When they entered The Theater, Knicks fans were already buzzing about a rumored trade bringing Antonio McDyess to the Big Apple for the Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and the rights to the No. 7 pick. Fans were working their cell phones as tirelessly as general managers.
"What's the deal?" was the most asked question on those phones. Even the women who were selling the 2002 NBA Draft caps were weighing in on the Knicks pick.
"I think they need to add a bug guy," said one. Greg Packer, of Huntington, N.Y., who was attending his second draft, had an opinion as to who the Knicks would draft.
"They need Wilcox," Packer said. "They need to get bigger."
"9/11 was the catalyst. Having been in the city on that day, and seeing how the streets were so empty and the sky smelling so bad, it really reminded me that we had to do whatever we had to do," he said. "And tonight is the night."
A bug guy? Like they should have drafted Yao Roach or LeBron Spider? Or maybe the Orkin Man?