DAN GILBERT:
"It's been a rough year. It's been grueling and tiresome..."
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert was exhausted, but ecstatic when he spoke to reporters at the Q, yesterday. His team not only won the top draft selection, but scored the fourth pick in the draft as well.
Gilbert said he'll leave it to the basketball brains of the Cavs operation to decide how those picks will be used, but he didn't hold back in his praise for the city of Cleveland and the fans who have stuck with the team through some rough times, this past season.
He pledged to build upon the lottery win.
DAN GILBERT:
"It's not going to be a panacea. I don't think one player ever is a panacea, as we all found out. I think it takes a team to make it happen. And we're going to sustain this for the long term; and hopefully build a great solid franchise that competes every year here."
The back-handed reference to departed former MVP LeBron James was one of several… but Gilbert says he's done with looking backward.
Asked repeatedly about his 14 year old son Nick, who represented the team at the NBA Draft, Gilbert announced that more than $70,000 was raised through social media for the foundation researching neurofibromatosis --- the disease with which Nick is afflicted, and for which he serves as an ambassador.
And - Nick's catch phrase from the televised lottery show "What's not to like?" has already gone viral, and is being sold on tee shirts around the elated city of Cleveland.
Rick Jackson, 90.3.
