The NBA Draft...a phenomenon I just don't understand.

Every year, bloggers, columnists and media guys that cover basketball seem to get extra excited come draft day. Yes, the Finals are over and yes, mock drafts are a way to cover basketball in the often-boring off-season, but I personally still don't find the NBA draft very exciting. I mean, really, how can you convince me that watching dudes in suits repeatedly come up to shake David Stern's hand is actually intriguing television?

Personally, not following NCAA basketball probably has a lot to do with it. I'm from Canada, and while we do get extensive NCAA coverage (we have CBS, no worries there), I don't know many guys my age (or even older) who actually follow it as religiously as they do the NBA. Furthermore, it's more of a pride/school thing with most people that actually follow the NCAA season. We have our own universities and schools here in Canada, and unfortunately, most of the ones with stellar athletic programs are known as either the "easy" schools, or basically ones where "hot" people who have dominantly "easy majors" decide to go. To be frank, the Canadian education program doesn't give two-shits about athletics.

Anyways, going back to the NBA Draft - I don't really understand why so many people devote such time into making mock drafts, and analyzing what player a certain team is projected to take with the 29th pick. For example, I can just imagine some blogger last year writing up a little mock draft with the following written: "The 76ers are expected to take Petteri Koponen [!] with the 30th pick!" Really, who cares? Moreover, do most of these people who do mock drafts even know who half of these players actually are? Have they watched enough games of each of the players to actually successfully project where they land or do they just get a credible source's mock-draft and just switch some names around to make it seem different?

Let the teams draft whoever. The top 5 picks, yes I somewhat understand the fascination - these could be future superstars in the league (or not, just ask Michael Olowakandi!). However, when is the last time the media (or whoever else) has ever got it right with these picks? Every pick is a toss-up, and a lot of how a player develops and improves depends on a gigantic list of factors, which most notably includes injuries, and of course, the system that they are included in. What about the James Poseys, Bruce Bowens (undrafted), and pre-Chicago/Cleveland Ben Wallaces? Most importantly, what about the Tony Parkers? How about the guys that are picked really low, but end up being studs (Rashard Lewis) in the end?

It's all a toss up, and as the 1998 draft - along with countless others - prove, collegiate stars aren't exactly certainties for success in the league. Just ask JJ Reddick, or maybe Bobby Hurley, or perhaps Chris Jackson. "Upside" is great to have, sure, but players should only be devoted so much time in media-coverage when they're actually ON an NBA team and contributing.

I don't really care who the number one pick is, and by my calculation, it really doesn't matter. Ben Wallace was undrafted, yet I'm certain when I say that the 2004 Pistons would not have won that year's title without him. So, to the people devoted to these mock drafts and what not, continue with what you're doing. Don't let me discourage you. However, I know there are plenty of NBA fans out there who really don't care in any way about the NBA Draft, and to those fans: I salute you.

I know it's 'different' to admit that some things related to the NBA are amazingly boring (as much as John Hollinger wants to convince you otherwise), but forgive me if I'm not very intrigued at the idea of seeing David Stern coming out of the podium every 10 minutes and just changing the name of the pick number, team and player on every 5 second speech he makes, followed by "experts" criticising and analyzing these picks as if their "expertise" really holds that much weight. Really, these are the same people who have repeatedly boosted up (eventually) useless players (Kwame Brown!) and criticized selections of players that were actually useful.

Sorry, but I'll pass on the hype. Wake me up only when there's a blockbuster trade that goes down involving a player that has actually spent time on an NBA basketball court.