If you have been following the tips for the top picks for the 2014 NBA Draft, you will be familiar with the name of Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins has been tipped as a possible first pick and it is believed that he impressed on a workout with the Cleveland Cavaliers, so he may be a sensible option to put your money on if you are looking to bet on the NBA Draft.
However, even if the Cavaliers snap up Wiggins, the Harlem Globetrotters have gone one further because they have drafted the two elder brothers of Andrew, Mitchell Wiggins Jnr and Nick Wiggins. Both of these players have achieved success and fame in college basketball in the US and come from a very sporting family. The dad of the family, Mitchell Snr, was a first round NBA Draft selection who managed to clock up 6 seasons in the NBA and mother of the family, Martha, has two silver medals from the Olympics, for track and field events. The Wiggins family is clearly a sporty one and you get the feeling that the Globetrotters have made excellent choices in going for the Wiggins brothers.
The Globetrotters love publicity
Of course, there will be some people who say that the Harlem Globetrotters Draft is nothing but a sham and a way of drumming up publicity for the basketball team. There will also be people who question the need to draft in so many players, especially when they always seem to have the upper hand against the Generals. Still, there is a need for every sports team to get themselves into the media and when you think about the positive impact that the Globetrotters have on society and local communities, you can forgive them for seeking out news stories around what they do.
Then again, some folk will find that the drafting of Landon Donovan to be a step too far! It is not often that soccer is the most important sport in the US, and it probably still isn’t, but there is a real buzz about the game in America at the moment thanks to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. For once, American sports fans would have experienced the excitement, drama and heartbreak of a match that was drawn with no intention of OT or making sure there was a conclusion. The match between the US and Portugal may have finished 2-2 but a lot of American sports fans would have felt like winners cheering their team on with pride.
The USA has loved the exploits of the soccer team in Brazil
This result, and all of the achievements at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, has been achieved without Landon Donovan, who was left out of the roster by coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Some people viewed this to be a mistake, believing that Donovan was a talismanic figure but in Clint Dempsey, the US fans have realised that there are new stars to love and back all the time. All of which means that Donovan is a man with his name in the news and if he is keen to find a way to get away from soccer, the Harlem Globetrotters have provided him with the perfect opportunity.
Not content with trying to snare a soccer player, it seems as though the Globetrotters have tried to pick up a football player too. Well, they’ve tried to pick up “Johnny Football”, the trademarked nickname of Johnny Manziel, the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. This bold move, which is likely to end in failure, comes a year after the San Diego Padres drafted Maziel in the 2014 MLB Draft. That move ended in failure and it is likely that the Globetrotters will be joining the Padres in a small selection of teams that tried to get Manziel to come on board but who fell short at the last minute.
The Harlem Globetrotters may have made a few surprise selections with their Draft but do you think there will be any surprises in the 2014 NBA Draft?
At 3-1 down in the NBA Finals, many people predicted that the Cleveland Cavaliers would lie down, perhaps looking for the pain to be over and done with for another year. After all, they were facing the record breakers, the team that had shown themselves to be the best of the best by a good...