When Tanguy Ngombo, Congolese by way of Qatar, was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves, basketball fans couldn't help but laugh. Of course David Kahn's team picked the draft's most obscure player. Jeff Goodman, who'd broken news of just about every pick in the entire draft, called him "some guy named Ngombo" ... while breaking news of the pick.
Indy Star Columnist Wonders, ‘What’s The Deal With Foreign Names, Anyway?’
But apparently we were laughing at the wrong thing. As the Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz writes, it’s funny that Ngombo and Nigeria’s Chukwudiebere Maduabum were picked because their “names are a series of clicking noises.” For some reason it’s also distressing that these players were picked instead of homegrown Americans.
Media Matters points out Khosian “click languages” occur far away from the Congo and Nigeria. The distance between Nigeria and Namibia is about the same as the distance between Boston and Texas. So yeah, this is pretty much drafting Nolan Ryan and making fun of him for his love of CHOWDAH.
Kravitz also makes a joke about the Scrabble value of Los Angeles Lakers draftee Ater Majok's name*. Ater Majok is worth 22 points. Bob Kravitz is worth 30.
* - If the point of all this is to say college players should be drafted instead of international players, why bring up Majok? He played 26 games at UConn.
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