The 2001 NBA Draft remains one of the most eventful drafts in league history. But for Brendan Haywood, it was a night of unexpected twists, uncertainty, and emotions. The former NBA center recently reflected on his draft experience, explaining how an unexpected rise by an international prospect threw the entire draft board into chaos.

Haywood entered the draft with the understanding that his position could range anywhere from the 9th to 18th pick. As a player in that range, he had a rigorous pre-draft workout schedule. “The guys that know they going in the top five, they doing like 1-2 workouts,” Haywood explained during his appearance on Run Your Race. “I was slotted to go anywhere from like number 9 to like number 18. So, you know, you gotta work out for a bunch of different teams… too many workouts to count.”

It was a grueling process, but Haywood hoped to solidify his stock in a loaded draft class. Haywood believed his hard work would pay off when the Detroit Pistons pick at 9. Joe Dumars, their president of basketball operations, had given him every reason to believe it. “We taking you at 9,” Dumars had told him, “unless there’s a guy there by the name of Rodney White.” At the time, it seemed like a long shot. Haywood remembered Dumars telling him, “We don’t think Rodney White’s going to be there.”

But then chaos struck. Pau Gasol, the Eurostar from Spain, suddenly skyrocketed up the draft board. He was expected to go late lottery or lower. But the Atlanta Hawks took him 3rd overall. “Draft night, man, there’s some guy from overseas that totally messes up the draft,” Haywood said. “Guy turned out to be pretty good… His name’s Pau Gasol. So Pau Gasol totally throws off the draft because you know how it is when somebody that’s not supposed to go top 10 shoots up to 3. It’s a trickle-down effect.”

The ripple effect was real. Gasol’s unexpected selection meant Rodney White, who wasn’t supposed to fall to 9, landed right in Detroit’s lap. As a result, Haywood’s plans with the Pistons evaporated in an instant. What followed was a nerve-wracking experience that every draft-hopeful dread. Haywood watched as team after team passed on him.

A series of disappointments and Brendan Haywood’s eventual savior in ’01 draft

Further during the Run Your Race podcast, Haywood revealed that after the Pistons, he had his hopes tied to the teams he thought he’d impressed during workouts. “Seattle comes. I want to say they took Vladimir Radmanovic,” he recalled. Then Orlando, where he thought he had “great workouts,” chose Steven Hunter at 15.

Even Houston, another team he felt good about, passed, taking Jason Collins. By now, Haywood’s confidence was fading. “I started seeing picks go by—Indiana, Kirk Haston. I’m like, Kirk Haston went in front of me, bro? No disrespect, Kirk Haston. But I was just like, yeah, what…” At that point, the fear of being left in the green room—the ultimate humiliation for a draft prospect—was becoming very real.

And then the camera turned toward him. “With the 20th pick, the Cleveland Cavaliers…” Haywood recalled, “I see that camera start coming towards me… I sit up real quick. I don’t know what they’re doing, but I’m going.” The Cavaliers drafted him, but there was yet another twist—they weren’t keeping him. The pick was for the Orlando Magic—the team Haywood had impressed in workouts.

Looking back, Haywood couldn’t help but point to Gasol’s unexpected rise as the catalyst for all the madness. “Pau Gasol totally throws off the draft,” he said. The “trickle-down effect” shuffled the entire draft board, leaving Haywood and others scrambling.

In the end, though, everything pretty much worked out for Haywood. After Magic acquired Haywood from Cavs, they traded him to the Washington Wizards. Despite not having exceptional numbers, he played 7 consecutive with the team but had to sit out almost the entire 8th season because of his wrist injury. Haywood went on to have a solid 14-year NBA career, including a championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

Meanwhile, things could not have worked out better for Pau Gasol. After the Hawks drafted him, they traded the Spaniard to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he won Rookie of the Year. In his 7-seasons’ appearances for the team, he averaged an impressive 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.8 block per game. The best was, however, yet to come for Gasol with his Lakers stint.

Gasol not only won 2 NBA championships alongside Kobe Bryant but also earned a friendship that goes beyond this lifetime. As most fans would know, the Spaniard, to this day, cares for Bryant’s family like his own. So it’s safe to say that although Pau shook the entire 2001 draft, it seems everything worked out pretty decent for him as well as Brendan Haywood.