The Los Angeles Clippers’ television announcers for Monday night’s game did not know enough about the history of their opponent, and the end result was them apologizing for an unfortunate on-air exchange.
Early in the first half of LA’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, a graphic was shown to remind viewers of the 1998 draft day trade that sent Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity from the Milwaukee Bucks to Dallas in exchange for Robert “Tractor” Traylor. The FOX Sports Prime Ticket duo of Ralph Lawler and Don MacLean joked that Traylor is now playing for the “Detroit YMCA over 40 league.”
I mean… what the hell #Clippers??
… just the @LAClippers broadcast laughing about Robert Tractor Traylor…
yeah, the guy isn’t in the #nba OR the Detroit over 40 ymca… because HE DIED TRAGICALLY YOUNG!?!? #cripes pic.twitter.com/XpLnbkHCYO
— NBA Straya (@NbaStraya) February 26, 2019
The joke stemmed from the fact that the trade for Nowitzki was one of the most lopsided in NBA history, but the announcers clearly did not know Traylor tragically died of a heart attack several years ago at age 34. They later apologized during the broadcast.
Traylor was drafted No. 6 overall by the Mavericks in 1998. He was a star player at Michigan who was best known for his size, as he was 6-foot-8 and over 300 pounds. He played for four different teams over seven NBA seasons and never averaged more than 5.7 points per game. Nowitzki, of course, if a future Hall of Famer.
