The Loop

RJ Hampton’s dad flinging a Bucks hat across the room after Milwaukee traded his son to the Nuggets was the highlight of the 2020 NBA Draft

November 19, 2020

You know how some people just don’t care about the NFL Draft? They care about the players once they’re on their team, but before that, nothing, nada, zilch. Maybe it’s a lack of interest in the college football that drives it. Perhaps it’s a complete aversion to all things Mel Kiper Jr. and Roger Goodell (can’t blame them there). Well, that’s kind of how I am about the NBA Draft, where order is selected mostly at random, some of the prospects are from like Turkey where we never see them play, and half the picks aren’t really the picks anyway, because we all know they’re going to get traded in the next twenty minutes to some team two-thousand miles away. And yet, with one flick of his wrist on Wednesday night, Rod Hampton, the father of 24th-overall pick RJ Hampton, might have changed all that.

That’s Rod flinging a Milwaukee Bucks hat across the room on live TV with the commissioner of the NBA watching on because the Bucks reportedly plan to trade Hampton to the Nuggets by way of the Pelicans (or whatever, who can keep track). Some people might find this a bit unseemly, but we unironically love to see it. Partly because it shows a father sticking up for his son, who eschewed the usual NCAA to NBA arc by playing in New Zealand for a year, but also because it’s just damn good TV. Last year we got the waterworks, with Zion, Ja Morant, and RJ Barrett all pouring their hearts for the world to see. This year we got the fireworks. We much prefer fireworks.

As for the Hamptons, there’s nothing to be too upset about here. Sure, it sucks to watch your kid be treated like a tooth on the gear of a cog of the machine, but the Nuggets are a hell of a machine, one that should be contending down the stretch in the Western Conference this season. Plus, we hear the skiing is pretty great in Colorado this time of year. Go catch some fresh tracks, Rod. You’ll feel better in no time.