Do You Know This First Round Pick?

Leitch|published: Wed 29th June, 11:13 2005

This image was lost some time after publication.

Meet Ian Mahinmi. Who's that? He's the 6-foot-10, 18-year-old Frenchman the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs drafted at the end of the first round last evening. The Spurs have obviously unearthed some great unheralded players before, but Mahinmi has to take the taco. The NBA Draft is one of the most overcovered, overhyped events in sports, and yet last night, the World Champions drafted a guy (in the first round!) who almost nobody knew.

ESPN's draft page listed Mahinmi but had no info. (He wasn't in either round of Chad Ford's mock drafts.) Draft City had nothing. Journalists went scrambling all morning trying to find info of Mahinmi, who wasn't even listed in the NBA's Draft Guide. (Which of course they were all helpless without.) All we could find this morning was the above picture and a French Web site which, translated, seems to say, "Tous avec Mahinmi Ian Mahinmi Ian!!!!! I love Mahinmi Ian!!!" Because this is the Spurs, of course, he'll be the Finals MVP in three years.

Ian Mahinmi [World Basketball] Ian Mahinmi [ESPN Insider] (subscription required) Spurs Draft World Beat Again [San Antonio News-Express]