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The legendary 2003 Draft saw LeBron James return to his home state to begin his NBA basketball career. There are a lot of things to remember from that draft class, but according to LeBron (during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show), it may have been rigged from the start.
"During the lottery drop, Cleveland got the No. 1 pick and I don't think that was an accident," said James on the Pat McAfee Show. "Let's keep LeBron home, Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, Derrick Rose to the Bulls, I understand the assignment guys I had to make sure to do my part, I didn't want to be a f*ck up."
The 2003 NBA Draft changed the course of NBA history with several basketball legends entering the league. LeBron James was first, and Darko Milicic was the second pick (by the Detroit Pistons) followed by Carmelo Anthony at third to the Nuggets, Chris Bosh at fourth to the Toronto Raptors, and Dwyane Wade to the Miami Heat with the fifth overall pick.
According to LeBron, the NBA is drawn to superstars playing for their hometown teams, like LeBron to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Derrick Rose to the Bulls in 2008, and Patrick Ewing to the Knicks way back in 1985.
There have been conspiracies for years that the NBA Draft is rigged, but we've never had any concrete evidence. The Ewing draft is arguably the most controversial, as the theories suggest that Commissioner David Stern wanted to ensure the Knicks would get the first pick and select Patrick Ewing.
There are also some theories that the NBA rigged the 2024 Draft so Victor Wembanyama would land with a team that could maximize his potential. As far as we know, the draft lottery is random, based solely on the standings, with lower-seeded teams having a higher chance for a top pick.
For LeBron James, however, there's a feeling that being drafted by the Cavaliers was not an accident. Ahead of the 2003 Draft, LeBron James was already on the radar as a basketball star. After growing up in Akron, Ohio, the young phenom worked his way to the limelight during a dominant run for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
LeBron was drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan at the time, and he was the easy choice with the first pick that year. So when the Cavaliers landed the first pick, it almost seemed like a match made in heaven for James.
The only problem with the rigged draft theory is that the Cavs had won 17 games the season before to secure a 22.5% chance of getting the No. 1 pick. If the league wanted to maximize ratings, LeBron could have landed with the Knicks and Bulls, not the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers.
In 79 games as a rookie, James averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game on 41.7% shooting. While he did ultimately leave the Cavs in 2010, LeBron led them to the Finals in 2007 and then helped them capture their first championship in 2016.
Rigged or not, Cleveland was the perfect place for LeBron James to start his career, and it resulted in an amazing basketball story. He became a legend with the Cavs and led them to glory like he promised when it all began.
We'll never know what hand the NBA had in the results of that draft, but it was probably the best thing that could have happened to LeBron. Just like Derrick Rose, he got to become an NBA superstar near the place where he worked to get into the league, and he was able to make the most of it.
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Jon Gruden 'looking forward to having the truth come out' amid lawsuit against NFL
Jon Gruden sent another warning shot toward the NFL after scoring a major win in court. On Tuesday, Gruden welcomed a ruling that will force the NFL to litigate the circumstances of his firing in court rather than closed-door arbitration. The former Las Vegas Raiders coach made clear that he intends to continue his legal challenge to the NFL to ensure that they are held accountable. “I’m looking forward to having the truth come out, and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Gruden said in a statement provided to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. “The league’s actions disrupted the whole season. We were leading the division at the time and they completely blindsided me and the team.” The Raiders were 3-1 in 2021 when Gruden was forced to resign after some offensive emails that he sent between 2011 and 2018 were leaked. Gruden has alleged that the NFL leaked the emails to force him out of a job after obtaining them during an investigation into the Washington Commanders. The NFL is set to appeal Monday’s ruling, but if that appeal fails, the league may be forced into public discovery. One alternative would be to offer Gruden a settlement, but he has not said whether or not he would be interested in such a resolution. Gruden has not held an NFL coaching job since the Raiders forced him out. He has recently spoken about possibly making a return to coaching at the college level.
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Former crew chief frustrated by the 'ridiculous' racing at Watkins Glen
It is no secret that NASCAR's current road-course package has not been very good. Aside from the mile-and-a-half tracks that were once the least competitive and exciting in the series, those races are the rare bright spot for the Next Gen Car since its inception in 2022. Shane van Gisbergen drove away to an 11.1-second win over Christopher Bell in Sunday's race at Watkins Glen and set multiple records in the process. While the racing was not particularly exciting, that was not what left former crew chief and current analyst Steve Letarte frustrated the most following the weekend. A recurring issue in each race over the weekend was drivers utilizing the runoff areas around the track and not staying on the traditional racing surface, which ultimately led to some crashes in Saturday's Xfinity race. "So, I hate track limits that have to be officiated," Letarte said on "Inside the Race." "Because I like tracks that you should just stay on the track. I didn't think it mattered. Now, I am team get-them-back-on-the-race-track-at-Watkins-Glen. I don't love the Watkins Glen that I see. ... I think Turn 1 is not as great of a corner with no exit respect or responsibility. You just blow the exit. I think the carousel is a much easier corner, being able to just go driver's left. "I also think Turn 6 is going — let me add, that I think the (Connor) Zilisch, SVG wreck between the last two corners (in the Xfinity Series race) happened because they left the track, and the Austin Hill wreck with Michael McDowell happened off the race track. Now, both could have been avoided, we can talk about who's at fault. What I'm saying is, I've never driven a lap at Watkins Glen. I can analyze what happens between the white lines." This comes one year after rumble strips were placed in Turn 1 to keep drivers from using the runoff area, and that clearly has not worked. As the field has got closer together, using up all the track has become a common way for drivers to establish momentum, especially as they prepare for the right-hander going into The Esses at Watkins Glen. The bottom line is NASCAR's road-racing product needs to get better and Letarte wants to see race cars "stay on the race track because I think it will be a better race." Van Gisbergen's historic dominance certainly does not help, but the overall road course product is not great. Whether NASCAR makes some changes to the runoff areas and enforces track limits remains to be seen, but that still may not be the biggest issue if the racing does not improve.
Lady Gaga's Heartbreak Over Ozzy Osbourne's Death Revealed After Lavish Gift To Sharon
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