Growing up, former Duke basketball star RJ Barrett envisioned his NBA draft day — particularly walking across the stage and greeting the league commissioner, Adam Silver.
“When you’re young and you watch the draft every year, you’re like, ‘That’s going to be me one day.’ ”
But until recently, the Toronto native hadn’t thought about what he would wear for the most important handshake of his young life.
Over the past few weeks, he worked quickly to figure out his approach for the draft, which was held at the Barclays Center. Like his college hoops career, he wanted it to be splashy, sharp and a “one and done” — the industry term for players who attend college for a single year before becoming NBA eligible.
“The suit is going to be put in plastic and preserved [after the draft]. Maybe I will go into my closet and look at it a bit. Maybe I’ll frame it. Or at least the jacket,” explains the lean, 6-foot-7 small forward, who wound up with the NY Knicks.
NEW YORK SPORTS THIS WEEK 