Svi Mykhailiuk already being celebrated in Los Angeles

By Matt Tait     Jun 22, 2018
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The general perception regarding the NBA Draft is that it’s the first-round picks who get all of the fame and glory.

And while that is true when it comes to all things financial — first-round picks sign guaranteed contracts while second-rounders are not assured of anything — the rise of social media and intense marketing pushes made by the various NBA franchises has changed that notion in recent years.

Take the case of former Kansas standout Svi Mykhailiuk as an example.

Drafted No. 47 overall — 17 picks into the second round — by the Los Angeles Lakers, Svi was anything but an afterthought in the eyes of the Lakers in the hours that followed Thursday night’s NBA Draft.

From instant posts on the Lakers official Twitter account to comments from GM Rob Pelinka and Lakers legend Magic Johnson, it’s clear that the Lakers are excited to have Svi in purple and gold.

These three posts all came within minutes of the Lakers making Svi the 47th pick.

And this one was less than an hour after those three.

Around the 4:30 mark in this video with Pelinka, the Lakers’ GM starts praising Mykhailiuk’s knock-down shooting and even mentions the job he did defensively on Duke’s Marvin Bagley III during KU’s Elite Eight win in the NCAA Tournament.

A little while later, the Lakers threw up this compilation Tweet looking back at Svi’s individual workout with the franchise leading up to their decision to select him.

Lakers coach Luke Walton, around the 1:53 mark in the following video, had a little fun with Svi’s name and explained in no uncertain terms where the former Jayhawk would stand as a rookie during the 2018-19 season.

And finally, the Lakers’ Twitter accounted posted the following phone interview with Svi a little while after he was drafted and had time to let it all sink in.

“Oh, man, it feels great,” Svi said in his first official statement on that conference call with reporters. “I feel like it’s just a blessing to be part of the Lakers and be part of the NBA. With all of the history the Lakers have, I think it’s just a blessing to be a part of the team.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.