Tagore's sister and younger brother hugged, cheered, and jumped around, celebrating with all kinds of dance moves.
Today was the happiest day of their family's lives.
Meanwhile, at the Commentary Booth courtside, Reggie Miller was staring at the screen of his tablet. It displayed the draft reports for the two players.
As he read, he said in surprise:
"I think a lot of teams would overlook these two players' draft reports. But take a look: despite getting limited playing time in college, both of them had quite good defensive efficiency."
"Tagore's strength is his relentless defense. As soon as he gets on the court, he'll hound the opposing team's offensive star, making life difficult for him."
"Locke has a nickname: Big Lock. Why? Because he can often lock down the opposing team's offensive players. The most frightening thing is that he has a body like LeBron James and is said to be able to guard positions one through five."
"We've seen players who can play positions one through five, but we've hardly ever heard of players who can guard positions one through five."
"In the first game of the Regular Season, these two showed off that kind of defensive ability during their time off the bench. I have to admire the Raptors' eye for talent."
JJ Redick understood now, too. "A lot of people questioned the Raptors' front office before, thinking they'd wasted the sixth pick. And picking Little Tiger Tagore at 30th in the second round seemed even more baffling. But now I understand their draft strategy: they need good defensive players. With Wang Yi on the team, they don't have to worry about offense. What they need is to strengthen their defense."
"Offensive rookies have a hard time getting playing time in their first season, but a lot