Australian teenager Dante Exum is on the verge of becoming a household name in the NBA as a top three pick in this week’s NBA Draft, so much so that one ESPN analyst claims the Australian Institute of Sport product reminds him of a young Michael Jordan.
The global sport giant’s Draft expert Fran Fraschilla compares the 18-year-old Exum to a college version of NBA Hall of Famer Jordan, a teammate of father Cecil Exum at North Carolina in the early 1980s.
“He reminds me of a young, 1982 circa North Carolina Michael Jordan,” Fraschilla told ESPNLA radio. “He’s not going to be as great, obviously, unless I’m wrong… but he kind of reminds you of a young colt that’s just about to run his first claimer race, and you’re looking at him (thinking), ‘This guy could win the Kentucky Derby someday.’”
Other NBA pundits have also gone top shelf with Exum comparisons, past and present, including Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway, Derrick Rose and Manu Ginobili.
Kept under wraps in the AIS and since January by his US mega-agent Rob Pelinka (Bryant, James Harden), Exum hasn’t seen the type of exposure his American counterparts have under the bright lights of NCAA college basketball. He first burst into the world of NBA scouts and general managers with impressive performances at last year’s U17 World Championship in Prague and the Nike Hoop Summit invitational in Portland, where the top high schoolers in the world are gathered for a camp under the watchful eye of team executives, but has otherwise remained largely under-scouted as the Draft’s mystery man.
Despite the lack of exposure, Exum’s stock as top four pick has remained consistent over the past year, but jumped up into top three range last week when projected No.1 overall selection Joel Embiid suffered a serious foot injury.
A series of Dante Exum Footlocker adverts hit US television this week ahead of Thursday’s Draft, America’s first taste of the NBA superstar hopeful.
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