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.

[warriorfor honor]

Denver Has Him now!

[discostu]

That's all well and good, but what's gonna happen the first time he takes a cheap elbow, the first time Allan Iverson runs around him like a pylon, when he's heading out on a long road trip after already playing 60 games.

I have no doubt he CAN be a good player. I have every doubt he's had the seasoning to be a good player NOW. And I don't think getting his ass kicked in the NBA is the right way to get the seasoning.

[Randjuke]

What I'm dreading is "the overexposure of Lebron James" similar to Michael Jordan. Jordan was one of my favorite players but every time you turned around he was staring at you from the dang TV - I still feel like changing channels every time he's on. The NBA and the media is already gearing up to give us All-Lebron, All The Time.

[Pukin Dog]

That was not your original point, so why not just say, "Oh, I did not know that." You said he had not had time to season his skills with NBA level talent, which was flat wrong. He has played against Jordan himself and done well enough for Mike to say he would be a star.

I'll just assume you do not really follow the NBA. When I see you take 14 year old pro women tennis players to task, then I'll take back what I said. That's another sport where it was fine until the little black girls started showing up.

I know a couple who handled it better than the white kids. Finally, do you think LeBron James will EVER have to pay for sex? I doubt there are any whore houses in his future.

[You Dirty Rats]

He signed a $90 Million contract with Nike today. He'll be the #1 pick in the draft next month and sign with the Cavaliers.

Yet you think he will have to work at McDonald's???????

[stilts]

Working at a McDonalds? Was this sarcasm? I hope so. This "fry cook" just pocketed a $10,000,000 signing bonus.

Most people attend school to get a good job. He just made a lifetime of "good job" money without taking 4 years at school.

What if he went to school and got injured? In that case he wouldn't be a millionaire 10 times over. School isn't going to do much for his career except add a lot of risk and uncertainty. He'll have plenty of leisure time later in life to attend classes if he wished.

[discostu]

That's all well and good, but what's gonna happen the first time he takes a cheap elbow, the first time Allan Iverson runs around him like a pylon, when he's heading out on a long road trip after already playing 60 games.

I have no doubt he CAN be a good player. I have every doubt he's had the seasoning to be a good player NOW. And I don't think getting his ass kicked in the NBA is the right way to get the seasoning.

[You Dirty Rats]

He signed a $90 Million contract with Nike today. He'll be the #1 pick in the draft next month and sign with the Cavaliers.

Yet you think he will have to work at McDonald's???????

[kellynla]

I misspoke. I meant Karl Malone and/or Pippin. Malone wants a ring before he retires and Pippen who knows the triangle offense from Chitown days however will not be signed by the Lakers would like another ring...The Lakers need a legitimate power forward/center since Robert Horry is history. Malone can be had for a "pennies" under the Lakers veteran 4.5 million dollar salary exception next season.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Ah, another Cavs and Pete Franklin fan. Is he still alive? Last time I heard he was doing a sports show in NYC. I used to listen to Pete in 1968 both on Sportsline and Afterhours.

The 1976 Cavs were great. They had the slogan "Never Surrender No matter What the Odds". I distinctly remember listening to one game they won by coming back from 10 points down with 1:01 left to play. And that was without the 3 point shot! Wouldn't Bingo and Dick Snyder have cleaned up on the 3 pointers? Their standard shots were from that distance!

I'm happy for the Cavs. They've been snake bit with injuries--Jim Chones during the playoffs, Austin Carr early in his career, and the big Z lately.

[XJarhead]

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'. But the Cavs players who know the kid like him.

Z's foot was reshaped completely in his last surgery, and they had him drop some pounds as well.

The Cavs need a point guard in the worst way. I'm guessing they try to work out a trade involving either Darius Miles, Ricky Davis, or Dajuan Wagner to get a point guard. But that's just a guess -- no inside info there.

[Pukin Dog]

If he destroys his knee the first day, he will still have 11M in the bank, and a fat payment from Lloyds of London when that runs out.

[discostu]

That's STILL my point. He hasn't had the time to season his skills with NBA level talent. Just because he's done a few practices with Michael and the Cavs doesn't mean they were ENOUGH.

Actually I do take 14 year old GIRL tennis players to task in the pros. Of course pro tennis is again not the sideshow of sex and drugs the NBA is and doesn't pay as well. Pubescents in pro sports is NEVER fine, again regardless of color. Why is it the people accusing others of being racist are the only ones building arguements about race.

Again, WHITE BLACK GREEN OR FUSCIA doesn't matter. It's a formula for trouble. Previous experience (Gold Club anyone?) shows that NBA players DO pay for sex whether they need to or not. The world where nobody can figure out why the Gold Club got busted is the world James is being thrust into, with a big fat wad of cash in his pockets. Not a good thing.

[PiP PiP Cherrio]

If he doesnt play, there is no pay...i.e career-ending injury before he goes to camp. The sponsors have an out-clause..what if he hangs with Allen Iverson and they go out and do something farfetched- hit/run, they "pop a cap" in someone during some "youthful indescreption"... I am familiar with these sponsor clauses, he is not scott-free.

10million as a teenager? I do not put it past this ego-inflated kid to blow the entire amount before he even recieves it, or his mom doing some great investing of her own... wait and see, the saga just began.

[rdb3]

OK... Place your bets now for the topic that will come up after the narrator says:

"Despite the challenges, his biggest test didn't come until the next year... when we return on 'LeBron James - Behind the Glory' ".

Will it be:

A.) Death of a close family member.
B.) Car accident.
C.) Drug possession charges.
D.) Caught with a hooker.
E.) Other

F. None of the above

Doing bad things to bad people...

[PiP PiP Cherrio]

doubt it, Nike is too savvy to risk that amount on an unproven commodity. It looks nice on paper, as that is why they/we have "fine print"...:))

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Just to give people a sense of what a great personality Pete Franklin was, I'll give a story about his Afterhours program. Non-sports, general talk show, he had a radical anti-semite on one time. He let him spout his conspiracy theories for about ten minutes and then said: "So, do you want to hear what one of these terrible, anti-American Jews composed to degrade our country?" And then he played "God Bless America" by Irving Berlin.

He had encyclopedic sports knowledge, jazz, and current events. He was sardonic, sarcastic, and didn't take himself seriously. He was a former minor league baseball player who pitched against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Gas House gang. He had his best stuff--and got shelled.

[Pukin Dog]

Of course pro tennis is again not the sideshow of sex and drugs the NBA is and doesn't pay as well." Tell that to Jennifer Capriati. Just how many times has she been in rehab?

Also, the Gold Club owner paid his girls to have sex with the players, NOT the players themselves.

[Mr. Mojo]

C, D, and E

[discostu]

Problem is he's entering into a bad situation with potentially bad crowd. Look at the stuff that's gone on in the NBA the last couple of years. What happens if the Portland Bailraisers get him alone for a night? Latrell Sprewell gets to teach him about coach choking? Jason Kidd instructs him on the finer points of wife beating? And somewhere inside him lies the influence of that mother of his. Hopefully he'll over come it. But he's trying to draw into an inside straight, every poker players knows that rule.