What the NBA Draft Should Learn From the 2026 NFL Draft | Deadspin.com The NFL turned its most popular off-season extravaganza into a golf tournament this week.
Maybe they couldn’t hear it, but the silence on our end of the cable hook-up was deafening.
I understand why golf fans want the world’s top players to pick up the pace. There’s only so much a broadcaster can say about a guy’s cool sunglasses on his excruciatingly long walk to a 350-yard drive.
But a professional draft is different, especially when fans are as invested as they are in football. And basketball, for that matter.
Thursday’s telecast of the NFL Draft’s first round had to make Bob Hayes proud. It flew by.
Not coincidentally, it had to go down as a JaMarcus Russell – the worst of all-time, flawed in so many ways.
But there’s good news: The NBA should have learned a whole lot in terms of What Not To Include in the script for its big night in June.
Here are six suggestions.
Say Something
I found it interesting that some day-after critics of ABC’s telecast found it noteworthy that Nick Saban labeled one selection “not really a self-starter.”
Wow. Scathing. Potentially libelous. Shocked he wasn’t dismissed from the panel immediately.
OK, maybe not.
That was the most controversial thing Saban said all night, the only utterance to which fired-up football fans in TV-land screamed back: “Yeah. You tell ‘em, Coach. The guy is fat and out of shape. Been saying that all season.”
That’s why we gathered the gang, slipped on our 2025 Fantasy Football Champs t-shirts and poured the Mexican Coke. We didn’t come to hear “Go Wolverines” and “Go Buckeyes” from Saban’s sidekicks.
A draft inspires debate. Half a team’s fan base has been calling talk radio for weeks demanding their scouting chops go regional. The other half has waited until day-after to let everyone know they heard it here first: Our pick blows.
Yet all we heard on NFL Day 1 was how coachable the kid was and what a great fit he’d be.
THIRTY-TWO TIMES.
Give me …
Ban Cheerleaders
It all starts with the panel. Ernie Johnson is the perfect NBA host.
Then you need book-end blowhards. The Republican and the Democrat, if you will.
Stephen A. Smith is ideal. Informed, well spoken and, most importantly, loud.
Then you need someone equally bull-headed, but ideally from a basketball background. I see him, but it would be bold – Draymond Green the player/analyst.
In between, we only have Johnson … because I’m saving the fourth virtual seat for a real game-breaker. If you thought Green was out there … Stay tuned.
“I Want to Thank …”
The three biggest wastes of time on draft night are:
- “I wouldn’t be here without my mom.” (Every player interview.)
- “We’re so proud.” (Every parent interview.)
- “Can you describe your feelings?” (Every interviewer.)
It reminds me – time and time and time again – of a roving baseball reporter in the stands chatting with a rookie outfielder’s family while a no-hitter is going on.
Can we get back to the action?
No interviews!
“Jeopardy” Can Wait
What’s the rush? We’ve tuned in to welcome (or trash) our new baby. Let’s spend the night together.
Fifteen minutes between picks seems perfectly fine.
There are two aspects of each pick that every fan of that team wants to hear experts dissect: The current state of the team (leading into who would be the ideal addition) and the snap-judgement fit/ramifications of the pick itself in the immediate aftermath of it having been made.
Five minutes of the former and five minutes of the latter might not be enough time. OK, so how about six of each? It’s the best we can do.
Throw in your three minutes of commercials and you have 15 minutes of absolute sports heaven sandwiching each pick. Times 30.
Not eight (down from 10) like the NFL sped us through in its all-important Round 1.
What’s Must-See TV Without a Celebrity?
Sadly I must admit: Yes, you can have too much Stephen A. Smith. So let’s trump his and Draymond’s dueling haymakers with a “wow-inducing” local expert with something of substance to say about each pick.
I’m talking Barack Obama living and dying with his beloved Bulls. Kevin Hart, Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes, David Letterman, Tiger Woods, Uma Thurman, Drake, Billy Crystal, Dianna Russini …
You’ve now elevated your telecast to Academy Awards level. And the great thing about these ultimate attention-grabbers – every team has at least one – is they would kill to have their basketball expertise heard. You know, like real fans.
Each joins the debate for his/her team via satellite, shoehorned into the six-minute lead-in and the six-minute critique. Tell me you wouldn’t tune in for that.
It sure beats watching them actually try to play in a celebrity game.
You Make The Call
Thirty teams with 15 minutes between picks. Give me a second … that’s 7 1/2 hours. Yikes.
How in the world can we get people to stick around for Oklahoma City’s pick well around the clock has struck midnight?
You gotta know I have an idea:
Make the thing interactive. As soon as the screen flashes, “The Pick Is In,” you have one minute to text your prediction to 3447274554268 (DGIsBrilliant).
Viewer with the most correct selections wins $1 million. You sleeping in the next day?
To quote Kirk Herbstreit (for the one and only time): “I love it.”
#NBA #Draft #Learn #NFL #Draft #Deadspin.com
The NFL turned its most popular off-season extravaganza into a golf tournament this week.
Maybe they couldn’t hear it, but the silence on our end of the cable hook-up was deafening.
I understand why golf fans want the world’s top players to pick up the pace. There’s only so much a broadcaster can say about a guy’s cool sunglasses on his excruciatingly long walk to a 350-yard drive.
But a professional draft is different, especially when fans are as invested as they are in football. And basketball, for that matter.
Thursday’s telecast of the NFL Draft’s first round had to make Bob Hayes proud. It flew by.
Not coincidentally, it had to go down as a JaMarcus Russell – the worst of all-time, flawed in so many ways.
But there’s good news: The NBA should have learned a whole lot in terms of What Not To Include in the script for its big night in June.
Here are six suggestions.
Say Something
I found it interesting that some day-after critics of ABC’s telecast found it noteworthy that Nick Saban labeled one selection “not really a self-starter.”
Wow. Scathing. Potentially libelous. Shocked he wasn’t dismissed from the panel immediately.
OK, maybe not.
That was the most controversial thing Saban said all night, the only utterance to which fired-up football fans in TV-land screamed back: “Yeah. You tell ‘em, Coach. The guy is fat and out of shape. Been saying that all season.”
That’s why we gathered the gang, slipped on our 2025 Fantasy Football Champs t-shirts and poured the Mexican Coke. We didn’t come to hear “Go Wolverines” and “Go Buckeyes” from Saban’s sidekicks.
A draft inspires debate. Half a team’s fan base has been calling talk radio for weeks demanding their scouting chops go regional. The other half has waited until day-after to let everyone know they heard it here first: Our pick blows.
Yet all we heard on NFL Day 1 was how coachable the kid was and what a great fit he’d be.
THIRTY-TWO TIMES.
Give me …
Ban Cheerleaders
It all starts with the panel. Ernie Johnson is the perfect NBA host.
Then you need book-end blowhards. The Republican and the Democrat, if you will.
Stephen A. Smith is ideal. Informed, well spoken and, most importantly, loud.
Then you need someone equally bull-headed, but ideally from a basketball background. I see him, but it would be bold – Draymond Green the player/analyst.
In between, we only have Johnson … because I’m saving the fourth virtual seat for a real game-breaker. If you thought Green was out there … Stay tuned.
“I Want to Thank …”
The three biggest wastes of time on draft night are:
- “I wouldn’t be here without my mom.” (Every player interview.)
- “We’re so proud.” (Every parent interview.)
- “Can you describe your feelings?” (Every interviewer.)
It reminds me – time and time and time again – of a roving baseball reporter in the stands chatting with a rookie outfielder’s family while a no-hitter is going on.
Can we get back to the action?
No interviews!
“Jeopardy” Can Wait
What’s the rush? We’ve tuned in to welcome (or trash) our new baby. Let’s spend the night together.
Fifteen minutes between picks seems perfectly fine.
There are two aspects of each pick that every fan of that team wants to hear experts dissect: The current state of the team (leading into who would be the ideal addition) and the snap-judgement fit/ramifications of the pick itself in the immediate aftermath of it having been made.
Five minutes of the former and five minutes of the latter might not be enough time. OK, so how about six of each? It’s the best we can do.
Throw in your three minutes of commercials and you have 15 minutes of absolute sports heaven sandwiching each pick. Times 30.
Not eight (down from 10) like the NFL sped us through in its all-important Round 1.
What’s Must-See TV Without a Celebrity?
Sadly I must admit: Yes, you can have too much Stephen A. Smith. So let’s trump his and Draymond’s dueling haymakers with a “wow-inducing” local expert with something of substance to say about each pick.
I’m talking Barack Obama living and dying with his beloved Bulls. Kevin Hart, Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes, David Letterman, Tiger Woods, Uma Thurman, Drake, Billy Crystal, Dianna Russini …
You’ve now elevated your telecast to Academy Awards level. And the great thing about these ultimate attention-grabbers – every team has at least one – is they would kill to have their basketball expertise heard. You know, like real fans.
Each joins the debate for his/her team via satellite, shoehorned into the six-minute lead-in and the six-minute critique. Tell me you wouldn’t tune in for that.
It sure beats watching them actually try to play in a celebrity game.
You Make The Call
Thirty teams with 15 minutes between picks. Give me a second … that’s 7 1/2 hours. Yikes.
How in the world can we get people to stick around for Oklahoma City’s pick well around the clock has struck midnight?
You gotta know I have an idea:
Make the thing interactive. As soon as the screen flashes, “The Pick Is In,” you have one minute to text your prediction to 3447274554268 (DGIsBrilliant).
Viewer with the most correct selections wins $1 million. You sleeping in the next day?
To quote Kirk Herbstreit (for the one and only time): “I love it.”
![Kevin Knight is here, he’s hungry, and ready to take over AEW Kevin Knight’s rise has been nothing short of stratospheric. A year that began with Knight having a promising run as one of All Elite Wrestling’s up-and-coming stars morphed over the course of 2026 into something much, much larger. Knight captured individual gold by winning the TNT Championship in April, and now he’s on the precipice of the biggest match of his career. Knight will stand across the ring from AEW World Champion Kenny Omega at Redemption in Montreal, headlining a pay-per-view and looking to shatter expectations in the process.I talked with Knight this week in the lead up to his match against Omega to learn what makes him tick as a wrestler, understand the decision behind joining The Don Callis Family, and learn that in a world of heroes and villans, Knight is perfectly comfortable to exist in the grey area.A turning point for Knight came in May at Double or Nothing when he shocked the world by turning on Darby Allin and joining with Don Callis to close the show. It felt like a staggering rejection of his role as fan-favorite inside the company, but it was clinical for Knight. This wasn’t about trying to become hated, but trying to elevate himself.“The goal has stayed the same,” Knight says, “become Jet 2 Belts.” Not only does he want to hold onto his TNT title, but to win the AEW World Championship as well, asserting himself at the top. “I saw the opportunity to overtake this company after Double or Nothing and figured I need to invest in myself.“Getting myself with the Don Callis Family and, seeing how he moves and how, how he’s brought so many championships to AEW, it was a no-brainer, and it’s been nothing but success ever since.”Knight speaks plainly in a business so influenced by emotion. Joining Callis wasn’t a conscious decision to make fans angry or to reject his longtime friend “Speedball” Mike Bailey, but came about organically, as with any difficult change an athlete needs to make. The NFL player demanding a trade, the NBA star making a decision — Knight is walking the same line.“He’s [Callis] been here from day one, and he’s seen people come and go. He’s seen all different types of performers, so he snatched me up. I was tagged with Speedball Mike Bailey, and he had a smile, and he was just naive to the politics of it all. [Don’s] smartened me up, giving me another angle, another perspective in attacking this game that we call wrestling.”If pro wrestling is a game, then Kenny Omega is its final boss. Not only is “The Best Bout Machine” the world champion, but he is also regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Knight might have faced a lot of challenges, but fighting Omega in Canada for a championship is on a different level. Still, Knight feels like he might have an edge — and he’s excited to“Always attack his weaknesses, attacking his weaknesses and, and knowing who he is as a person, and, and capitalizing on those weaknesses. Don Callis has known Kenny a long, long, long time, so he’s priming me up. He’s giving me some game on Kenny’s blind spots. We all love Kenny as a person, but he’s careless in some ways — so, whenever I see those openings, I’m definitely gonna definitely going to attack, take advantage.”It’s not lost on Knight that a majority of wrestling fans are writing him off on Sunday. The lingering perception is that Omega will win, move on to All In at Wembley Stadium, and have another epic match against Will Ospreay. That’s a narrative Knight isn’t willing to accept.“People are expecting this long-life anime fantasy between Omega and Osprey. Redemption is gonna be a change of course, and we’re gonna see a new era. We’re gonna see a new superstar rise to the top. I laugh at the people who look past this match. I use it as more fuel, because I love being a spoiler.”It’s big talk, but Kevin Knight has backed it up in recent months. He’s on a nine-match win streak, perfectly part of his “vision board,” which includes winning the AEW World Heavyweight Title, and then involves becoming the face of the company.“If all goes to plan, Jet Two Belts becomes a reality this upcoming Sunday, and I don’t see myself relinquishing it for anybody, that comes my way. I think I will let up and maybe relinquish the TNT title or, you know, let the other people have a little bit of fun. don’t wanna take up all the time at AEW, but AEW is gonna be set up in the next 6 months if The Jet is on top.”The groundwork for this run, this chance at the championship is built on the backs of people who lifted up Kevin Knight along the way. I asked him for his personal wrestling Mount Rushmore, the individuals who have meant the most to him during his career.“Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida, because they helped mold me. From a young lion to my first couple of tours in New Japan and being able to do Impact as well alongside Kushida. Those two guys definitely mean a lot to me. I gotta throw in there Speedball Mike Bailey because one of my first tours in Japan, one of my first matches in TNA/ Impact was against him, and then, of course, our whole run as Jet Speed and everything that we’ve been able to accomplish together. It means a lot to me, on a sentimental level. Fourth, I would like to give it up to Tony Khan just for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to go out there and show the world who and what I am, giving me the opportunity to try new things and just always encouraging me.”This is only the beginning for Kevin Knight, who will be a staple of the pro-wrestling landscape for a long, long time — win or lose.Kevin Knight will face Kenny Omega at AEW Redemption, which will air on Sunday, July 26 from CentreBell in Montreal, Canada, beginning at 6 p.m. ET #Kevin #Knight #hes #hungry #ready #AEW](https://i1.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/knight.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C4.865499187579%2C100%2C90.269001624842&ssl=1 "Kevin Knight is here, he’s hungry, and ready to take over AEW Kevin Knight’s rise has been nothing short of stratospheric. A year that began with Knight having a promising run as one of All Elite Wrestling’s up-and-coming stars morphed over the course of 2026 into something much, much larger. Knight captured individual gold by winning the TNT Championship in April, and now he’s on the precipice of the biggest match of his career. Knight will stand across the ring from AEW World Champion Kenny Omega at Redemption in Montreal, headlining a pay-per-view and looking to shatter expectations in the process.I talked with Knight this week in the lead up to his match against Omega to learn what makes him tick as a wrestler, understand the decision behind joining The Don Callis Family, and learn that in a world of heroes and villans, Knight is perfectly comfortable to exist in the grey area.A turning point for Knight came in May at Double or Nothing when he shocked the world by turning on Darby Allin and joining with Don Callis to close the show. It felt like a staggering rejection of his role as fan-favorite inside the company, but it was clinical for Knight. This wasn’t about trying to become hated, but trying to elevate himself.“The goal has stayed the same,” Knight says, “become Jet 2 Belts.” Not only does he want to hold onto his TNT title, but to win the AEW World Championship as well, asserting himself at the top. “I saw the opportunity to overtake this company after Double or Nothing and figured I need to invest in myself.“Getting myself with the Don Callis Family and, seeing how he moves and how, how he’s brought so many championships to AEW, it was a no-brainer, and it’s been nothing but success ever since.”Knight speaks plainly in a business so influenced by emotion. Joining Callis wasn’t a conscious decision to make fans angry or to reject his longtime friend “Speedball” Mike Bailey, but came about organically, as with any difficult change an athlete needs to make. The NFL player demanding a trade, the NBA star making a decision — Knight is walking the same line.“He’s [Callis] been here from day one, and he’s seen people come and go. He’s seen all different types of performers, so he snatched me up. I was tagged with Speedball Mike Bailey, and he had a smile, and he was just naive to the politics of it all. [Don’s] smartened me up, giving me another angle, another perspective in attacking this game that we call wrestling.”If pro wrestling is a game, then Kenny Omega is its final boss. Not only is “The Best Bout Machine” the world champion, but he is also regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Knight might have faced a lot of challenges, but fighting Omega in Canada for a championship is on a different level. Still, Knight feels like he might have an edge — and he’s excited to“Always attack his weaknesses, attacking his weaknesses and, and knowing who he is as a person, and, and capitalizing on those weaknesses. Don Callis has known Kenny a long, long, long time, so he’s priming me up. He’s giving me some game on Kenny’s blind spots. We all love Kenny as a person, but he’s careless in some ways — so, whenever I see those openings, I’m definitely gonna definitely going to attack, take advantage.”It’s not lost on Knight that a majority of wrestling fans are writing him off on Sunday. The lingering perception is that Omega will win, move on to All In at Wembley Stadium, and have another epic match against Will Ospreay. That’s a narrative Knight isn’t willing to accept.“People are expecting this long-life anime fantasy between Omega and Osprey. Redemption is gonna be a change of course, and we’re gonna see a new era. We’re gonna see a new superstar rise to the top. I laugh at the people who look past this match. I use it as more fuel, because I love being a spoiler.”It’s big talk, but Kevin Knight has backed it up in recent months. He’s on a nine-match win streak, perfectly part of his “vision board,” which includes winning the AEW World Heavyweight Title, and then involves becoming the face of the company.“If all goes to plan, Jet Two Belts becomes a reality this upcoming Sunday, and I don’t see myself relinquishing it for anybody, that comes my way. I think I will let up and maybe relinquish the TNT title or, you know, let the other people have a little bit of fun. don’t wanna take up all the time at AEW, but AEW is gonna be set up in the next 6 months if The Jet is on top.”The groundwork for this run, this chance at the championship is built on the backs of people who lifted up Kevin Knight along the way. I asked him for his personal wrestling Mount Rushmore, the individuals who have meant the most to him during his career.“Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida, because they helped mold me. From a young lion to my first couple of tours in New Japan and being able to do Impact as well alongside Kushida. Those two guys definitely mean a lot to me. I gotta throw in there Speedball Mike Bailey because one of my first tours in Japan, one of my first matches in TNA/ Impact was against him, and then, of course, our whole run as Jet Speed and everything that we’ve been able to accomplish together. It means a lot to me, on a sentimental level. Fourth, I would like to give it up to Tony Khan just for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to go out there and show the world who and what I am, giving me the opportunity to try new things and just always encouraging me.”This is only the beginning for Kevin Knight, who will be a staple of the pro-wrestling landscape for a long, long time — win or lose.Kevin Knight will face Kenny Omega at AEW Redemption, which will air on Sunday, July 26 from CentreBell in Montreal, Canada, beginning at 6 p.m. ET #Kevin #Knight #hes #hungry #ready #AEW")
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