The 2014 NBA Draft has been hyped for a couple years now. Some think it’s right up there with the 2003 Draft that featured the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh. Others think it’s too early to tell what stars it might produce. Regardless, these rookies are already larger than life, so we thought it only appropriate to ask them during the 2014 NBA Rookie Shoot yesterday in Tarrytown, New York which superhero is their favorite.
A lot of Batman fans were in the house, including Johnny O’Bryant with the Bucks and Glenn Robinson III with the ‘Wolves, the latter of whom told us about Batman, “I gotta get that car.” Glenn Robinson‘s son drives a jeep now, so he thinks he’s all set for a Minnesota winter. Still, Batman’s car would be nice and it can handle anything.
Damien Inglis of the Bucks is also a Batman fan, but he told us, “When I was younger, my favorite hero was ‘Barracudo,’ a big black guy with a chain, beat up everyone else. This is Barracudo, but don’t worry, we didn’t know about him either. UCONN’s two-time champ, Shabazz Napier said Batman was cool, but he didn’t have any powers, so Bazz would go with Superman.
But Jarnell Stokes said his favorite superhero was BANE. Yes, the Batman villain is Stokes’ favorite because “the way he carries himself, I try to mimick that out on the floor.” Stokes wasn’t keen on trying to impersonate BANE, but that might have been our favorite answer.
Rodney Hood for the Jazz, told us Shaft was his favorite superhero. Though John Shaft isn’t really a superhero, this is a nice excuse to play Isaac Hayes, so if you’re a Jazz fan keep this in mind when you’re making a Hood mix.
Julius Randle, Zach LaVine, and James Young all said “Superman” was their favorite, even when we told them Shaq might feel they’re stealing one of his favorite superheroes.
Spencer Dinwiddie said “Iron Man. Everybody can’t be an alien, but you could build something like that. OK, cool I could be Superman, but — depending on how you write him — it’d be cool. But Iron Man is a lot more realistic, he’s got the suit, he’s really smart, he’s got a kind a little edge to him, and his confidence. I like him.”
C.J. Wilcox picked Iron Man, too, but also mentioned how much he likes Magneto, the villain from X-Men.
Click to see the same surprising choice by the top two picks in the draft…
T.J. Warren and Mitch McGary both like The Hulk. McGary says people think he plays like Hulk, and Warren chose Hulk because “He’s unstoppable.” Both credited The Avengers films, for their love of Hulk, even though a couple of films have been done about Bruce Banner and the green monster that comes out when he gets angry.
Neither Joel Embiid or Nik Stauskas has a favorite superhero, but the top two picks in the NBA Draft picked the same superhero, from a world we know nothing about.
Thank God Steven Lebron joined us at the photo shoot because, Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins both said “Goku” when we asked them their favorite superhero.
Our ignorance was apparent when Steven informed us Goku is “like the LeBron James of Dragonball Z.”
Favorite rookie and favorite superhero?
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