The 2002 Cavs tanked their way into a bunch of ping pong balls the NBA Draft Lottery thanks to an abysmal 17-65 campaign. The lottery pick ended up becoming Ohio’s own chosen one, LeBron James, the most hyped NBA prospect in modern history.
You’d think a 17-win team would be excited to add James, but that wasn’t really the case. In a local news interview following the draft, the Cleveland veterans, including notorious franchise greats Darius Miles and Ricky Davis, weren’t all that impressed with LeBron. Miles comment that James can “hop on our bandwagon” has to instantly go into the Lack-of-Self-Awareness Hall of Fame. Carlos Boozer even said there were multiple players on the Cavs roster better than James at his position. Really? Who? Jumaine Jones? Bimbo Coles?
Call it jealousy, but this isn’t the welcome wagon you would expect from guys that almost lost 70 games. Most of the Cavs in this clip were shipped out within a year or two, with Smush Parker moving on to be mentally abused by Kobe Bryant with the Lakers.
Watch this clip and hop on Darius Miles’ bandwagon. It’s filling up fast.
h/t Jordan Heck