His teammates on his Al Ahli pro basketball team in Dubai discovered the 13-year-old video on YouTube a few months ago. It showed NBA analysts critiquing the Orlando Magic’s decision to take Johnny Taylor with the 17th pick of the 1997 draft.
“It’s two-and-a-half minutes long,” said Taylor, who had led the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to its only NCAA tourney Sweet 16 run four months earlier.
“Now if I could just find a few copies of the clips the local TV stations ran that night. Of course, they’d be VCR tapes. They didn’t have DVDs back then.”
When this year’s NBA draft begins to unfold a little after 7 tonight on ESPN, few men will understand its highs and lows better than Taylor.
The Howard High School standout played for the Magic his first season, the Denver Nuggets his second, the Magic again his third, then wound up in Italy for his fourth year. He never again played in an NBA regular-season game, despite preseason contracts with both the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trailblazers.
“But I still have the NBA on my resume,” he said from his Orlando home on Wednesday. “And probably because of that I’ve always played at the top level of competition in whatever country I’ve played in since.”
There have been a lot of countries. Italy. The Philippines. Two years in Bahrain before landing in Dubai for the upcoming season.
“I averaged 25 points and 15 rebounds my first year in Bahrain and we won the championship,” said Taylor, who turned 36 on June 4. “I averaged 30 points and 14 rebounds this past season and played all 40 minutes every night. Sometimes I feel like I’ve played basketball in every country on earth.”
Not that he’s complaining.
“I’m blessed,” said Taylor, father to Sherria (13), Johnny Jr. (7), Jori (4) and Jiselle (2) and about to celebrate his fifth wedding anniversary to Latwoin on July 31.
“I’ve done more and seen more than almost anybody I know. I’m still playing ball, I’ve stayed healthy and I’ve got a wonderful family. I can’t complain.”
Not that he wouldn’t like one more crack at the NBA.
“I can’t touch my chin on the square anymore,” he laughed. “But I can still get my elbows up there. If someone would give me a 10-day contract, they’d be pleasantly surprised.”
But he quit fantasizing about those contracts three or four years ago.
“I really agonized over it, whether or not to give the NBA one more try,” he said. “And it took me a long time to get over it; I guess I still daydream about it sometimes. But I’m in a good situation where I am, too. A really good situation.”
He’s in a good place both figuratively and literally. Thirteen years removed from the Sweet 16, Taylor still keeps up with the majority of those magical Mocs, as well as the coaching staff.
“I was just getting ready to send Marquis (Collier) a text message, yesterday (Tuesday) was his birthday,” said Taylor. “Isaac Conner and I talk every couple of weeks when I’m home. Willie (Young) and I talk all the time, he’s trying to get a coaching job in Germany. Chris (Mims) is a little more hit and miss. He’s a security officer in St. Louis.”
And if Taylor can find the time to complete the one course he lacks for graduation, he’d love to follow Young into coaching.
“I’m talking to (associate AD) Laura (Herron) right now about trying to finish up. I’d love to come back there and coach at UTC one day.”
It’s not the way he envisioned his life turning out 13 years ago. It’s not necessarily the way he thinks it should have turned out.
“If I’d known then what I know now,” he sighed. “My problem was, I didn’t have the right people around me. I didn’t know the amount of work I needed to put in. Granted, I was talented — a tremendous upside. But by the time I got it, by the time I understood what was needed, it was too late.”
So what would he tell tonight’s draftees if asked?
“First of all, limit your entourage,” Taylor said. “Surround yourself with people who are looking out for your best interest rather than their best interest. Second, stay away from all that gaudy jewelry and those fancy vehicles. They don’t do anything but lose value. Invest your money in something smart that will appreciate in value.
“Most of all, work as hard as you can and listen to your coach. I go out there every day now with my family on my mind. I’m trying to destroy you because if you win I’m hurting my family. And never forget that this is all a very precious gift. It can be taken from you in an instant.”
If only the NBA could get a DVD, VCR tape, telegram or smoke signal relayingthat message to tonight’s draftees before it’s too late.