The 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday night was filled with young basketball players seeing their dreams come true as their professional careers begin.
For one family, two dreams became a reality.
Ausar and Amen Thompson talk to the media after being selected by the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons by during the 2023 NBA Draft on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Kostas Lymperopoulos/NBAE via Getty Images)
Amen and Ausar Thompson became the first pair of brothers to be drafted together in the top five of the same NBA Draft since the NBA and ABA merger in 1976, according to ESPN.
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Amen Thompson was selected fourth overall by the Houston Rockets, while Ausar Thompson went fifth overall to the Detroit Pistons.
The two brothers played in the Overtime Elite League last season, both playing for the City Reapers.
Overtime Elite is a professional league for 16- to 20-year-olds based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson pose for a portrait after being drafted during the 2023 NBA Draft on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
“I think it’s kind of cool going first. It means a lot to my family,” Amen said, according to ESPN. “Me and Ausar, we were going to be happy whoever went first. But it means a lot to my family seeing all the hard work pay off. Us go back to back, be the first twins in the same draft to go top five, it means a lot.”
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Both brothers will be expected to help young teams rebuild in their first NBA seasons.
“Super excited. I’m super excited to meet my coaches, meet my teammates and just grow with them,” Ausar said. “I’m trying to contend.”
The 2023 NBA Draft featured one of the most-hyped prospects since LeBron James, as French phenom Victor Wembanyama went first-overall to the San Antonio Spurs.
Victor Wembanyama poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected first overall by the San Antonio Spurs during the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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The 7-foot-5 center is considered a generational talent by NBA scouts with his ability to shoot from the outside and defend the paint.
“He’s got a great disposition, a good combination of intellectual ability and an emotional intelligence at the same time,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said, according to ESPN. “He understands what hype is. He understands all the attention he’s getting, but he still welcomes it, deals with it. . . . So I think he understands that there’s a way to handle that responsibility and still let people feel somewhat close to him. So he doesn’t need a lot of advice in that area.”
