Skeptical of how Perkins would progress in the league, most draft experts pegged him as a low first-rounder. He was taken with the 27th pick.
Howard was a different animal. If there were a high school player that came out with something close to James's buzz, it was Howard - the Georgia kid with the 1,000-watt smile and sky-high upside.
The only thing that stood in the way of Howard being the No. 1 pick that year was Connecticut big man Emeka Okafor, who had three years of college. But the Magic went for Howard's potential over Okafor's experience.
That summer, Perkins and Howard crossed paths in Bradenton, Fla., at the Clifford Ray and Robert Parish Big Man Camp.
"He still had his same chiseled body," said Perkins. "He was just a little smaller."
They developed a respect for one another.
"I think he saw how hard I worked and how skinny I was when I first got drafted," Howard said, "and how I was able to grow into myself and grow into my game. I always battled back then."
Howard, of course, developed into the Defensive Player of the Year and a player the Magic could practically pencil in for a double-double. Perkins became an NBA champion and progressed into one of the league's best interior defenders.
None of this surprised Ray.
When asked about the potential he saw in the two, Ray said, "I saw what I'm seeing right now."
Ray, a 10-year NBA veteran who won a championship with Golden State in 1975 and was one of the best rebounders in Warriors history, didn't find it easy to break into the league's coaching circles. The break he did get came with strings: The Dallas Mavericks gave him a part-time coaching job in 1987, and made mopping floors and cleaning toilets part of his duties.
But he went from that job into roles with the Magic and now Celtics as a big man coach, and in two decades, he has made a name around the league as one of the best at what he does.
"I worked for three organizations that I have nothing but the utmost respect for," Ray said. "That is the Dallas Mavericks - they gave me an opportunity to coach - the Orlando Magic, and the Boston Celtics."
