If you thought Charlotte Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak looked out-of-place at a draft lottery, well, he thought so, too.
“This was the first lottery, and I hope the last lottery, that I ever attend,” Kupchak said after walking off the stage in a hotel ballroom with the 11th overall pick in the June 21 NBA draft.
Kupchak’s Los Angeles Lakers teams, over roughly 18 seasons, were constantly in the playoffs, so the NBA’s annual May festivity to determine the top three picks in the draft didn’t typically concern him.
Then, Michael Jordan picked him to remake the Hornets’ basketball operation.