NBA Draft 2013: Behind the scenes with Michael Carter-Williams

Published 1 hour and 30 minutes ago

Sean Deveney Sporting News

NEW YORK—Michael Carter-Williams was just getting started. You might think that, in the wake of hearing your name called on NBA draft night, your next step is into a town car and off to a Manhattan establishment for dinner and revelry. Not exactly.

Michael Carter-Williams was chosen No. 11 in the NBA draft and will play with Nerlens Noel, the No. 6 pick and one of his best friends, for the 76ers. (AP Photo)

Instead, what happens is this: You’re handed over to a league employee, who carries with her a checklist of obligations each player must fulfill, starting with, “Player shakes hands with David Stern on stage,” rolling through two live television interviews and a live radio interview, followed by a press conference with print and Internet reporters.
MORE: Anthony Bennett was shocked | Noel traded to 76ers | NBA Draft first round
Then comes the gauntlet—the TV Live Shot Room. Ten interviews with a variety of outlets, including NBA TV, ABC, CBS, NBC and Comcast Sports. Oh, and also on the list is a talk with two diminutive reporters from the NBA wing that reaches out to kids, Hoop Troop. The Live Shot Room is a lively place, draft prospects milling about among the booths of television interviewers, NBA employees directing them from spot to spot.
It’s also a powerful place. When Carter-Williams sat down with Craig Sager for his NBATV spot, he was doing an interview that would be beamed into 61 million homes. When he did a chat with the NBA’s social media team, he was on a platform that has more than 410 million ‘likes’ and followers combined, on a website that had a record 9.5 billion page views. For his stint in that spotlight then, Carter-Williams was very, very famous.
The Live Shot Room is not, however, a fun place. After the third or fourth interview, having answered the same questions six or seven times, most prospects look physically winded. That may be why the area is off-limits for most. But Carter-Williams agreed to let Sporting News tail him throughout his draft night, and it was here in the Live Shot Room, after just his second interview, that Carter-Williams got a message from an NBA official.
Check your phone, he was told. There is a message, from a 215 area code. It’s Sam Hinkie.
Less than an hour earlier, Hinkie—the new general manager of the Sixers—had changed Carter-Williams’ life, choosing him with the No. 11 pick in the draft. Naturally, he wanted to talk to his new player. But there was a problem: Carter-Williams’ phone was dead. He shrugged. “What do you think I should do?” he asked an NBA official. It was decided that he should simply finish out his interviews, and contact Hinkie afterwards.
Heck, he still had eight interview sessions left to go.
…..

Carter-Williams is, of course, a sophomore point guard from Syracuse. He played just 10.3 minutes per game last year, but came into his own this year, averaging 11.9 points and 7.3 assists for the Orange, and establishing himself as one of the top point guards in the nation.
Coming into the draft, though, he had little idea of where his stock stood. Despite his obvious playmaking skill, and the fact that he is 6-6, scouts had questions about Carter-Williams, starting with his poor shooting—he shot just 39.3 percent from the field as a sophomore. He is also thin, just 184 pounds. Would he have the strength and physical stamina to withstand an 82-game season?
I stood with him in the green room about a half hour before the draft was scheduled to start. He was rumored to be on the board for the Pelicans at No. 6, though it was conceivable that he could slip out of the lottery altogether. “I have no idea,” he said. “I haven’t been told anything, my agent hasn’t been told anything. Your guess is as good as mine.”
It wasn’t until Noel was finally picked by New Orleans at No. 6 that Carter-Williams got his first inkling of what was going to happen. Noel was traded by the Pelicans almost immediately after he was chosen, going to the Sixers for All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday. Carter-Williams had been somewhat baffled last weekend when the Sixers asked him in for a workout, just days before the draft. Carter-Williams can play some shooting guard, but he is a point guard at his essence. If the Sixers had Holiday, why were they working out Carter-Williams?
“I almost didn’t go to that workout,” he said. “It didn’t seem to make sense. But I figured, I will go, I will get through it and just finish it and move on. I figured it couldn’t hurt. I am definitely glad I went.”
Is he ever. Not only will he walk into a situation in which he will take over the starting point guard spot from Day One, he will be doing so with Noel. Carter-Williams grew up in Hamilton, Mass., and Noel grew up in Everett, Mass. They’ve been friends for years, and played on the same AAU team.
“Seriously, he is one of my best friends,” Carter-Williams said, beaming a smile. “It is just unbelievable the way it worked out.”
……

Carter-Williams entered the NBA’s Live Shot Room at 9:05 p.m. It was well after 10 when Carter-Williams sat down for his final interview, with Comcast in Philadelphia. Before going on camera, his interviewer asked whether he was a Sixers fan growing up. No, Carter Williams informed him, saying he grew up near Boston and was a fan of the Celtics.
“Maybe I will start with that,” the interviewer suggested. “Who is your favorite team?”
“I don’t know if I want to start off with that,” Carter-Williams said. “I don’t think people in Philadelphia would like that, a Boston fan. I am a Sixers fan now.”
Now that’s some high basketball IQ.
When he was done with television, Carter-Williams had been grinding through the interview circuit for more than 75 minutes. Keep in mind that, after the most momentous point in his life, he hugged his parents and his stepfather, went to shake Stern’s hand, and had not seen his family since.
“It was a lot,” Carter-Williams said. “It’s just interviews but it wears you out. I am anxious to go see my family.”
There was still one more to go, an interview with Sirius satellite radio. Carter-Williams sat down, holding a microphone. The interviewer began by saying, “We’re here at the NBA Draft with C.J. McCollum …” Carter-Williams politely shook his head. Um, no.
“Sorry, we’re here with Michael Carter-Williams. Sorry, it has been a long night.”
Indeed.
……
At 10:50, Carter-Williams had moved on from the interviews and was taking post-draft photos for the NBA in a curtained-off area behind the draft stage. That was when his family contingent wandered back to the area and was directed to his booth.
It has been a difficult year for Carter-Williams’ family. In March, when Syracuse was playing for a spot in the Sweet 16, he noticed his mother had begun to cry in the stands. During a break, he tried to find out what was wrong with her. She didn’t want to upset him, so she pretended things were fine. In fact, the house she shared with Carter-Williams’ stepfather in Hamilton caught on fire, and nearly everything in it had burned. Only after Syracuse beat California that night did she tell her son what had happened.
When Carter-Williams emerged from the photo area, he saw his family for the first time in three hours. Immediately, he hugged his mother. “That was hard, of course,” Carter-Williams said. “But this is kind of the reward. We have been so focused on this now that, really, we’re not even worried about it anymore.”
The 11th spot in the draft, likely a starting job on a young team, alongside one of his best friends. It might have been a grind of a night for Carter-Williams. But as he left the Barclay’s Center bound for a Manhattan dinner, he was much more focused on the reward. --------------------------- SportingNews NBA