At some point on Tuesday night, the discussion about the NBA draft lottery shifted away from the Cleveland Cavaliers winning two of the top four picks in the draft to David Kahn’s humorous accusation. Kahn, the Timberwolves GM, is known for making asinine remarks such as his assertion that Darko Milicic was similar to Chris Webber. After Webber expressed indignation with the comments, Kahn called him a schmuck. No surprise the notorious mouth of Kahn has opened once again, and this time it let out some words that will likely involve a six-figure fine by NBA commissioner David Stern.
After ending up with the second overall pick despite being the favorite to receive the top overall pick (they had a 25% chance to win the lottery), Kahn said “This league has a habit, and I am just going to say habit, of producing some pretty incredible story lines. Last year it was Abe Pollin’s widow and this year it was a 14-year-old boy and the only thing we have in common is we have both been bar mitzvahed. We were done. I told Kevin: ‘We’re toast.’ This is not happening for us and I was right.”
Kahn’s reference is to Cleveland snagging the top overall pick despite having just a 2.8% chance of doing so, and the Wizards winning the top overall pick last year. Both winning teams had heartfelt stories behind the person to represent the team at the draft — last year Wizards owner Abe Pollin had just died and his widow was sent to represent the team. This year the Cavs had Nick Gilbert, a 14-year-old diseased son of owner Dan Gilbert, represent the team. Kahn appears to be joking if you watch the video of him making the remark, but I’ve always believed there’s at least some truth in everything said.
As many conspiracy theories as there are in the NBA, and you can begin and end those with the name “Tim Donaghy,” I stopped thinking the lottery was fixed when the teams in the Pacific Northwest — Portland and Seattle — won the top two picks the year Greg Oden and Kevin Durant came out. Both players were thought to be future superstars, so there’s no way the league wanted them going to those teams if their goal was to beef up the major market squads. Kahn is wrong here, as he has been with so many other subjects, and he’s finally earned himself a healthy sacking. Maybe his time is best spent deciding which future point guard to draft. Lord knows the Timberwolves could use another one.
