2 days Ago
Australia’s latest NBA player Johnny Furphy has opened up on his “tough” slide out of the first round and comforting words from his new head coach at the Indiana Pacers. Indiana traded up a spot to take Furphy 35th overall in the draft after the Victorian, who was expected to be taken in the back-half of the first round, was overlooked by other teams. ESPN had Furphy as its No.
18 ranked prospect while The Athletic, Bleacher Report, The Ringer and CBS Sports all had the 19-year-old going in the late 20s in their mock drafts. Furphy lifted the lid on his fall down the draft board in an interview with The Kansas City Star on Friday, describing the experience as “tough”. HUGE Furphy dunk gets scouts salivating | 00:26 “It was just very uncertain,” the former Kansas Jayhawks wing told The Star.
“It’s such a wide range, with so many moving pieces. It was tough, but at the end of the day, it’s wherever the best fit is.” Furphy added that it was “pretty amazing” to finally hear his name called, with the family deciding to watch the second round in a hotel room after a long wait in the green room on Thursday.
Furphy’s father Rich told ‘RSN Breakfast with Harf’ on Friday morning it was a “huge relief” to see his son drafted after the previous day left him “emotionally and physically spent”. “There’s been a lot of background conversations going on today to try get to this point,” Rich said. “Last night was hard work.
It wasn’t the plan, .
