years ago to Manhattan as the event has become a much bigger television and live audience event. The Mayor greeted the Commissioner thanking him for bringing this event to the windy city.
The ESPN analyzers who were on hand to cover the first ever NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago: Jay Bilas on left and Mark Jones on right with Polonian, Adrian Wojnarowski in middle, on the ESPN set at the Palmer Hotel in Chicago. Adrian grew up in the Boston area and graduated from St. Bonaventure University. He began his professional newspaper career with the Fresno Bee in 1995 and then with the Bergen Record in 1997. I met Adrian when I was covering the Nets (he covered the Nets for the Record until 2007). He joined Yahoo Sports after leaving the Record and worked for them until 2017 when he joined ESPN. Adrian adapted very quickly to the social media bug and can be found on Twitter. He also had written a book in 2007 about St. Anthony’s in Jersey City. (Photo by Jim Dombrowski)
Post Eagle Reporter Jim Dombrowski travelled to Chicago to cover the Draft Lottery and had a chance to talk to NBA legend Isaiah Thomas who won two NBA Titles with the Detroit Pistons. Thomas is currently the President of the Liberty who are an inaugural WNBA team having been under the same ownership since 1997 as part of MSG. The Liberty are still vying for their first WNBA Championship. First year coach Kate Smith has taken over for former Thomas teammate Bill Lambieer. who guided the Liberty to back-to-back Semi-Final Round appearances before losing. Thomas took questions from the New York media who were on hand to cover the Draft Lottery. He is very positive about his role of shaping the Liberty and hopes to see a Championship banner raised one day for the Liberty.
The New York Media interviewing Knicks GM Scott Perry about the upcoming Draft and the choice of a new coach to lead the Knicks. The NY Press core travelled to Chicago to cover the Draft Lottery and stayed for the NBA Combines in order to check out the talent of the potential Rookies who will be Drafted. (Photo by Jim Dombrowski)
The NBA Combines follow the Draft Lottery in Chicago with the best Rookies auditioning their skills. And the potential Draft Picks receiving their physicals before the NBA Draft which occurs at the end of June following the NBA Finals.
The Phoenix Suns drew the lucky ping pong ball garnishing the Number 1 pick in the upcoming Draft. Sacramento will pick second and Atlanta third. The Brooklyn Nets who traded away their future a few seasons ago with a horrendous deal with Boston had no Lottery Picks, yet in a deal involving Cleveland, the Cavilers got the Boston pick and will get the 8th Pick in the Draft. To add insult to injury, the Nets have no Draft picks in the Top 14 and Cleveland is playing Golden State for the NBA Title.
The Knicks pick ninth in the 2018 NBA Draft while the Philadelphia 76ers who made the Playoffs this season pick 10th.
