NBA: Foolishness that built dynasties
IN a highly competitive league with 20- 30 teams, being the la last team standing takes no less th than hard work, dedication, luck a and some foolishness. Yes, foolishness is — from other teams! S Some of the greatest dynasties in the N NBA were inadvertently helped by o other teams who made costly errors. H Here are some of those:
The T Showtime Lakers
The T Lakers of the 1980s were not called c Showtime for nothing. They had h the talent and flair that has yet to be b surpassed in the league ever since. This T is because they had great pieces.
They bannered three first overall p picks, which shows that before the g game is won on the hardcourt, it has a already been set in the boardroom.
Acquiring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is n not included here since the master o of the Skyhook wanted out and it le left the Milwaukee Bucks no choice. M Magic Johnson, the 1979 first overall p pick, was acquired in a trade with the N New Orleans (now Utah) Jazz. That w was also not such a lopsided trade.
League rules at the time stipulated la that when a team acquires a free agent from another team, th they needed to send a player back. W When the Jazz signed Gail Goodrich, o they engaged a trade with th the Lakers that also sent the Jazz’ 1 1979 first round pick. It turned out to be first overall.
However, the idea of the Lakers already re winning two championships in 1 1980 and 1982 — and getting the first o overall pick in the 1982 draft (yes, as d defending champs), that’s just not fair.
All thanks to Wayne Stepien, the new owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He bought the Cavs in 1980 and was not a fan of draft picks. In fact, the “Stepien rule” was named after him. This ruled prohibits teams from trading away first round picks in consecutive years (which is why the Nets trade to the Celtics had pick swaps instead of outright picks).
Side note: If you have a rule named after you and that rule was designed to save you from your own foolishness, your franchise is doomed. Right after Stepien took over, Cleveland sent their 1982 first round draft pick and Butch Lee to LA for Don Ford and Chad Kinch (remember these guys?) The Cavs went 15-67 in the ‘81-’82 season, and the Lakers won the coin flip (no lottery then) to choose North Carolina’s James Worthy as the top choice.
The Lakers were fresh off beating the Philadelphia 76ers and are now adding NCAA Champion James Worthy. Just imagine if the 2018 champion Golden State Warriors got to pick DeAndre Ayton (or Luka Doncic) a week after their parade — it was that absurd!
The Boston Celtic Pride
There was some magic going on with the Lakers arch-rivals (if there was any doubt on their rivalry, the 80s erased all of them). Coach Red Auerbach, probably the Celtics real-life lucky leprechaun, had virtually manipulated the league since the 60s.
The 1980 draft was a great example of Auerbach’s wizardry. They finished 61-21 behind super-rookie Larry Bird. The Celtics traded Bob McAdoo to the Detroit Pistons as compensation for signing ML Carr (see Magic Johnson trade). The Pistons traded two 1980 first round picks for then star center McAdoo, and those picks became no.1 and no.13.
Auerbach traded those two picks, which turned out to be Joe BarryCarroll (1) and Rickey Brown (13) to the Golden State Warriors for center Robert Parish and 3rd pick — Kevin McHale.
With this trade, the Celtics legendary frontline was formed, and Boston had their own 3- title dynasty in that legendary era. Were the Warriors or Pistons foolish? The first overall pick may have been too much for Bob McAdoo, and JBC was a disappointment.
The 2009 Draft
The latest dynasty, the Golden State Warriors from 2015 to 2019, had its roots in the 2009 Draft. When the Minnesota Timberwolves wanted a point guard, they took two consecutive ones in the lottery — Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn. They passed twice on a diminutive guard named Steph Curry. Flynn is out of the NBA, and Rubio, while decent, is not the two- time MVP that Curry is.