Likely NBA lottery pick reveals combine questions got way too personal
The NFL has gotten some heat in recent years after draft prospects revealed they had been asked outrageous, extremely personal and borderline illegal questions at the league’s annual scouting combine.
In March, former LSU running back Derrius Guice said teams asked him about his sexuality and whether his mother was a prostitute.
“It was pretty crazy,” Guice said in a May interview on SiriusXM Radio. “Some people are really trying to get in your head and test your reaction. … I go in one room, and a team will ask me do I like men, just to see my reaction. I go in another room, they’ll try to bring up one of my family members or something and tell me, ‘Hey, I heard your mom sells herself. How do you feel about that?'”
(An NFL investigation failed to confirm his claims.)
Dez Bryant said he was “mad, really mad” when he was asked the mother prostitution question in 2010 by then-Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland, who later apologized for it.
In 2016, Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn had to apologize after an assistant asked cornerback Eli Apple, “So do you like men?” Similar questions were also asked of tight end Nick Kasa in 2013 and defensive lineman Geno Atkins in 2010.
According to The Associated Press, the NFL sends out guidelines each year before the combine about specific language teams should avoid in their combine questions.
“Among the regulations is a ban on such questions as whether the player likes men or women; is gay or straight; has any children or dependents and who has primary caretaking responsibilities; and whether or not he married his child’s mother,” AP said.
The NBA might want to give its teams similar guidance.
Former Kentucky star Kevin Knox told reporters Wednesday that he was asked during his sport’s combine whether he has a child.
“One team, I don’t know what team it was … they asked if I had a kid,” Knox said at a predraft press conference. “They were like, ‘I heard you had a kid on the way.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t have a baby.’ They were like, ‘You sure? I want to know its name.'”
According to Sports Illustrated, the team later admitted it was just testing him.
“They were just pressing me about it just to see how I react, see if I budged,” Knox said. “Didn’t budge at all, because I have no babies.”
One NBA team insisted on knowing the name of Kevin Knox's baby. But there was one big problem. #NBAdraft pic.twitter.com/UP3uuXVWXp
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) June 20, 2018
The 6-foot-9 forward is projected as a lottery pick, and ESPN is among those who see him as a possible pick of the New York Knicks at No. 9.
The NBA has mostly avoided combine question controversy. A USA Today story last year on what players had been asked featured such thought-provoking gems as, “If you were the size of a pencil and stuck in a blender, how would you get out?” and “Why is a manhole cover round?”
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