OKC Thunder: The NBA could learn a lot from NFL, WNBA Drafts
By Rylan Stiles
The OKC Thunder and NBA world can learn a lot from the NFL, and WNBA Drafts this week
As the OKC Thunder and NBA world sit on standby, waiting for resolution to the 2019-20 season, they also need to look forward to the NBA Draft. While it is clear that it will likely not take place in June, it will most likely be a virtual draft whenever it does roll around.
Tonight marks the start of the NFL Draft, which will surely be the most-watched draft of all-time given the lack of a live sporting event competing for eyeballs. Last Friday, we saw the WNBA pull off the first-ever virtual draft.
As we head into unprecedented times, this is the one area the NBA can be prepared for. With some speculating that the draft will not be held until August, or possibly later, they will be the last league to host a virtual draft. Which means they can learn from each league’s previous mistakes.
The WNBA Draft last Friday set the bar pretty high. Outside of the normal issues that come with over the internet communication, talking over each other, awkward pauses, the league only saw a pair of poorly executed interviews.
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They also had the advantage of two in-studio hosts, that kept things running pretty smoothly. Later tonight, the NFL will combine the crews of the NFL Network, and ESPN into a remote tv show featuring the best analysis each network has to offer.
With more remote connections comes more problems. Many people expect more than a few glitches to happen between now and the end of the draft on Saturday. Even during the live virtual mock draft, some teams experienced problems.
Going last always benefits you, you can look at mistakes others have made and try your hardest to avoid them.
The biggest hurdle though, will not be the TV product. At the end of the day, we can all get over the fact that the ESPN crew might step over one another during the broadcast. For the NBA the biggest hurdle is cutting out personal workouts, and the NBA Combine.
For the teams themselves, they can also get tips and tricks from WNBA, and NFL GMs and front office members as to what worked the best to streamline communications.
As you watch the NFL Draft tonight, it will be a preview of what the NBA Draft will look like in a few months.
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Are you more interested in watching the draft than normal given the fact there are no sporting events?