The NBA Draft is One of Basketball's Few True Remaining Human Moments
In an age where basketball is dominated by numbers and NIL, the NBA Draft remains a shining light of connective moments in the sport
Years ago, I got into a discussion with a friend about why they preferred watching college sports over their professional counterparts, specifically in basketball and football. What he said was a slightly idealistic and utopian way to view sports, and it’s an argument many of us have heard before. He said that collegiate athletes play for “the love of the game and for the name on the front of their jersey”, whereas professional players were essentially mercenaries only focused on making millions.
It’s a thought that has aged poorly in an era of college sports as players are themselves making millions of dollars in endorsements and NIL deals. Skeptics of the level of care present in modern-day athletes have never had more ammunition. Elite athletes are well-compensated before they sign their rookie contracts. This reality has made a lot of observers overlook the humanity of the players, resigning themselves to the thought that all players care about is the money.
In an era of branding and player-run podcasts, these conclusions come in rapidly. So much so that it often takes humanity away from an athlete, who becomes seen as a list of attributes and a number on a cap sheet. That’s why I appreciate the NBA Draft so much. More than anything in the NBA, it’s a moment of raw emotion and storytelling unlike any other. It’s a human moment filled with the boundless potential of the path ahead—a beautiful moment that I cherish every year.
The Corporate Complication of Sports
One of the phrases that has become a cliche in sports discussions is “this league is a business”. It’s used to explain trade requests, releases, contract renewals, and even in collective bargaining negotiations. The term illustrates the contrast between the fact that we are watching a game we all played as children with the fact that the NBA and other leagues are very much for-profit businesses.
While this has always been the case, it feels more pronounced in the last quarter century. Teams have become billion-dollar assets, as evidenced from the recent sales of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and the inclusion of private equity capital has made them feel like appreciable assets for the uber rich more than representatives of a community.
Similarly, many average people find athletes less relatable as they have pivoted to empire building instead of strictly being athletes. The seeds of this start at a younger age than ever before, with players having a wide variety of affiliations and ventures to flesh out their portfolios. This is all great for the advancement of the value that elite players provide to their league, but it also creates an avenue for fans to bemoan that they are paid millions upon millions of dollars to play what they deem as “just a kids game”.
Those are just the chess pieces on the board. The strategy has also become less individualistic and more formulaic as time has passed. As data models and analytics offer new insights and methods of execution in basketball, more teams are following formulas and archetypes to the letter. This has led to the coveting of certain traits and skill sets as opposed the traditionally obtuse “eye test”. In essence, this analytics movement has rendered basketball to being a large-scale math equation. For many of us, there is still artistry and fascination in it, but others are not able to see it that way.
Player contracts and the complexities of the salary cap additionally provoke fans to simply view players as numbers on a cap sheet, and as such incredibly dispensable. The integration of sports betting into coverage has added to the numbers game feeling that many associate with sports. A player is only good if they help win a parlay, and if not then they are useless. This dehumanizes players and has led to the widespread act of harassment on social media.
The combination of all these factors has contributed to players being more commodified than ever. We have looked at them as puzzle pieces as opposed to celebrating much of what makes them unique. An argument can also be made that many younger players these days have been following formulas to not be controversial, helping to preserve their brand deals and ultimate image of marketability.
This can be seen in the critiques that many have had of players like Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton as inauthentic. They are simply preserving their standing of what the expectation of players is supposed to be in this era of always-on social media and viral reporting. All these pressures culminate, and the player’s personality falls by the wayside. The NBA Draft is the antithesis of all this, and that is what makes it a great viewing event.
The Magic and Optimism of the Draft
During ESPN’s coverage of the first round of the draft, analyst Jay Bilas commented that the proceedings were “the most emotional” he has seen in his 23 years covering the event. Indeed, throughout the night we saw players driven to tears, often struggling to get through their post-announcement interviews because they were overcome with emotion.
Duke center Khaman Maluach teared up instantly after being drafted to the Phoenix Suns, a representation of his journey from uncertainty in South Sudan to the NBA. With his family close by, he proclaimed that he was representing the entire continent of Africa, as a symbol of the future of African basketball.
The third pick in the draft, VJ Edgecombe, was also emotional, showing appreciation for the struggles that he and his mother went through on his journey. Edgecombe said that he and his mother lived off a generator for seven years, highlighting the struggles that his mother went through to give him an opportunity at a career in basketball. Michigan forward Danny Wolf was selected by the Brooklyn Nets with the number 28 pick. Both he and his family were incredibly emotional with his brother overcome with tears of joy.
These emotions are commonplace at the NBA Draft, where young men and their families have sacrificed so much of their youth in pursuit of their basketball dreams. Making the NBA and being selected by a team is the fulfillment of that dream and the payoff that they made it. Much of the struggles that became normal to many of these players are alleviated with generational wealth, which opens the door for more emotional reactions.
When players are selected it is a moment of optimism. The analysis of a prospect when they are drafted is typically layered with what they do well and what they might be able to do better eventually. For instance, if there is a shot blocking big man being selected, the profile of him as a lob threat and a rim protector is emphasized and his general inability to create off the dribble is not mentioned. That’s because the Draft is meant to be a celebration of the next generation, and that should not begin with attack-based rhetoric.
In that regard, the Draft is arguably the most empathetic human moment that we have left in professional basketball. There is no true media training script that players are reciting, only that they are happy to be in the NBA. There is a growing concern that the emotions of the moment might wear off thanks to the proliferation of money into college sports through NIL deals, however.
The number one pick in the Draft, Cooper Flagg, made $4.8 million in NIL deals during his single season at Duke. Many others have made millions and hundreds of thousands of dollars as well. It would be easy to see why players would not be as emotional after being drafted because the money is already coming in. We saw this with Ace Bailey’s reaction to being drafted by the Utah Jazz for instance.
But typically, most of the players selected in the 2025 NBA Draft were incredibly elated at the opportunity to play in the most prominent basketball league in the world. It was two nights filled with potential upside and storytelling that is the best thing about what we do in sports. And I hope it always stays that way, because the humanity of sports is what makes it so great.