Irish players in NBA Draft

Designator

anybody know of any irish players that have entered the NBA Draft before?
Im thinkin of entering the NBA draft myself next year, dont expect to get drafted but its just something I always wanted to do! Might try the NBA D-league otherwise.........

Carcharodon

The one and only Pat Burke comes to mind straight away, he was undrafted though, played for Orlando and the Suns. He also spent some time at the Warriors training camp but was released and is playing in Europe now.
I actually saw him play for the Suns against the Warriors a while back, was good craic cheering him on.

Marty Conlon was born in America and played in the NBA and later on in his career played in Ireland and captained the national side. I presume his parents or grandparents were Irish.

Enzo Scifo

Carcharodon wrote: »

The one and only Pat Burke comes to mind straight away, he was undrafted though, played for Orlando and the Suns. He also spent some time at the Warriors training camp but was released and is playing in Europe now.
I actually saw him play for the Suns against the Warriors a while back, was good craic cheering him on.

quote]

Saw him play V the Warriors for Magic. Warriors were unbelievable on the night winning something like 144 90. Jay Rich and Arenas were on fire. Because of the blow out, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady spent all of the 2nd half on the bench and Burke played about 25 mins (way above his average) and top scored for them with around the 15 mark.

Enzo Scifo

Designator wrote: »

anybody know of any irish players that have entered the NBA Draft before?
Im thinkin of entering the NBA draft myself next year, dont expect to get drafted but its just something I always wanted to do! Might try the NBA D-league otherwise.........

Going to the draft is not like doing the leaving cert. Who are you / play for etc..

Sea Devils

Not really related to the topic but Mario Ellie once played here for Killester in 1987 having gone undrafted he played in Europe for a few years before making the 76ers roster .

Now related the topic this quote in a likeminded thread sums up the requirements of an irish person playing in the NBA perfectly

Phil wrote:

Anyone with aspirations of playing in the NBA would have to leave this country by the time they were 15/16, unless they were a very coachable raw talent.

Even England doesn't have the coaches, resources or competitiveness at underage level to develop proper talent.

phil

Mario Elie didn't just play in the league, he was a pretty important part of the Rockets team from 93 to 98 that won two championships in 93/94 and 94/95 (the first two seasons of Jordans first retirement after 3 titles in a row) ... he has two much coveted NBA title rings. He's very well known in the states, you'll still hear commentators very occasionally mention him and that Houston team and he's a legend in Houston (series winning 3 in game 7 of western conference semi-final game against the suns).

There are a few hoops to jump through to enter the draft if you're an international playe. You need to be 22, not 19 like US players and you need to be a "Professional basketball player" already i.e. have signed a full-time contract with a professional basketball team. You can't have enrolled in a US college or graduated from high school over there either.

What I'm getting at is that even if you're doing it for a joke, you may not be eligible to do so.

Kinetic^

Designator wrote: »

anybody know of any irish players that have entered the NBA Draft before?
Im thinkin of entering the NBA draft myself next year, dont expect to get drafted but its just something I always wanted to do! Might try the NBA D-league otherwise.........

What sort of level have you played at? What are your stats like? What team do you play for?

Enzo Scifo

phil wrote: »

Mario Elie didn't just play in the league, he was a pretty important part of the Rockets team from 93 to 98 that won two championships in 93/94 and 94/95 (the first two seasons of Jordans first retirement after 3 titles in a row) ... he has two much coveted NBA title rings. He's very well known in the states, you'll still hear commentators very occasionally mention him and that Houston team and he's a legend in Houston (series winning 3 in game 7 of western conference semi-final game against the suns).

He also won a 3rd ring with the Spurs (99 I think).
He was asked in a post match interview after a blow out that it must be tough for his team having played a 6 game road trip. He said were all well paid to perform better, its not tough. Tough is paying for your own bus in Ireland to get to training and not having a hot shower available afterwards :P.

Sea Devils

phil wrote: »

(series winning 3 in game 7 of western conference semi-final game against the suns).
.

What I always remember about that shot was the "kiss of death" he gave to Suns fans once he drained it. One of my favourite Playoff clutch shots of all time:p

Certainly wish the Warriors had kept him as Assistant Coach even though Keith Smart is doing a good job. Often wonder why he never got a chance to coach the team it's not like he wouldn't have been any worse then Montgomery was.

Carcharodon

Kinetic^ wrote: »

What sort of level have you played at? What are your stats like? What team do you play for?

I have a feeling that the op could be taking the piss or else is not all there !