From Willis Reed's failed attempt to persuade the Knicks to give him a $15,000 contract in 1964, to Grant Hill's relief when Dallas selected Jason Kidd instead of him in 1994, to Shaun Livingston's decision to enter the 2004 NBA draft straight out of high school—a decision that required him to tell Mike Krzyzewski that he would not be accepting his scholarship offer to Duke—these players revisit the pivotal moments before, during and immediately after the draft.
Through it all, one thing is clear: When it comes to draft night and the couple of months leading up to it, things have changed. A lot.WILLIS REED
Willis Reed grew up on a farm in Bernice, Louisiana, in the segregated South. He was a two-sport star at West Side High, good enough as a tight end to be offered a football scholarship at Grambling by legendary coach Eddie Robinson. He turned that down, though, accepting a basketball scholarship to Grambling instead.
Fresh off a senior season in which he averaged 27 points and 21 rebounds, Reed was invited to try out for the 1964 U.S. Olympic basketball team. An event like the Olympic tryouts was the closest thing the 1960s had to a combine. It was time to show-n-prove.
REED: The Olympic trials wasn’t my first exposure. I had played in the Pan American Games and the World Games, prior. But the trials really helped me with the NBA. I didn’t make the team, but NAIA players never made it. In fact, Luke Jackson [who made it in ‘64] was the first. But there were a lot of pro scouts there. I knew based on the way that I competed that I was one of the best big men in the country and, hey, maybe I’d have a shot.
But there were only nine teams back then and but so many roster spots, so I couldn’t bank on the opportunity. If it didn’t happen, I had gotten my degree, which was the biggest thing. I was planning to get into teaching and coaching, maybe go back to school and try to become a professor and college coach.There was no such thing as draft visits back then. Players didn’t have agents, either. Young men like Reed were in the dark in terms of possible landing spots. He still had a preference, though.
I wanted to go to Detroit. They had the second pick in the first round. Earl Lloyd [the first black player in the NBA] was scouting for them at the time and saw me play one of my best games in college. I knew they were looking for a center. That’s the situation I wanted.
Detroit ended up picking “Jumpin’” Joe Caldwell, whom Reed described as his day’s LeBron James, in terms of athleticism. There was no draft ceremony back then, so Reed didn't think anything of it when he was called into the principal’s office at the school where he was working as a student teacher.I was already teaching a summer program at the time. Had no idea what was going on. Then I reach the principal’s office and they hand me a phone. It’s [Knicks] coach Eddie Donovan. He told me that they used the first-round pick on Jim “Bad News” Barnes—and he was a really good player—and that they picked me with the first pick of the second round.
I was disappointed I wasn’t going to Detroit, but I was also upset that I wasn’t in the first round. I knew there weren’t nine players better than me. And I knew I had lost money.
So I go to negotiate my contract on my own. Remember: no agent. I’m sitting in an office with the GM, Fred Podesta, and Donovan. They offer me a $3,000 signing bonus and a contract at $11,000 per year. That was good money. I mean, in 1964, you could buy a brand new car for $3,000. But I was trying to get $15,000 per year.
So after they came in at $11,000, I tried for $13,500. I said to them, “OK, I’ll take the $11,000, and I’ll play for a $2,500 bonus at the end of the year. And I guarantee you’ll think I deserve it.”
Reed averaged about 20 points and 15 rebounds in his rookie season, was selected as an All-Star and won Rookie of the Year. He got that bonus.
The draft was nothing like it is today. No hoopla. But what happened that day was a critical part of my journey. Not getting drafted in the first round and losing out on some money, it really motivated me. I always played every game like I was playing for next year’s contract.
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