2023 NBA Draft: From Victor Wembanyama's tears of joy to family bonds, real and formed, the night's best moments

NEW YORK — It was a colorful night at Barclays Center, full of expected emotion, unexpected moments and an overall sense of accomplishment surrounding the NBA Draft. Here are some notable happenings on draft night:

Anticipation and joy

Victor Wembanyama has long known he would be the No. 1 pick. But it still had to actually happen. So the tears of joy he displayed in a TV interview a short time after being selected by the San Antonio Spurs, followed by a joyful yell he let out before leaving the Barclays Center floor illustrated more than a few things.

One, how much of a relief it was for this to be over, for all the talk and anticipation to end and to put on the Spurs hat, to shake commissioner Adam Silver’s hand and to receive a congratulatory phone call from coach Gregg Popovich.

“Longest five minutes of my life,” Wembanyama said of the time between the draft beginning and having his name called. “This is when I started getting the butterflies, and it’s where I started seeing my family get silent. Everyone watching their watch.”

Secondly, how happy he is to be here. There’s no sense of a jadedness you’ll see with young players who’ve been trained for so long that it becomes a chore. Not the case with this guy. The 7-foot-4 Frenchman had been watching the Spurs for a while, due to the Tony Parker connection, so while everyone felt it was a natural fit, there’s also a sense of comfort and familiarity he’ll feel that might not apply to other places.

“I can’t really describe it. It’s still fresh,” he said. “One of the best feelings of my life. Probably the best night of my life. I’ve been dreaming about this for so long. It’s a dream come true. It’s incredible.”

There’s time to be scrutinized and for expectations to be set and discussed. That’s for another day. Today was pure.

A family affair, and some (maybe) tears

Amen and Ausar Thompson have been on the NBA radar for a couple of years, and brothers making it to the NBA is almost commonplace now — but having those two players go back-to-back in the top five is a feat nobody could foresee.

The older Thompson by one minute, Amen, went to Houston at No. 4. And in fitting fashion, Detroit didn’t take its allotted five minutes before its selection, taking Ausar at No. 5. The NBA’s cameras never had to leave the Thompsons’ table — and word has it, Ausar got emotional watching his older brother be selected.

“I don’t know that I almost cried. My eyes almost got watery,” Ausar Thompson told Yahoo Sports. “When Amen got drafted, I looked at my older brother, he was crying. I seen my grandmother comforting him, like, ‘Oh no, you’re crying?’ Him or Amen crying would be the only ones to see me cry. Maybe my dad, he’s seen me cry.”

Markieff and Marcus Morris were selected back-to-back at 13 and 14, respectively, in the 2011 draft by Phoenix and Houston — with Kawhi Leonard being the next pick on the board, ironically enough.

These twins, who developed in the Overtime Elite incubator, took pride in their draft stock — and one can expect some endorsements to come their way. Even in the post-draft car wash of media obligations, the duo was never far away from one another.

“I think it’s kind of cool going first,” Amen Thompson said. “It means a lot to my family. Me and Ausar, we were going to be happy whoever went first. But it means a lot to my family seeing all the hard work pay off. Us go back-to-back, be the first twins in the same draft to go top five, it means a lot.”

Family affair-ish, Part 2

Jett Howard and Kobe Bufkin aren’t related, but developed a bond at Michigan this season, and despite the Wolverines having an underwhelming year, both players went higher than expected in the lottery.

So evident was their closeness, Howard was taking his place on the podium when he caught the screen to his left, hearing Bufkin’s name called by Silver for the Atlanta Hawks, four spots after Howard was selected by Orlando.

To say he was ecstatic wouldn’t do it justice.

“I didn’t really hear your question,” he confessed. “I was looking at Kobe. Just got picked, man. There’s a lot of emotions going on. I might cry for him, not even me.

“It’s like a brotherhood within Michigan.”

Howard sounds so much like his father, Michigan coach Juwan Howard, one has to do a double-take to make sure you’re talking to the younger one, not the Fab Fiver. Bufkin began rising up the draft boards in recent days, and Jett Howard couldn’t contain his happiness — almost similar to Coby White being nearly overwhelmed when Cam Johnson was selected earlier than expected by Phoenix in 2018.

Bufkin didn’t know of Howard’s reaction but was warmed by it.

“It means everything to us,” he said. “That Michigan team was very tight, and me and Jett specifically were really tight, me and Juwan were really tight. It was like family. When he went to Orlando, there was a level of joy that you’re unable to control it.”

Both White and Johnson attended North Carolina, with White being viewed as the surer prospect. That is similar to Howard and Bufkin, but one would expect both to have a chance to make early impacts.

“Man, it’s my brother. It’s my brother, man,” Howard said. “We’ve been through tough times this year. We weren’t [as] successful as we wanted to be, but just being in the trenches with him and seeing how well he carried himself and him showing me the ropes as a freshman, it means a lot to me just to see him over there smiling like that.”

Name of the night, suit of the night

It takes a confident kid to pull a suit from Suge Knight’s closet, drown it in sequins and wear it to the draft, but with a name like Gradey Dick, one would assume he’s used to standing out.

Dick was selected 13th by the Toronto Raptors, which meant the team hat matched nicely with his getup. It wasn’t a telegraph he was getting picked by Toronto — just happenstance.

“It’s Dorothy from ‘Wizard of Oz,’” Dick said. “I’m from Kansas, she’s from Kansas. I’ve got her little slippers in my coat. Just the colors, I guess.”

The original “Wizard of Oz” was released in 1939, so it took a lot of ingenuity and creativity for that strategy, but he is one confident prospect.

“Get ready because it’s going to be a fun time, a fun, fun time,” Dick said. “Paired with Scottie Barnes, you already know that’s going to be — I’m looking forward to it. Got to get out there, see Drake. I haven’t seen him a bunch, but I’m looking forward to that.”

As for the Toronto-born rapper who’s tied himself to the Raptors, Dick went a step farther.

“I need him to wear my jersey,” he said. “That’s how I know — that’s my priority.”

Surprise at the top

It was hard to tell which intel to believe, if there was a big puff of white smoke coming from North Carolina signaling the biggest smokescreen with the second pick. But indeed, the Charlotte Hornets selected Alabama swingman Brandon Miller ahead of Scoot Henderson — a player many scouts believed has talent worthy of a No. 1 pick in most years. However, the Hornets employ a franchise point guard in LaMelo Ball, so they shied away from positional duplication.

Miller could wind up being a better short-term prospect than Henderson, and qualifies as the only player in the top five who played college basketball.

“LaMelo, man, that’s definitely one of the guys,” Miller said. “He made me feel like a little brother away from home. I feel like our bond will get closer, just due to the past time. I feel like we’re always going to be together, and if not, I’m probably somewhere around him.”

Henderson walks into a more murky situation in Portland than he would’ve in Charlotte, given Damian Lillard’s presence and preference that third pick be traded for more immediate help.

Lillard’s future will be a topic of speculation in the coming weeks and months, with questions Henderson will be adjacent to, if nothing else.

But with the way Henderson danced in the hallways of Barclays Center, he was the picture of happiness.

“Yeah, I’m hoping to get to play with Dame, for sure,” Henderson said. “Special talent, special guard. One of my favorites to watch, especially film-wise. Just to pick out how he moves off the court, as well. Yeah, it would be cool to play with him.”