Warriors draftee follows in his dad’s NBA footsteps.
Nico Mannion had just gotten off the phone with his agent when he glanced at his father, Pace, and came to a realization: Nearly four decades after Pace went in the NBA draft’s second round to the Warriors, Nico was about to go in that same round to that same team.
Minutes later, when he heard his name called on the TV as Golden State’s selection at No. 48, Nico began to cry and his dad embraced him in their Scottsdale, Ariz., living room. Few would blame Mannion — a projected lottery pick just a year ago — for being disappointed about his draft slide, but those were happy tears.
A couple of other teams had expressed interest in taking him earlier in the second round, only for Mannion to reject them with the understanding that the Warriors would pick him at 48. With Golden State, he will play for a fellow Arizona alum in
Steve Kerr, learn from one of his favorite players in Stephen Curry and try to build a family legacy.
The Mannions are the fourth fatherson duo in NBA history to be drafted by the same team, joining Allie and Al McGuire ( Knicks), Jerian and Harvey Grant ( Wizards), and T. J. and Brad Leaf ( Pacers). The McGuires are the only pair, however, to play regularseason games for that same franchise.
Al McGuire was a backup point guard for the Knicks for three seasons in the early 1950s, and his son, Allie, appeared in two games for the Knicks in 1973 before being waived. If Nico Mannion can find a niche on the Warriors, the Mannions will go down as the most successful fatherandson tandem to suit up for the same original team.
Pace Mannion was hardly a differencemaker at any of six NBA stops, but he made it 57 games with Golden State before he was waived days before the 198485 season opener.
Nico has a chance to last much longer with the organization.
Inconsistent shooting and shaky defense in his lone season at Arizona lowered his draft stock, but Mannion’s athleticism and court vision made Golden State believe he could be a secondround coup. His twoway deal allows him to play up to 50 NBA games this season. If Mannion competes with Brad Wanamaker for backup minutes at point guard, the Warriors might retain his rights for 202122.
“I’ve only been out here a few days, but I already know I want to be a part of this team as long as possible,” Mannion told The Chronicle on Monday. “It’s not about where you’re drafted; it’s about how you fit the team that takes you. This could be a great situation.”
By many measures, Mannion is far from a typical secondrounder. In February 2017, as a 15yearold freshman at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, he was the subject of a 7,000word Sports Illustrated profile that touted him as a prodigy. Eleven months later, Kevin Durant recorded a video as he watched a Mannion mixtape and, when the redhaired teen threw down a thunderous dunk, exclaimed, “Oh! I ain’t seen that, though!”
At 17, the native of Siena, Italy, debuted for Italy’s national team. Around that time, as part of Arizona’s recruiting pitch, head coach Sean Miller showed Mannion a slideshow of Wildcats greats and told him, “You could be our next star.”
Mannion enrolled at Arizona last fall as a projected top10 pick in the NBA. He shot 39.2% from the field ( 32.7% on 3s) in 32 games with the Wildcats and watched authors of mock drafts drop him lower and lower in the first round.
Over the previous eight months, as he trained and waited to learn of his new home, Mannion’s stock plummeted. It was especially frustrating because the coronavirus pandemic kept him from working out at NBA teams’ facilities. With little way to change views, Mannion was left to see how draft night unfolded.
Shortly after going to the Warriors with the 12thtolast pick, Mannion embraced his new title of underdog. Every day, he looks at a screenshot of the draft board, studying names of point guards taken before him.
“I kind of have that underdog feeling, and, honestly, I kind of like it,” Mannion said. “My dad was always that underdog. He was always a guy scratching to get minutes or stay on a team. From him, I’ve learned to embrace that role.”
As a senior in 1983, Pace Mannion led 10thseeded Utah to an unlikely Sweet 16 run out of a regional in Boise, Idaho. Three months later, while golfing in Salt Lake City, he heard from a pro shop employee that he went in the second round — No. 43 to the Warriors.
Golden State, in its first year under head coach Johnny Bach, saw Mannion as a 6foot7 shooting guard with the strength and lateral quickness to defend top scorers. But with little offense to provide a team that featured Purvis Short, Joe Barry Carroll and Sleepy Floyd, Mannion averaged 8.2 minutes as a rookie.
After a practice midway through the following training camp, he was summoned to Bach’s office and cut. The Warriors didn’t think Mannion’s play warranted the pay increase he was due that season. After bouncing between five NBA teams over the next five years, he spent more than a decade starring in Italy.
“I learned pretty early on that the NBA is a business,” the elder Mannion said.
“They can do whatever they want with you. That being said, it’s never fun getting cut. You never want to hear you’re not good enough.”
To prepare Nico for the rigors of professional life, Pace shared stories from his turbulent NBA ride. The overarching message: At the highest level, no one cares what you did before the draft. All that matters is the performance that day.
That was empowering for someone who believes his abilities outpace his draft position.
“Of course, I’m happy I got drafted — especially by the Warriors,” Nico Mannion said. “Still, there’s a chip on my shoulder just because I know there’s 29 teams that passed on me. It’s something I won’t lose.”