Cavs' number comes up to win NBA's 'LeBron lottery'

CNN ^ | May 22, 2003 | CNN

[E Rocc]

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers hit the LeBron James jackpot.

The Cavaliers won the NBA draft lottery Thursday night, giving them the right to make the first overall selection. They're expected to stay in Ohio and choose James, the 6-foot-8 high school phenom from Akron.

[RightWingNut]

I only remember Pete Franklin from AM 1100 in Cleveland Ohio. He was great !!

I spent countless hours "studying" while listening to Pete. I remember he would always "find a player the Indians or Browns should pick up. (Don't laugh. I remember he found some kid in the minors with the Blue Jays pete said would pitch a long tinme in the majors and would have a great carees. (David Wells) He also found a minor leaguer in teh Cubs system several years ago named Lee Smith. Lyle Alzado for the Browns.)

The next year was always going to be the year for the Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers.If nothing else, that taught me to be patient HA HA

I miss Pete !! Anybody know where he is now ? I'd love to email him and tell him thanks for all the memories.)

P.S. He also knew his subject matter !!!

[fat city]

I think Pete's living in Arizona now. Retired. Also share your lov eof the guy--Remember how he used to screw with kids staying up past their bedtime? Absolutely the father of sports-talk radio. Trivisanno(to whom he owes his entire career) trashes him constantly.

Bottom line about Lebron-- he puts people in the seats (unlike Carmello Anthony) and saves the franchise in Cle, Paxtons job, and revitalizes the Gund-Jacobs Field economy. If the fix was on, LeBron would have gone to NY.

Do your parents know you're up using the phone RightWingNut? Hang up and go to bed where you ought to be at this hour!

[WarSlut]

The #1 seed in East ends up with the #2 overall pick? Dammit, dammit, dammit all to hell.

Meanwhile, my Sixers have no first round pick at all and are about 70 gazillion dollars over the cap (how a team with one star gets into that position, I'll never, ever understand). Yeah, I'm sure we'll be making great strides this off-season.

Can we trade Billy King and Larry Brown for Joe Dumars? Please? Pretty please?

I'll never forgive my mother for giving birth to me in Philadelphia.

[SoCal Pubbie]

"If he continues on the self-centered road (like Kobe, Shaq), hopefully he can team up with, and work with others like him (like Shaq and Kobe have) in order to survive"

Yeah, maybe some day he'll win three consecutive championships, like Shaq and Kobe. Seesh!

[Dan from Michigan]

I personally would like to thank the Vancover/Memphis Grizzlies for this pick. It was from a 1998 trade. We got the pick in exchange for Otis Thorpe. :)

BTW - What happened to Theo Ratliff? I know we traded him for Stackhouse(who was traded for Rip Hamilton).

[Sonny M]

He is currently a successful college coach who in his spare time also works with poor children.

Dawkins career never quite became what it was supposed to be, and he ran into alot of personal problems as a result, but it is very nice to know he's turned his life for the better and is doing good now.

[Born on the Storm King]

Alot of heads are gonna turn when somebody yells "Hey, Darko" on the Nugget's court!

[E Rocc]

Cleveland? I think LeBron would rather play college ball.

LOL, that's not what he said yesterday.

-Eric

[KneelBeforeZod]

caught with drugs after getting into a wreck with a close family member who is a hooker

[E Rocc]

LeBron is a good kid. To the extent there's a problem with him, it's his mom, and he's probably better off getting away from her. That's from folks in the know in Cleveland, but who I ain't sayin'.

The way I've heard it, the last four years he's lived with, and been raised by, his HS coach, Dru Joyce. The fact that he'll still be 30 miles away means he can still help keep him focused. Look for a couple of his SVSM teammates to end up at Cleveland State too. If nothing else they'll be able to keep the worst of the hangers-on away.

He just hired an agent who I'm not familiar with. Time will tell, but IMG (headquartered 10 blocks from Gund Arena) might have been a better choice.

-Eric

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Think Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and that other kid who plays for the Pacers.

Uh...I guess this isn't the time to bring up Kwame Brown? (Although it seems that Jordan really had it in for that kid, and may have screwed up his head about the NBA) Actually, that's the only HS-to-NBA bust that comes to mind right now.

Who's coaching the Cavs? That will be a big factor in LeBron's development as a player.

[E Rocc]

Uh...I guess this isn't the time to bring up Kwame Brown? (Although it seems that Jordan really had it in for that kid, and may have screwed up his head about the NBA) Actually, that's the only HS-to-NBA bust that comes to mind right now.

Well there's LeBron's teammate-to-be, Desagna Diop, but he just got better...

Who's coaching the Cavs? That will be a big factor in LeBron's development as a player.

The job's open right now, and the Cavaliers' options just expanded trememdously.

-Eric

[XJarhead]

That's pretty much spot on, I think. I know some folks affiliated with the team, and a couple others who have had pretty extensive dealings with him in some other environments.

The "mom is a bad influence" stuff I said earlier is based on more than just the stuff in the papers. And LeBron knows it.

I'm kinda torn between which coach to hire, but Silas is an incredibly decent guy who'd command respect and may be the best option for a very young team of guys. Van Gundy may be a better x's an o's guy, though.

[You Dirty Rats]

Jerry West was quoted as saying that Memphis would have taken LeBron #1 because he's a special kid.

Not that the haters on this thread will care what Jerry West says.

GM Paxson also said that LeBron may eventually play the point, depending on who is the coach.

As great as Jordan was, and Larry Bird, you know I always thought Magic Johnson was unique because he could literally play any position on the court, including center in the NBA Finals. I'm not saying LeBron could play any position, but he reminds me more of Johnson than anyone else. Great passing skills, tremendous court awareness, team approach to the game, physically gifted beyond belief -- it's going to be a treat to see this kid develop.

[WarSlut]

Theo was traded to Atlanta in the Mutombo deal. Deke was then traded to Jersey for the invisible man (Keith Van Horn). Larry Brown tried to re-acquire Ratliff at the trade deadline this year, but couldn't pull it off.

Otis Thorpe for Darko (probably)... wow. That's gotta take some of the sting out of falling down 0-3 in the Conference Finals. Your guys look like the team to beat next year in the East.

[babaloo999]

Len Bias didn't come straight out of high school, either.
He played at Maryland, didn't he?

[krb]

I thought Len Bias was a U of Maryland kid when he died.

[alancarp]

That was a wonderful high school front court that Maynard Evans had in 1975 (Fla. state champs): Dawkins at 6'11", and the Kuhl brothers at 6'9" and 6'8". Went 32-3.

[Daus]

Cleveland? I think LeBron would rather play college ball.

Well, unfortunately for the Cav fans on this thread he WILL be playing for a college team. The Cleveland Cavaliers. :)

[Charlie OK]

You don't have the foggiest idea about this kid or his background. Have you even seen him play?

He does NOT have an "it's all about me" attitude, and if you had heard him over the past two years, read articles about him, or seen his great passing skills and devotion to his high school teammates, you wouldn't make such ignorant, stereotypical and offensive remarks.

And you aren't the first to rock the boat on this thread; seems like there are a lot of people with the attitude that this is just another n***** from the 'hood. The shots about trouble he or his family might have in the future are about as blatantly racist as anything I've ever seem on this forum.

He's a good kid. Too bad the haters have already made up their minds about him. As a lifelong suffering Cavs fan, I'm thrilled to have him on our team.

I was going to say the same thing but got to this thread too late. I think Lebron will be an excellent player. The times I have seen him play, he goes out of his way to make a great pass to make one of his teammates look good. Very Magic-esque.