EL SEGUNDO “”mdash; Strutting into his first press conference as
a professional basketball player, Jordan Farmar couldn’t have
looked any more at home.
Less than twenty-four hours after being selected as the No. 26
pick in the NBA Draft by his hometown Los Angeles Lakers on June
28, Farmar was introduced by his new general manager, Mitch
Kupchak. In Farmar’s comments, he spoke as if he knew all
along that fate would place him in what he deemed a “perfect
situation.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome,”
Farmar said. “If I had to draw it up again, I wouldn’t
take it any other way.”
Dressed in a trim teal suit with a sleek orange tie and Italian
loafers, the former UCLA point guard held up his new purple and
gold No. 5 jersey with Kupchak standing beside him. While the photo
flashes popped back and forth, Farmar winked at his little sister,
Shoshana Kolani, who was sitting in the front row, showing the
poise and confidence that defined his two-year stay in
Westwood.
If Farmar was only acting this calm, he sure is in the right
city.
After leading UCLA to the NCAA Championship game in only his
sophomore season, Farmar, by entering the NBA, cuts short a
dazzling collegiate career with the hopes of showing the basketball
community that he not only has the charisma, but the supreme
athletic ability often unseen in coach Ben Howland’s
system.
The turning point for Farmar came at the Pre-Draft Camp in
Orlando, Fla., where he had what Kupchak called one of the most
impressive workouts of all the players. Showcasing a surprising
42-inch vertical leap, Farmar cemented his place in the first round
and made the Lakers feel like they were lucky just to grab him
after 25 other players had been taken off the board.
“I showed I was a little stronger than people thought, a
little more athletic than people thought,” Farmar said.
“I think that was big for me just to show up there. A lot of
guys tried to dodge that, like something is going to get exposed. I
had nothing to hide.”
While the top prospects in the draft annually tend to steer
clear of the Pre-Draft Camp, at the risk of exposing a weakness and
dropping their high stock, Farmar used the workouts as a chance to
show NBA organizations that he had the makings of a pro
ballplayer.
During the past two months, Farmar was not given the guarantee
from any team that he would be its first-round pick. Much criticism
of Farmar was that he didn’t display the athleticism at UCLA
necessary for a true point guard at the next level. But the
Lakers’ concerns were put to rest.
“The things that he showed us during the workout; … that
level of competition is certainly better than what he played
against at UCLA,” Kupchak said.
Farmar returned for a second interview with Kupchak only two
days before the draft, this time wearing a suit to show maturity
often lacking in a 19-year-old. It was a subtle gesture that
impressed Kupchak and made him take note even in the midst of
scouting hundreds of college players.
“He’s really a bright, intelligent basketball
player,” Kupchak said, “and we look for that with what
we do and the type of offense we run.
“We said, “˜Hey, this kid’s a
professional.'”
Farmar will unofficially begin his pro career in the NBA Summer
League at the Long Beach Pyramid on July 8.
Farmar’s first afternoon as a Laker slowly wound down as
he stressed the importance of being able to play basketball in his
hometown with friends and family to guide him.
The press conference ended anticlimactically in comparison to
the way his morning began. At 9:30 AM, Farmar received a phone call
from Lakers star Kobe Bryant welcoming him to the team.
“That was the best way to start my career,” Farmar
said, “to get a phone call from the best player in the
NBA.”