New York ? Drew Gooden was in a daze, a fog that matched the steam rising off the streets of muggy Manhattan. Gooden was higher than the humidity.
Minutes after being the fourth player selected in the NBA draft, minutes after obligatorily posing with NBA commissioner David Stern while wearing a proffered Memphis Grizzlies’ baseball cap why do basketball players wear baseball caps during the draft anyway? Gooden sat in front of a group of 25 or so media people and, after answering a few questions, confessed: “I’m just trying to let this sink in. Some of these questions, I can’t even hear them.”
Curiously, Gooden made that remark after taking what many Kansans would consider a pot-shot at the Sunflower State. Queried about living in Memphis, a place he’s never visited, the man who led the Big 12 Conference in both scoring and rebounding last season, said he could live anywhere.
“I lived in Kansas,” Gooden said, smiling, “and that’s probably the worst it can get. But Memphis probably isn’t that bad.”
Later, I asked Gooden if he realized what he had said, that he had made it sound like his three years at Kansas were worse than playing for Siberia Tech or for the Cliquot Club Eskimos.
“Oh, no. I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “I meant as far as it being out in the middle of nowhere. It’s not bad.”
Kansas was very, very good to Drew Gooden. The 6-foot-10 Gooden, who is listed at 6-8 3/4 by the NBA incidentally, was nowhere near being a lottery pick after his freshman season with the Jayhawks. After his sophomore season, he may have been a late first-round selection, but he struck pay dirt by waiting until after his third year. He’s the highest KU selection since Raef LaFrentz was taken by the Denver Nuggets as the third pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.
As he strode from the stage at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and did his short television interview on TNT he really looked like he was in a daze as Craig Sager asked him a couple of questions Drew Gooden was about $7.2 million on the hoof. That’s how much money he’ll make with a guaranteed three-year contract from the Grizzles. However, his first year he’ll have to make do with a mere $2,232,000. The Grizzles could pay him more, but that’s what he’s guaranteed.
“The fourth pick,” Gooden said. “That’s some good money. It’s going to take some learning, some experience handling my money.”
Now that’s he’s rolling in dough, Gooden probably wishes he had studied accounting on Mount Oread instead of communications. If you watched the draft on TNT, you know that the first half-dozen on so picks went as everyone expected. Houston took Yao Ming, the 7-5 giant from China with the first pick. Then Chicago, as projected, tapped Duke’s Jay Williams and Golden State followed with Mike Dunleavy, still another Duke player who turned pro after his junior year.
All three of those picks were announced by Stern before the five-minute clock had run out. After Dunleavy did his thing, including a perfunctory, cliche-filled interview with Sager, the NBA was forced to show highlight films on the theater screens as the clock ticked down.
Once I noticed Gooden, who was sitting at a table next to the stage with his father and mother and their spouses, glance up toward the podium, hoping to see Stern come through the doorway with the Grizzlies’ pick. No Stern. Then the time clock showed 0:00 for what seemed like the longest time, but may have been only a few seconds. Finally, Stern appeared and announced Memphis had selected Gooden.
Was Gooden nervous about the clock running down? Was he worried the Grizzlies had a change of heart, or perhaps had traded the pick to some other team?
“No, I wasn’t worried,” Gooden said. “I was fortunate to be able to sit back and wait for my name to be picked.”
That was the first question he was asked by the media and he must have been in that fog when he answered it because later, during a radio interview, he admitted, “I was on the edge of my seat.”
As a member of the Grizzlies, Gooden’s general manager will be the legendary Jerry West, the man who built the Lakers into a contemporary powerhouse, the most dominant team in the NBA today.
“He’s a great general manager,” Gooden said. “Now that Memphis has Jerry West I think the sky’s the limit. I mean, Jerry West is (pictured in) the NBA logo. I feel overwhelmed.”
Wouldn’t you know it? Somebody asked him about Elvis. Not Elvis Grbac. Elvis Presley. The King. The man who is synonymous with Memphis and whose Graceland estate is one of Tennessee’s biggest tourist attractions.
“I didn’t even know Elvis was from Memphis,” Gooden said, grinning. “I knew he was from Tennessee, and I guess I’ll have to take that tour.”
Someday, perhaps, if Gooden turns into the NBA star the Grizzlies hope he will be, the public address announcer at Grizzlies’ home games may have to announce afterward: “Drew has left the building.”
For certain, Drew Gooden left Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night as a rich man, his future bright before him to quote the slogan on Lawrence’s City Hall like a flame.
New York ? Drew Gooden was in a daze, a fog that matched the steam rising off the streets of muggy Manhattan. Gooden was higher than the humidity.
Minutes after being the fourth player selected in the NBA draft, minutes after obligatorily posing with NBA commissioner David Stern while wearing a proffered Memphis Grizzlies’ baseball cap why do basketball players wear baseball caps during the draft anyway? Gooden sat in front of a group of 25 or so media people and, after answering a few questions, confessed: “I’m just trying to let this sink in. Some of these questions, I can’t even hear them.”
Curiously, Gooden made that remark after taking what many Kansans would consider a pot-shot at the Sunflower State. Queried about living in Memphis, a place he’s never visited, the man who led the Big 12 Conference in both scoring and rebounding last season, said he could live anywhere.
“I lived in Kansas,” Gooden said, smiling, “and that’s probably the worst it can get. But Memphis probably isn’t that bad.”
Later, I asked Gooden if he realized what he had said, that he had made it sound like his three years at Kansas were worse than playing for Siberia Tech or for the Cliquot Club Eskimos.
“Oh, no. I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “I meant as far as it being out in the middle of nowhere. It’s not bad.”
Kansas was very, very good to Drew Gooden. The 6-foot-10 Gooden, who is listed at 6-8 3/4 by the NBA incidentally, was nowhere near being a lottery pick after his freshman season with the Jayhawks. After his sophomore season, he may have been a late first-round selection, but he struck pay dirt by waiting until after his third year. He’s the highest KU selection since Raef LaFrentz was taken by the Denver Nuggets as the third pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.
As he strode from the stage at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and did his short television interview on TNT he really looked like he was in a daze as Craig Sager asked him a couple of questions Drew Gooden was about $7.2 million on the hoof. That’s how much money he’ll make with a guaranteed three-year contract from the Grizzles. However, his first year he’ll have to make do with a mere $2,232,000. The Grizzles could pay him more, but that’s what he’s guaranteed.
“The fourth pick,” Gooden said. “That’s some good money. It’s going to take some learning, some experience handling my money.”
Now that’s he’s rolling in dough, Gooden probably wishes he had studied accounting on Mount Oread instead of communications. If you watched the draft on TNT, you know that the first half-dozen on so picks went as everyone expected. Houston took Yao Ming, the 7-5 giant from China with the first pick. Then Chicago, as projected, tapped Duke’s Jay Williams and Golden State followed with Mike Dunleavy, still another Duke player who turned pro after his junior year.
All three of those picks were announced by Stern before the five-minute clock had run out. After Dunleavy did his thing, including a perfunctory, cliche-filled interview with Sager, the NBA was forced to show highlight films on the theater screens as the clock ticked down.
Once I noticed Gooden, who was sitting at a table next to the stage with his father and mother and their spouses, glance up toward the podium, hoping to see Stern come through the doorway with the Grizzlies’ pick. No Stern. Then the time clock showed 0:00 for what seemed like the longest time, but may have been only a few seconds. Finally, Stern appeared and announced Memphis had selected Gooden.
Was Gooden nervous about the clock running down? Was he worried the Grizzlies had a change of heart, or perhaps had traded the pick to some other team?
“No, I wasn’t worried,” Gooden said. “I was fortunate to be able to sit back and wait for my name to be picked.”
That was the first question he was asked by the media and he must have been in that fog when he answered it because later, during a radio interview, he admitted, “I was on the edge of my seat.”
As a member of the Grizzlies, Gooden’s general manager will be the legendary Jerry West, the man who built the Lakers into a contemporary powerhouse, the most dominant team in the NBA today.
“He’s a great general manager,” Gooden said. “Now that Memphis has Jerry West I think the sky’s the limit. I mean, Jerry West is (pictured in) the NBA logo. I feel overwhelmed.”
Wouldn’t you know it? Somebody asked him about Elvis. Not Elvis Grbac. Elvis Presley. The King. The man who is synonymous with Memphis and whose Graceland estate is one of Tennessee’s biggest tourist attractions.
“I didn’t even know Elvis was from Memphis,” Gooden said, grinning. “I knew he was from Tennessee, and I guess I’ll have to take that tour.”
Someday, perhaps, if Gooden turns into the NBA star the Grizzlies hope he will be, the public address announcer at Grizzlies’ home games may have to announce afterward: “Drew has left the building.”
For certain, Drew Gooden left Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night as a rich man, his future bright before him to quote the slogan on Lawrence’s City Hall like a flame.
New York ? Drew Gooden was in a daze, a fog that matched the steam rising off the streets of muggy Manhattan. Gooden was higher than the humidity.
Minutes after being the fourth player selected in the NBA draft, minutes after obligatorily posing with NBA commissioner David Stern while wearing a proffered Memphis Grizzlies’ baseball cap why do basketball players wear baseball caps during the draft anyway? Gooden sat in front of a group of 25 or so media people and, after answering a few questions, confessed: “I’m just trying to let this sink in. Some of these questions, I can’t even hear them.”
Curiously, Gooden made that remark after taking what many Kansans would consider a pot-shot at the Sunflower State. Queried about living in Memphis, a place he’s never visited, the man who led the Big 12 Conference in both scoring and rebounding last season, said he could live anywhere.
“I lived in Kansas,” Gooden said, smiling, “and that’s probably the worst it can get. But Memphis probably isn’t that bad.”
Later, I asked Gooden if he realized what he had said, that he had made it sound like his three years at Kansas were worse than playing for Siberia Tech or for the Cliquot Club Eskimos.
“Oh, no. I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “I meant as far as it being out in the middle of nowhere. It’s not bad.”
Kansas was very, very good to Drew Gooden. The 6-foot-10 Gooden, who is listed at 6-8 3/4 by the NBA incidentally, was nowhere near being a lottery pick after his freshman season with the Jayhawks. After his sophomore season, he may have been a late first-round selection, but he struck pay dirt by waiting until after his third year. He’s the highest KU selection since Raef LaFrentz was taken by the Denver Nuggets as the third pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.
As he strode from the stage at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and did his short television interview on TNT he really looked like he was in a daze as Craig Sager asked him a couple of questions Drew Gooden was about $7.2 million on the hoof. That’s how much money he’ll make with a guaranteed three-year contract from the Grizzles. However, his first year he’ll have to make do with a mere $2,232,000. The Grizzles could pay him more, but that’s what he’s guaranteed.
“The fourth pick,” Gooden said. “That’s some good money. It’s going to take some learning, some experience handling my money.”
Now that’s he’s rolling in dough, Gooden probably wishes he had studied accounting on Mount Oread instead of communications. If you watched the draft on TNT, you know that the first half-dozen on so picks went as everyone expected. Houston took Yao Ming, the 7-5 giant from China with the first pick. Then Chicago, as projected, tapped Duke’s Jay Williams and Golden State followed with Mike Dunleavy, still another Duke player who turned pro after his junior year.
All three of those picks were announced by Stern before the five-minute clock had run out. After Dunleavy did his thing, including a perfunctory, cliche-filled interview with Sager, the NBA was forced to show highlight films on the theater screens as the clock ticked down.
Once I noticed Gooden, who was sitting at a table next to the stage with his father and mother and their spouses, glance up toward the podium, hoping to see Stern come through the doorway with the Grizzlies’ pick. No Stern. Then the time clock showed 0:00 for what seemed like the longest time, but may have been only a few seconds. Finally, Stern appeared and announced Memphis had selected Gooden.
Was Gooden nervous about the clock running down? Was he worried the Grizzlies had a change of heart, or perhaps had traded the pick to some other team?
“No, I wasn’t worried,” Gooden said. “I was fortunate to be able to sit back and wait for my name to be picked.”
That was the first question he was asked by the media and he must have been in that fog when he answered it because later, during a radio interview, he admitted, “I was on the edge of my seat.”
As a member of the Grizzlies, Gooden’s general manager will be the legendary Jerry West, the man who built the Lakers into a contemporary powerhouse, the most dominant team in the NBA today.
“He’s a great general manager,” Gooden said. “Now that Memphis has Jerry West I think the sky’s the limit. I mean, Jerry West is (pictured in) the NBA logo. I feel overwhelmed.”
Wouldn’t you know it? Somebody asked him about Elvis. Not Elvis Grbac. Elvis Presley. The King. The man who is synonymous with Memphis and whose Graceland estate is one of Tennessee’s biggest tourist attractions.
“I didn’t even know Elvis was from Memphis,” Gooden said, grinning. “I knew he was from Tennessee, and I guess I’ll have to take that tour.”
Someday, perhaps, if Gooden turns into the NBA star the Grizzlies hope he will be, the public address announcer at Grizzlies’ home games may have to announce afterward: “Drew has left the building.”
For certain, Drew Gooden left Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night as a rich man, his future bright before him to quote the slogan on Lawrence’s City Hall like a flame.
New York ? Drew Gooden was in a daze, a fog that matched the steam rising off the streets of muggy Manhattan. Gooden was higher than the humidity.
Minutes after being the fourth player selected in the NBA draft, minutes after obligatorily posing with NBA commissioner David Stern while wearing a proffered Memphis Grizzlies’ baseball cap why do basketball players wear baseball caps during the draft anyway? Gooden sat in front of a group of 25 or so media people and, after answering a few questions, confessed: “I’m just trying to let this sink in. Some of these questions, I can’t even hear them.”
Curiously, Gooden made that remark after taking what many Kansans would consider a pot-shot at the Sunflower State. Queried about living in Memphis, a place he’s never visited, the man who led the Big 12 Conference in both scoring and rebounding last season, said he could live anywhere.
“I lived in Kansas,” Gooden said, smiling, “and that’s probably the worst it can get. But Memphis probably isn’t that bad.”
Later, I asked Gooden if he realized what he had said, that he had made it sound like his three years at Kansas were worse than playing for Siberia Tech or for the Cliquot Club Eskimos.
“Oh, no. I didn’t mean it that way,” he said. “I meant as far as it being out in the middle of nowhere. It’s not bad.”
Kansas was very, very good to Drew Gooden. The 6-foot-10 Gooden, who is listed at 6-8 3/4 by the NBA incidentally, was nowhere near being a lottery pick after his freshman season with the Jayhawks. After his sophomore season, he may have been a late first-round selection, but he struck pay dirt by waiting until after his third year. He’s the highest KU selection since Raef LaFrentz was taken by the Denver Nuggets as the third pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.
As he strode from the stage at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and did his short television interview on TNT he really looked like he was in a daze as Craig Sager asked him a couple of questions Drew Gooden was about $7.2 million on the hoof. That’s how much money he’ll make with a guaranteed three-year contract from the Grizzles. However, his first year he’ll have to make do with a mere $2,232,000. The Grizzles could pay him more, but that’s what he’s guaranteed.
“The fourth pick,” Gooden said. “That’s some good money. It’s going to take some learning, some experience handling my money.”
Now that’s he’s rolling in dough, Gooden probably wishes he had studied accounting on Mount Oread instead of communications. If you watched the draft on TNT, you know that the first half-dozen on so picks went as everyone expected. Houston took Yao Ming, the 7-5 giant from China with the first pick. Then Chicago, as projected, tapped Duke’s Jay Williams and Golden State followed with Mike Dunleavy, still another Duke player who turned pro after his junior year.
All three of those picks were announced by Stern before the five-minute clock had run out. After Dunleavy did his thing, including a perfunctory, cliche-filled interview with Sager, the NBA was forced to show highlight films on the theater screens as the clock ticked down.
Once I noticed Gooden, who was sitting at a table next to the stage with his father and mother and their spouses, glance up toward the podium, hoping to see Stern come through the doorway with the Grizzlies’ pick. No Stern. Then the time clock showed 0:00 for what seemed like the longest time, but may have been only a few seconds. Finally, Stern appeared and announced Memphis had selected Gooden.
Was Gooden nervous about the clock running down? Was he worried the Grizzlies had a change of heart, or perhaps had traded the pick to some other team?
“No, I wasn’t worried,” Gooden said. “I was fortunate to be able to sit back and wait for my name to be picked.”
That was the first question he was asked by the media and he must have been in that fog when he answered it because later, during a radio interview, he admitted, “I was on the edge of my seat.”
As a member of the Grizzlies, Gooden’s general manager will be the legendary Jerry West, the man who built the Lakers into a contemporary powerhouse, the most dominant team in the NBA today.
“He’s a great general manager,” Gooden said. “Now that Memphis has Jerry West I think the sky’s the limit. I mean, Jerry West is (pictured in) the NBA logo. I feel overwhelmed.”
Wouldn’t you know it? Somebody asked him about Elvis. Not Elvis Grbac. Elvis Presley. The King. The man who is synonymous with Memphis and whose Graceland estate is one of Tennessee’s biggest tourist attractions.
“I didn’t even know Elvis was from Memphis,” Gooden said, grinning. “I knew he was from Tennessee, and I guess I’ll have to take that tour.”
Someday, perhaps, if Gooden turns into the NBA star the Grizzlies hope he will be, the public address announcer at Grizzlies’ home games may have to announce afterward: “Drew has left the building.”
For certain, Drew Gooden left Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night as a rich man, his future bright before him to quote the slogan on Lawrence’s City Hall like a flame.
