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Guess we should asterisk their 2007 championship.
Lucas Admits Cavs Tanked to Get LeBron
SportingNews
We all know teams tank to get coveted draft prospects, and there has been no more obvious example than that of the 2002-03 Cavs submarining their season to have a better chance at LeBron James.
But while everyone expected it at the time, no one from the Cavs (or any team, really) has ever admitted to it. Now, seven seasons after the fact, ex-Cavs head coach and current Clippers assistant John Lucas has come clean to FanHouse’s Chris Tomasson:
"They trade all our guys away and we go real young, and the goal was to get LeBron and also to sell the team,” Lucas said in an interview with FanHouse. "I didn’t have a chance. … You can’t fault the Cavaliers for wanting to get LeBron. It was hard to get free agents to come there.”
Gordon Gund, then the principal owner and now a Cavaliers’ minority owner, denied the team was tanking during that 17-65 season to get James, who would go to Cleveland with the No. 1 pick after it won the 2003 draft lottery. Gund also denied the team then was for sale, a move that wouldn’t happen until 2005.
There are a few notable aspects of this story. First, Lucas admits that this was the smartest path for the franchise to take, an argument you don’t hear often amidst the rampant moralizing that surrounds tanking. As I argued Tuesday, though, tanking is usually the right move, and the Cavs’ success with LeBron only supports their decision. The perspective of bygone seasons helps.
However, there is an important psychological aspect I forgot to note on Tuesday. More from Lucas:
"I’m angry because I should be a big boy because I got paid a lot of money (Lucas was fired with 1 ½ years left on his contract). But you want a chance to be able to be there for a while. You knew what the mission was. You just hoped you could get there to get that.” […]
"I didn’t know until you get into the inner loop, after you take the job, what their real mission is. … So I was really beat up from the Cleveland situation and so it took me this long to be back (in the NBA).”
As Lucas sees it, the Cavs weren’t honest about their plans when he took the job the prior season and was essentially fired for doing what they wanted him to do—lose as many games as possible. If accurate, that lack of honesty is the real killer here. No coach or player wants to be in the basketball version of the The Producers, and the compe iveness necessary to succeed in professional sports means that losing is one of the worst fates imaginable.
So if you’re going to subject a roster to a season in the wilderness, you have to convince them there’s a forthcoming promised land. Otherwise, you’re treating your employees like pawns. In that case, it’s no wonder the bitterness and disappointment would remain long after the fact.
Guess we should asterisk their 2007 championship.
Oh wait.
Fourth ring, maggots.
My reaction to this is the same as McGwire's steroid admission...
The only reason the Spurs won those les is cause they tanked too.
Hey look, Tim Duncan, how convenient
coach brown just using skills he learned from his teacher
non-issue
Just like the spurs tanked to get a shot at Duncan. Nothing new here, move along.
Rockets tanked to get Olajuwon...nothing new.
Lakers tanked to get me, ing morons.
Can you really say a team tanked a season when their previous 3 seasons they won 32, 30, and 29 games?
Now the Spurs TRULY threw the season to get Tim Duncan. They were winning consistently every year until that ONE season right before Duncan was eligible for the draft. Now THAT's tanking.
David Robinson and Sean Elliott intentionally hurt themselves in order to land Duncan, right?
You forgot Sampson and Yao.
Cool story bro.
Hey look, Tim Duncan, how convenient
That's because they consistently had David Robinson with a non-broken foot all those seasons before. Who would have thought a one-man team who loses its one man would suck?Can you really say a team tanked a season when their previous 3 seasons they won 32, 30, and 29 games?
Now the Spurs TRULY threw the season to get Tim Duncan. They were winning consistently every year until that ONE season right before Duncan was eligible for the draft. Now THAT's tanking.
Lucas is finally sober
LOL, really though!
Just like the Nets are taking for John Wall, then gonna trade Devin Harris for another star piece, and use those two along with Brook Lopez sign Bron Bron away from the Cavs.....nothing to see here, carry on
This is why American sports should do like the rest of the world. Have multiple divisions/levels; If you suck you get relegated.
The best part is that every team is playing for something; playoffs or to avoid relegation.
That would be economically devastating to the league. No one's going to show up to watch games against the Clippers and Knicks every night, and it's not like the good teams can jam any more people or luxury boxes in just because they're in the good league and get to play the Lakers and Cavs all the time.
if the NBA draft were like the NFL draft, maybe the tanking theory would hold more water. However, in the NBA, having the worst record, does not guarantee the 1st pick. People can say the Spurs tanked all they want, but the fact remains, the Celtics had the worst record in the league and should have gotten Duncan. The Spurs simply won the lottery.
So Cleveland could have tanked all they wanted, but that was no guarantee that they would get the 1st pick. Only Stern could make that happen.
You can't really blame the Spurs, Cavs, Rockets for tanking.
Duncan, LeBron, Hakeem were all no-brainer franchise draft picks..
Blazers tanked in 1984 to draft Michael Jordan and in 2007 to draft Kevin Durant. Oh..wait...
You've finally posted something truthful
the sky is still blue today
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