Cook living with his decision - Andy Katz ESPN.COM

[kevin <bostonceltics17nojunkmailplease@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was in HongKong, missed watching game 5. I'm ready for game 6 and 7. Cs in 7


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Cook living with his decision
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com

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WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Celtics have left the building for the day, including last season's
first-round pick Joseph Forte. If one looks closely on the Boston bench during the NBA
playoffs, Forte can be seen cheering his teammates on against New Jersey. But that's as
close to the action as Forte gets, not being on the active postseason roster.

Omar Cook doesn't even have those privileges. There is no TV time, or coveted exposure in
the NBA. Instead, Cook spends his quality time working out with a freelance workout
specialist at the Celtics practice facility in advance of the summer league, the team's
fall camp and the anticipation that he will be on the court next season in Celtic green.

  
Omar Cook wound up in the NBDL this year after leaving St. John's as a freshman. 

Maybe even playing ahead of Forte.

But just getting to Waltham, Mass., has been an ordeal. Cook was drafted by Orlando,
traded to Denver and Dallas, then sent packing to Fayetteville, N.C. and the D League. Not
exactly the itinerary Cook envisioned when he left St. John's as a freshman about this
time last year. And certainly not the route a McDonald's All-American out of Christ the
King High School in Queens and the NCAA's second-leading assist man in 2000-01 ever
dreamed he would take to the league.

But this is Cook's reality lesson after listening to the advice of ... no one.

That's right, Cook was done in by his own warped perception of where he would go in the
2001 draft after the Chicago pre-draft camp. As the 2002 camp gets ready to begin next
Wednesday, the players should look at Cook as Exhibit A when it comes to putting too much
stock in one's own performance.

"On the Internet and in the newspapers it said me and (DePaul's) Steven Hunter were the
best players in Chicago," Cook said. "My stock moved up so much that people were thinking
of taking me as early as 10 to 14 (guaranteeing Cook in excess of $3 million over three
years). So that's what basically did it for me to come out."

Hunter was indeed the surprise of the 2001 draft, going No. 15 to Orlando. Cook also was
surprised, but for all the wrong reasons. Bypassed by converted point guards Forte and
Jeryl Sasser, Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley, and foreign points Raul Lopez and Tony Parker,
the former toast of Madison Square Garden was finally taken by Orlando at No. 32 in the
second round.

"When I was a second-round pick, I lost a lot of confidence in myself," Cook said. "I
always thought I could play, but it was like I just left college where I was just a
McDonald's All-American and where I was Mr. New York, and now I'm going through this?"

Cook was dealt to Denver on draft night. But that didn't work out well. He was on a team
with fellow rookie point and underclassman turned second-round pick Kenny Satterfield. He
was traded to Dallas before the season started and then dumped again by the Mavericks who
were overloaded with talent. He spent two weeks doing absolutely nothing, saying there was
"no run because everyone is overseas or playing in the NBA," before he ended up in the
NBDL on Jan. 8 playing for Fayetteville. He thought his stay down South would last two
weeks, but he ended up playing 35 games, averaging 12.2 points and 7.8 assists, earning
the league's base salary of between $27,000-$30,000.

The Celtics then saved him a summer of guessing where his next stop might be when they
signed Cook on the last day of the regular season for next season. Boston, it turns out,
is a team Cook wanted and thought he would be with from the beginning of 2002.

  I never imagined this would happen. I was sure I was going to be a first-round pick. I
was for sure that I was going to make an impact on the NBA. I was for sure that I was
going to do what it took to be one of the best players, but I had to learn the hard way.
Everything I went through helped me out.  
   Omar Cook 

"I never imagined this would happen," Cook said. "I was sure I was going to be a
first-round pick. I was for sure that I was going to make an impact on the NBA. I was for
sure that I was going to do what it took to be one of the best players, but I had to learn
the hard way. Everything I went through helped me out."

Cook, still just 20, said he has never worked harder on his game in his life -- focusing
mainly on his jump shot, after shooting 36 percent at St. John's, 30.9 percent on 3s and
38 percent on both shots in the 'D' league. And with good reason. He never had to earn
something as much as he does with the Celtics. The staff does see him as a legitimate
backup point guard. And while they won't say it publicly, privately they are much higher
on Cook than Forte as a point and, perhaps, as a teammate. (It's no secret that Forte
didn't win teammates over when he once showed up in the locker room wearing a Lakers
jersey.)

"This kid has a coolness for a guy his age," said Boston Celtics player personnel director
Leo Papile, who was leaning toward Cook on draft night last season but was outvoted.
"There is this perception out there that if you're not 29 or 30 then you're a leper,
you're a bum. The draft is not the be all. You don't have to fear it as a life threatening
condition if you're not a lottery pick. There are too many Ben Wallace's (undrafted free
agents) running around for that. When Omar's 35-years-old, it won't matter if he was a
first- or second-round pick. But whether or not he's a pro or not."

Still, it is no secret that Cook made his life harder by leaving college early when he
wasn't a lock for the first round. His coaches at St. John's, especially head coach Mike
Jarvis, has said that Cook should have stayed. He would have played with Marcus Hatten
this past season and been an even better player because he wouldn't have felt the pressure
to score as much from the point.

"I was in the street (after he got cut by Dallas) and everyone was saying to me you should
have stayed in school. But you can't compare me to a Jason Williams," Cook said of the
Duke point guard. "Jason Williams went to Duke and Jason Williams lived in the suburbs.
Jason Williams had everything growing up -- I had nothing growing up. It was difficult for
me, but if you decide to come out and you have a good reason and believe in yourself, then
take everyone's advice and in the end live with the decision you make."

Cook says he had to provide for his family and even second-round money, albeit not
guaranteed, had an appeal. But after the way he played in the Chicago pre-draft camp, he
really didn't think about anything other than being a lottery pick, or at worse, among
those players living the life of a first-round pick.

"I am the only one who made the decision, and I'm the only one that has to go through the
decision I made," Cook said. "And all the advice I got was to stay in school, but I chose
to come out."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He covers the NBA draft for ESPN.com and ESPN.




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