Markelle Fultz is next, but in case you didn't know:
The 2017 NBA draft will lead off with the selection of Markelle Fultz, just 10 days after Kevin Durant was named MVP of the NBA Finals. Both Fultz and Durant are from Prince George’s County, Maryland. But great as they surely are, Fultz and Durant don’t really throw the curve when it comes to grading basketball in this Washington, D.C., suburb. For years now, P.G. County has been to hoops what Champagne is to Champagne.
“It’s a joy to see all the talent we’ve got here,” says Taras “Stink” Brown, a legend on the Prince George’s County youth coaching scene best known for molding a young Durant on the courts at the county’s Seat Pleasant recreation center. “We have got some talent! P.G. County is everywhere!”
You can look it up. Among the ridiculously large county contingent already spread around the NBA: Michael Beasley of the Milwaukee Bucks; Quinn Cook and Dante Cunningham of the New Orleans Pelicans; Durant of the Golden State Warriors; Treveon Graham of the Charlotte Hornets; Jerami Grant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and his brother, Jerian Grant of the Chicago Bulls; Victor Oladipo, also of the Thunder; Jeff Green of the Orlando Magic; Roy Hibbert of the Denver Nuggets; Ty Lawson of the Sacramento Kings; Rodney McGruder of the Miami Heat; Chinanu Onuaku of the Houston Rockets; and Thomas Robinson of the Los Angeles Lakers. (And another P.G. product, Melo Trimble, could join them in this year’s draft class, too.) Not all stars, of course, but just being in the NBA makes you one of the 450 best basketball players in the world. That’s elite.
