Draft Night Memories With Speedy Claxton

Hearing his name called in the 2000 NBA Draft was a big stress reliever for Claxton. Jesse D Garrabrant NBAE/Getty Images

Speedy Claxton (Hofstra, '00) was the 20th pick in the first round of the 2000 NBA Draft. Sixers.com recently caught up with Claxton and discussed his memories of the 2000 draft. Claxton recalled his pre-draft workouts and his surprised reaction when he heard his name called as the 20th pick.

Sixers.com: What were your memories of the night that you were drafted?
Claxton: It was a special night that was the start of my career. To see what team picked me and see who I was going to be playing for.

Sixers.com: What was your first reaction when you heard your name called as the 20th pick?
Claxton: I was real happy. Just to get drafted felt like a whole lot of stress was just gone. I was just happy to be picked.

Sixers.com: Were you happy that you were picked by a team that was close to your hometown New York?
Claxton: Everybody was happy because it was so close (to New York). Everybody was still going to get to see me play.

Sixers.com: How many teams did you workout for and how do you think the workouts went?
Claxton: I worked out for about 11 teams. I thought they all went well. I thought it was possible for all of them to pick me. One team that I didn’t workout (for) was Philly and they picked me. It was kind of like a weird situation.

Sixers. com: Where were you and who were you with on draft night?
Claxton: I had a party across the street from my college with my family, friends, coaches and everyone in the neighborhood.

Sixers.com: How did your friends and family react when they heard your name called as the 20th pick?
Claxton: When they started to call my name the place just erupted. I never heard it loud like that. It was crazy. I walked around and hugged everybody. It was a good feeling.

Sixers.com: Describe what you were feeling as each of the picks before you went by.
I was nervous as the picks went away. I didn’t get picked until 20th, so there were 19 picks going along. Every time there was a pick that came up there were a lot of TV cameras in my face, and when they didn’t pick me they’d turn the lights off and went away. It was a crazy feeling, but thank god I got picked in the first round. I was happy.

Sixers.com: What advice would you give to kids who are currently going through the draft process?
Play your hardest, try to show up everyday and pray on draft night.