WONDERING how top picks in the PBA Season 46 Rookie Draft were already wearing their team caps once their selections were announced?
It's a curious question given that the annual draft exercise held at the TV5 Media Centre in Mandalyong was done live and all 86 applicants were only connected via Zoom, some from overseas.
Do the entrants themselves knew what team will pick them before hand?
The answer is no. And the explanation is really quite simple.
The PBA gave a select number of rookie hopefuls a set of 12 draft caps, one for each member team. They were asked to wear the corresponding team cap upon their selection.
Among those who received their team caps were the expected first rounders, as well as a number of notable collegiate stars.
Each draftee gets only to keep the draft cap of the team that picks them. They were instructed to return the 11 other caps to the PBA for distribution to the other draftees who did not get their caps on Sunday.
The system was similar to that used by the NBA, which also gave draft caps to their applicants in the 2020 NBA Draft, which was done virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, the health scare has also caused another draft merch - the traditional draft jackets - to be scrapped as the PBA felt it was too costly to have 12 of those pairs shipped together with the caps to the draft applicants.
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