Did Obi Toppin know?
On March 19th, 2019—a cold, clear spring night in Boulder—Toppin and the Dayton Flyers fell, 78-73, at the hooves of the Buffaloes. It was a heartbreaking loss, and not just because Dayton led by as many as seven in the game’s second half. No, it would have been heartbreaking regardless of the game script. The loss ended Dayton’s hopes of capturing their fourth NIT title. It ended Toppin’s hopes of becoming a Flyer legend. It ended Toppin’s shot at glory in Madison Square Garden. At least, so it appeared to us at the time.
So, did Obi Toppin know? On that cold, clear night, did Obi Toppin know that where one MSG dream ends, another sprouts, audaciously, from the snowpack?
Last night, Toppin was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft by MSG’s own New York Knicks. We didn’t reach him for comment, but if we had, here’s how it would have gone:
“You know, you don’t take anything for granted in basketball. So on one side, yeah, you enjoy your successes, but on the other, man…failure hurts. And that Colorado loss hurt. I went to Dayton to win NIT titles. (reporter interjects: “NITles, some might say.”) What? (reporter: “You know, with NIT in the word instead of Tit.”) You talking about boobs? (reporter: “Sorry, my bad. Carry on.”) Well what was I saying? (reporter: “You were talking about how you went to Dayton to win NIT titles.”) Oh, yeah. Yeah. Ok. (Toppin exhales) I went to Dayton to win NIT titles, and I mean, we thought we might be back in 2020, but we didn’t know, so being that close and missing it…it just really stung. And like, no, playing for the Knicks isn’t the same as playing for an NIT Championship. But it’s the closest thing I’m gonna get. So it feels like a shot at redemption, I guess.”
A shot at redemption, indeed. Best of luck, Mr. Toppin. The NIT world will be cheering you on.
