This next morning (01: 00h in #Vamos and the MD website) the expected NBA Draft 2020.
Due to the exceptional situation that is being experienced worldwide due to the coronavirus, this event will be held virtually, just as the NFL, instead of Barclays Center of Brooklyn (New York), habitual place of the last editions.
Beyond knowing the name of the best players under 22 years of age who will enter (or not) in the best basketball league in the world, normally the interest of Spanish fans also lies in knowing if any of our players will be chosen by a the NBA.
But after the already announced withdrawal of the two Spaniards who had presented their candidacy for the draft, Sergi Martinez Y Joel parraThis year, again, there will be no Spanish in the NBA Draft.
At least no ‘early entry’, that is, a player under the age of 22 who presents himself voluntarily.
Likewise, it is always interesting to review the Spanish players who have been chosen in the NBA draft. And it is that up to a total of 20 players born in Spain (or later nationalized / naturalized) have been chosen throughout history.
Fernando Martín, the pioneer
The first of them was the great Fernando Martin, chosen in No. 38 in 1985 by the New Jersey Nets. The pivot took a season to play in the NBA, and he did so in the ranks of the Portland Trail Blazers, although without much success and returned to Spain a season later, where he played in the ranks of Real Madrid before dying in a car accident in 1989.
A couple of years later, in 1987, the Atlanta Hawks ‘used’ their choice 113 !, corresponding to the 5th round of the draft, in selecting J
osé Antonio Montero, a player who, unfortunately, never played a single minute in the American league.
Nor did he make his NBA debut Roberto Dueñas that monopolized covers in 1997 after being chosen in No. 57 of the draft by the Chicago Bulls, current NBA champions and with the great Michael Jordan in their ranks. The dream did not last long and that of Fuenlabrada developed almost his entire career in the FC Barcelona.
The ‘boom’ of Spanish basketball
With the appearance of ‘The generation of 80’, also known as ‘Los Júniors de Oro’, with Pau Gasol Y Juan Carlos Navarro at the forefront, national basketball took a spectacular step forward and as a clear example of this, up to a total of 12 players were chosen in the NBA Draft during the first decade of 2000.
Pau Gasol, No. 3 in the 2001 draft, remains, to this day, the Spanish player chosen in a higher position, followed by Ricky Rubio (# 5 in 2009) and Fran Vazquez (No. 11 in 2005) … although Chantada’s center never got to try his luck in the NBA.
Nor should we forget other illustrious names such as Raül López (nº24 and 2001), Juan Carlos Navarro (nº39 in 2002), Albert Miralles (nº40 in 2004), Sergio Rodriguez (nº27 and 2006), Rudy fernandez (nº24 and 2007), Serge Ibaka (nº24 in 2008), Victor Claver (No. 22 in 2009) or even that of Sergio Llull, who never dared to make the leap to the NBA despite being chosen by the Rockets at # 34 in 2009.
Case apart deserves Marc Gasol. The Gasol middleweight was chosen by the L.A. Lakers in the 2nd round of the 2007 Draft, at No. 48 to be more exact, and although at first it only ‘served’ to balance the transfer of his brother Pau to the Los Angeles team, years later, and numbers in hand, has been confirmed as one of the great ‘robberies’ from the history of the NBA Draft.
The Hernangómez brothers, the last to arrive
Since then, few have been chosen who have heard his name on Draft night: Nikola Mirotic (nº23 in 2011), Àlex Abrines (nº32 in 2013), Daniel Díez (nº54 in 2015) or the brothers Hernangomez, Willy in 2015 (nº35) and Juancho and 2016 (nº15).
