NEW YORK -- ON THE 28TH FLOOR of a five-star hotel in midtown Manhattan, Rob Dillingham sat at a table near a window that overlooked Madison Avenue, which for years has turned athletes into pitchmen. It was the day before the 2024 NBA draft.
He smiled, nervously.
He leaned forward and tapped his leg.
Dillingham, 19, who spent his lone college season at Kentucky, went to three high schools, all conveyor belts for basketball players, in four years. He moved cross country to attend his second high school, Donda Academy, which was founded by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.