SPOKANE, Wash. — The Gonzaga basketball team gathered together at No-Li Brewhouse for an NBA Draft watch party to see their former teammates' dreams come true.
First, it was Chet Holmgren taken with the second pick in the NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"You know, it's super cool to see one of your teammates, one of your friends, get drafted number two pick," said senior forward Anton Watson. "Super excited and it's a life changing moment for him. Just to be with the team and celebrate that moment for him is pretty cool."
"You know, seeing him put in all the work and talk about how he's so ready to get drafted, it's really cool. That's like my brother, so to see him accomplish his dreams is really cool," said junior guard Julian Strawther.
A hot topic of the night was the outfit the seven-footer wore at the draft in New York.
"I'm giving my boy an A, A+ to me. My boy got an A+, I like it," said senior guard Rasir Bolton.
"You know, it was nice! I didn't expect that from him, but he came out looking flashy, he looked good. So, respect to Chet," said Watson.
For the team, it took until the start of the second round to hear Andrew Nembhard's name. The point guard was taken by the Indiana Pacers with the 31st pick.
"I knew since the day I've seen him play that he's an NBA player. He's overlooked often, you know, maybe because he's a senior or upperclassmen," said Strawther. "But, I always knew he'd be a successful basketball player. That's really huge and it's something he works for endlessly, so I'm really happy for him."
Seeing their now former teammates get drafted also paints a picture of what their future could look like.
"It's definitely fun to see the guy that was next to you achieve his dream at the next level of going to the NBA. It definitely gives you motivation and shows where you can go with this program," said Bolton.
"It's great because, you know, it's motivation for us guys too on the team right now that, you know, that could be us up there one day or next year," said sophomore center Efton Reid. "So, it's just a bunch of motivation and just excited for those guys to live out their dream."
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