Suns Retorter: Phoenix Won the NBA Draft Lottery

The Phoenix Suns won the Draft Lottery on Tuesday.

It sounds extremely counterintuitive, like saying Elliot Perry is the greatest point guard in Suns history or Lindsay Lohan is the best actress of our time. But, unlike those ridiculous examples, this one is true.

No, the Suns didn’t wind up in the top three of this June’s draft, but you already knew that. They even saw a long-time hated rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, defy the odds to get the second pick overall. It mattered about as much as the traffic laws do in the draft lottery host city of New York.

Sometimes things are bigger than basketball or ping-pong balls. Sometimes they’re bigger than wins and losses, and sometimes they’re bigger than yourself or your own wants and needs. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. I witnessed it with my own two eyes over a 24-hour period.

On Tuesday in New York City that thing, which was bigger than the game we all love, was giving 17-year-old Jared Ornoski, who is battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I was lucky enough to experience the journey first hand. Initially I wasn’t going to write anything about the whirlwind 36 hours spent in New York with Jared, his father, Mike and Suns staffers. I didn’t want it to seem contrived or a ploy for goodwill from fans. Making it look like that would be a complete injustice to what was a truly unadulterated experience for a young man I consider myself lucky to have met.

After much deliberation, though, it became clear to me. What I had experienced was something that needed to be shared with fans.

Simple moments like watching a father and son share an embrace at the Mecca of Basketball, Madison Square Garden, after touring the facility or the smile of a teenager battling odds no one his age should have to on stage at the NBA Draft Lottery, are things forever ingrained in my mind.

The kindness the extended NBA family showed Jared throughout the trip was moving. Legends like Larry Bird, Alonzo Mourning and Nate "Tiny" Archibald all took the time to say hello and pose for pictures with him. Top prospects Jahlil Okafor, Frank Kaminski, Stanley Johnson and Kelly Oubre all talked to him about the game they loved as if they were old friends. Even ESPN rolled out the red carpet as reporter Heather Cox made it a point to introduce herself and get to know Jared, and the four-letter network even showed Jared and shared his story during the telecast.

It was Phoenix’s own 7-1 center Alex Len who left the biggest impression, though -- no pun intended. If you’ve spent extended time around the Ukrainian big man, you know he’s relatively quiet but always polite. The kind of man who, unlike your typical 21-year-old, puts much thought behind words before he speaks them. At times it makes him look extremely reserved until you remember he first learned English the summer after his freshman year at Maryland a mere three years ago. Tuesday in New York, he showed another side of himself.

As he spent lunch with Jared at a little Mediterranean restaurant in midtown Manhattan, Len lit up and became very animated, like a big kid, as he spoke to Jared. They talked about basketball, his college career, which teams he had rivalries with at Maryland -- sorry, I won’t divulge which team he really disliked -- and his journey from his homeland to the United States. The most endearing part was when the two found common ground.

Len told the story of how he had, just weeks earlier, passed both the written and driving portions of the test to receive his driver’s license for the first time. Jared spoke about how he’s hoping to follow suit in the near future. It was one of the moments when you truly remember professional athletes are just people. A starting NBA center and a young man four years his junior, were more alike than anyone would have guessed.

While waiting for a cab outside the restaurant, Len, Jared and his father talked about the challenges of being over 7-feet tall. When the yellow taxi that would take them to Central Park arrived, they got to see one of those challenges first hand as the center folded himself step-by-step delicately like an artist trying to make the perfect origami crane into the front seat.

When they arrived to the world’s most famous park -- and what felt like its largest as we wandered around it for miles -- the pair was deep in conversation as the caravan of Suns employees, with an assist from the NYPD, found an outdoor basketball court.

Alex invited Jared and his father to play a game of S-U-N-S. Little did the big man know , it was the first time the younger Ornoski had touched a basketball since having to leave his Phoenix Christian teammates after his diagnosis. Despite the layoff, Jared, in his Suns shirt and backwards hat, found his game quickly, hitting a few acrobatic shots despite his chemotherapy port limiting his range of motion.

As the game wrapped up, you could tell Len wasn’t ready for this wonderful moment to pass him by. Instead of rushing back to his hotel room, he asked Jared if he wanted to play a game of one-on-one. He smiled and said yes. The two negotiated the terms of the game. They’d play to six. Twenty minutes later, after sharing a few laughs and both showing off some of their best moves, Jared drove to the basket and made the winning layup. The underdog in both the game and life pulling off the upset.

Len wouldn’t say whether or not he took it easy on Jared despite it being obvious to the crowd who had gathered to get a glimpse of what was going on. (Surprisingly enough a 7-footer and a camera crew even draw a crowd in the city that never sleeps.) All he cared about was making it a special experience for his new friend.

“It was cool. When the Suns told me about it I was really excited,” Len said as he stood in the middle of Central Park. “I have a lot of friends back home who have cancer. I know what it means. I’m happy to put a smile on Jared’s face.”

Before leaving the park, Jared and his father explained to Alex the port and the procedures he had gone through. As they talked, the genuine look of concern washed over Len’s face. You could tell he truly cared about the young man who had just entered his life mere hours before.

Later in the evening the two reunited in the lobby of the Hilton where the Lottery would take place. They talked about how Alex’s barber had traveled all the way from Maryland to cut his hair and how he didn’t shave because it’s bad luck to do so before a big event in the Ukraine. Jared, obviously tired from the day’s events, couldn’t stop smiling. The two mingled with the aforementioned NBA dignitaries before taking their seats for the Lottery, Len on stage and Jared four rows back. As the Suns’ card was revealed at No.13, both men were visibly disappointed. But they didn’t let it dampen their attitudes.

After the Timberwolves and their representatives celebrated and the grand ballroom began to empty like a tub whose drain had slowly been lifted, a familiar face approached Jared hoping for a minute of his time. It was the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, who wanted to say hi. He welcomed the young man to the league by name, told him he wanted his Suns contract sent to him so he could sign it, as well, and shook his hand as he said his goodbye. It was a moment reminiscent of the one Len had shared with the previous commissioner two summers before in New York after his name was called.

At this point it would have been easy for Len to call it a day. It would have been understandable. He had other plans. But instead, he invited the Ornoski’s to dinner. The best part of it all? He did it unprompted and would likely be embarrassed if he knew I was writing about it.

So you see, the Suns won the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday regardless of what ping-pong balls or envelopes say. In the concrete jungle, where dreams are made of, Jared Ornoski got to experience something he never would have imagined and along the way, he made a new 7-1 friend who just happens to be an NBA center. The story doesn’t end here though. It’s just the beginning. The #PHX4Jared movement will continue throughout the draft process and, who knows, maybe he’ll help make No. 13 lucky, too.