With the 20th pick in the Basketball Feelings Feelings Draft, Jorge Sedano selects... PRIDE

I met Jorge Sedano the same place I’ve had some of my most memorable encounters and jolting moments of inspiration, lurking around a basketball court in the buzzing countdown before tip-off. It was Kawhi’s first game back in Toronto this season, so the floor was a flurry of cameras and cords with clusters of media staking out spots. Jorge was on a break between hits when Seerat introduced us and revealed my ulterior motive, getting strategically closer to Doris Burke. Jorge laughed and nodded knowingly, “She’s the GOAT, she’s the best,” he said. I was fighting the kind of nerves that have you intimately aware of the edges of your teeth but within half a minute of talking to Jorge — LA, Toronto weather, turtlenecks — I felt light, settled. Because Jorge is a pro, he’s been doing what he does for 20 years. He is at once sharp and easy, loose and in control, with the temporal quality good broadcasters have of shifting between now and what’s next without losing hold of the line connecting them. When and if you’ve watched him work, he is pressingly upbeat, thoughtful, with enough personality to draw a person out and the understanding of when to step back and let them take over. I tried my best to emulate all of that when we discussed his pick, Pride, over DM.

Jorge Sedano:

Let’s go with Pride.

Katie Heindl:

Excellent pick. What made you lean to that?

Jorge:

Honestly, I think you can go a bunch of different directions with it. Pride about the NBA in general and how it’s handling all the obstacles facing the U.S. Plus, sports allows for a perfect avenue for civic pride — that’s why I decided on it.

Katie:

Civic pride is a good example, especially when so many leagues are trying to shift the scope to a global scale.

Do you think it’s a positive thing that people can tie themselves up so personally in teams? Or players from the same place they’re from?

Jorge:

Absolutely! Life is hard and we all clearly have our differences. However, sports creates this unique bond, where people from all sorts of backgrounds can actually find common ground.

As far as players, repping for one’s city is a not only a source of individual pride, but allows for players to marvel at the talent one area can produce. In essence, it’s also a bit of a competition for competition-a-holics, like athletes.

Katie:

On a player specific level, in your experience, have you found certain region specific styles? Styles of play, but also on a more personal level, like what players take pride in? Because I know certain schools will drill defence as a mantra, or flashiness coming from places where street ball is really, really serious.

The league can sometimes feel so amorphous, everything blurring together, but I love the personal flairs and flourishes that seem to come out of pride.

Jorge:

While, in the past, you would have guys tout their schools — North Carolina, Georgetown — it’s less about schools, because it’s such a young league. It’s more about cities. For example, Chicago guys are always considered tough. LA guys are considered tremendously skilled offensive players that play with a combination of power and grace. New York/New Jersey kids combine toughness, confidence and a wide array of talents.

Katie:

Can we talk a bit about pride as a kind of driver? I can think of two kinds off the bat — one is the classic chip on the shoulder, the other is a much more quiet, intentional pride, a real deeply rooted confidence

You know I’m from Toronto and thus very biased re: Raptors, but which teams or players that have this stand out to you?

Jorge:

I think most guys in the league have the chip on the shoulder mentality. There’s always something driving them to strive for greater heights. When it comes to teams with a specific sense of pride or a mantra they live by, it’s Miami.

Many people think of Pat Riley as Hollywood, because he coached the Showtime Lakers, has slicked back hair & Armani suits. But, Pat Riley is way more Schenectady, NY. That’s the blue collar town he grew up in. The Heat’s image and sense of pride is one that Riley professes all the time — hardest working, best conditioned, most professional, [most] unselfish, toughest, nastiest, most disliked team in the league.

Katie:

I agree, and I’m glad you picked Miami because this came up in Haley’s pick for Vulnerability. That Miami, and Riley, despite being a hardworking, polished/conditioned and tough team, is also vulnerable. I think pride forces you to open yourself up to vulnerability more often than not because you’re putting yourself out there, and the best version you think you are.

Being prideful isn’t the same thing as being egotistical, I don’t think.

Jorge:

I tend to agree. Although, I believe that for you to reach the heights these guys have reached there needs to absolutely be some ego involved.

Katie:

Oh completely, there’s no question. But maybe it’s that pride seems more pure, distilled?

Jorge:

For sure.

[Commissioner’s note: Here Jorge let me know that nap time for his youngest was drawing to a close, a polite way of saying we’re gonna need to wrap this up.]

Katie:

I want to circle back to what you said to start about why you picked pride, and the NBA’s response to the pandemic, protests, just everything. Do you think that the things we tend to feel the most pride in are two-way, like relationships, or achievements that are focused on benefitting others?

Even my biggest “personal” accomplishments, they wouldn’t have meant the same to me without the people in my corner, or being able to share the excitement, joy and pride of them with those people. “Community”, is probably the more concise way to put it.

Jorge:

I do think community is at the core of all of this. Whether it’s the smaller community within an NBA organization, players from particular cities or fans of particular team. There is an investment by everyone involved that allows those individuals to feel this sense of accomplishment. It’s why, when a team wins, the culmination is a parade. Again, the entire community showing off their sense of pride and gratitude.

Katie:

Love that parade point, it’s absolutely true. Well, I hope you feel enormous PRIDE (sorry) in distilling all this down via DM.

Last thing because I have you and should’ve asked this sooner, what’s the last thing you did that you were proud of? It can even be remembering what day it is.

Jorge:

The last thing I did that I was most proud of was my wife and I trying to discuss the worlds current state of affairs with my 6 year old daughter. That includes both the pandemic and the quest for social justice. Trying to explain those situation is the most basic way possible to see if she understood the significance of both.

The pandemic was a discussion about the, “special germs” that we call the coronavirus. That we need to be very careful about, how we interact with one another, about staying home to help each other, wash our hands and wear our masks if we go out.

She surprised us by responding, “Scientists are learning about coronavirus every day. We’ve got to work together. We have to wear a mask until the germs are gone.”

As we discussed the social unrest, I simply asked her, you know you have to be nice and love everyone no matter how they look, what language they speak or whatever color they are, right? The key to being a good person is to be nice, fair and try to help. everyone. You know that right?

To which she responded, “Daddy, for sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

My response was, I was just checking to make sure.

She said, “You’re silly daddy.”

Well, “silly daddy,” felt a a great sense of pride that we are raising a good human being.