ORLANDO – When the moment came that would ultimately change the lives of rangy small forward Melvin Frazier and his family – the No. 35 pick of Thursday’s NBA Draft – ESPN’s television coverage predominately showed a commercial touting Sunday’s Perelli French Grand Prix Formula One race.
Scrolled along the bottom of the television, however, was Frazier’s name, his 2017-18 statistics at Tulane University and a brief mention of him winning the American Athletic Conference’s Most Improved Player award. Frazier actually did not see his name pop up at the bottom of the screen, but the roar of the crowd around him let him know that his dream of being an NBA player had been realized.