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By JIM O’CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -There must be something about basketball bloodlines.
Three players whose fathers played in the NBA were chosen in the top 15 picks of the draft Thursday night.
Stephen Curry, whose father Dell played in the league for 16 seasons, was taken with the seventh pick by Golden State. The nation’s leading scorer last season as a junior at Davidson with a 28.6 average, Curry led the Wildcats within a game of the Final Four as a sophomore.
Gerald Henderson, whose father with the same name played for 13 years in the NBA and was on three championship teams with Boston and one with Detroit, was selected 12th by Charlotte. Henderson was a third-team All-America at Duke last season as a junior, averaging 16.5 points.
Austin Daye, who left Gonzaga after his sophomore season, was taken 15th by Detroit. His father Darren played five seasons in the NBA. Daye averaged 12.7 points and shot 43 percent from 3-point range for the Zags last season.
At least one son of a former NBA player has been taken in the last seven drafts.
002 with Mike Dunleavy and continued with Luke Walton (2003), Jackson Vroman (2004), Sean May (2005), Ronnie Brewer (2006), Al Horford (2007) and Kevin Love and Patrick Ewing Jr. (2008).
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CONFERENCE LOTTERY: Even though it was the NBA’s night, there was still plenty of college rivalry on display at the draft.
Through the lottery picks, the first 14, the Big East led with four players chosen: Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Terrence Williams and Earl Clark. The Pac-10 had three taken in the top 14: James Harden, Jordan Hill and Demar DeRozan. The Atlantic Coast Conference had two, while the Big 12, Conference USA and Southern Conference had one each.
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BOW TIE: It was easy to pick out James Harden when the future NBA players were having a group picture taken about a half hour before the draft. Harden was the only one with a bow tie.
After being taken with the third pick by Oklahoma City, the Arizona State guard was asked about his neck wear and if he tied it himself.
“No,” he admitted quickly. “I tried it so many times, it wasn’t working, so I had my stylist come up to me to give me a session to help me do it.”
Harden, a native of Los Angeles, was taken by Oklahoma City, while Blake Griffin, a native of Oklahoma City, was taken No. 1 overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.
Harden had an idea for Griffin.
I should go to LA, and everything would be great,” Harden said. “Obviously it doesn’t work that way.”
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INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: Ricky Rubio, the 18-year-old guard from Spain, became the fifth-highest international player ever taken when Minnesota selected him with the No. 5 pick.
Two international players – Yao Ming of China in 2002 by Houston and Andrea Bargnani of Italy in 2006 by Toronto – were taken No. 1 overall. Darko Milicic of what was then Serbia-Montenegro, was chosen second overall by Detroit in 2003. Pau Gasol of Spain was taken No. 3 by Memphis in 2001.
Danilo Gallinari of Italy was taken sixth by New York last year.
Rubio played on Spain’s team that won the silver medal behind the United States in Beijing.
“I realized in the Olympic Games that I’m feeling good in the game, so that moment, I realize that I can play here, and that helps me a lot,” Rubio said.
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BIG 12: Blake Griffin became the first player from the Big 12 taken with the overall No. 1 pick. The conference expanded from the Big 8 in 1996, and the Big 12 did have an impressive streak broken when Griffin was taken by the Los Angeles Clippers.
A Big 12 player was taken second overall the last three years: LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas by Chicago in 2006; Kevin Durant of Texas by Seattle in 2007; and Michael Beasley of Kansas State by Miami last year.
also tabbed by the Clippers, Danny Manning of Kansas in 1988. The only other No. 1 pick owned by the Clippers was Michael Olowokandi of Pacific in 1998.
Griffin was the first Oklahoma player ever taken No. 1 overall. Wayman Tisdale, who died in May at age 44, was the second pick by Indiana in 1985.
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TIGER TALES: It’s been good to be a freshman point guard for the Memphis Tigers in the last two NBA drafts.
In 2008, Derrick Rose, who led Memphis to the national championship game as a freshman and the school’s second-ever No. 1 ranking, was taken with the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Bulls.
This year, the Sacramento Kings made Tyreke Evans, who led the Tigers to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament and a No. 3 ranking in the final poll, the fourth pick.
Unlike Rose, who came into the program as a point guard, Evans moved to that position during the season.
“It was crazy. I was playing in the game against Syracuse, and the next day Coach told me I was the point guard. I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “… I got the ball and it just started from there in practice.”
It was the first time Sacramento had a pick in the top five since 1991, when it selected Billy Owens of Syracuse at No. 3.
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