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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | May 12

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Note: There’s a little nostalgia behind this week’s WWYI column while providing the usual dose of historical perspective and some fun. Nine years ago, I penned a column for a semi-defunct sports site based in New Jersey – The Daily Payoff. At that point in time, it was 30 years since the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery – also known as The Patrick Ewing Lottery. It’s now 39 years, gpoing on 40.

Both before and after my column, there are dozens of B.S. conspiracy theories scatted all across the online universe, some written by people you’d think would know better. The B.S. began in 1985-86, it’s still going in 2024 and it’ll be going in 2050 and beyond. The storyline spikes more when there’s a consensus, franchise-making draftee awaiting the winner of the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

By TERRY LYONS, EDITOR of Digital Sports Desk

Today will mark the 40th NBA Draft Lottery. I was present and working at the NBA with our efforts to stage the first 24 events, many – like today – held on Mother’s Day. The process changed over the years and was gradually improved. Everything done was to assure the integrity of the process, and make it transparent to the fans, media and NBA teams. That said, let’s rewind to 1985!

NEW YORK – NBA conspiracy theorists everywhere, I’m here to tell you the absolute truth about the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery. Yes, I was there 39 years ago as one of about a dozen people charged with running the event on behalf of the teams of the National Basketball Association.

Yes, we the soldiers at the NBA league office worked diligently on behalf of the teams. We reported to NBA Commissioner David Stern and we toiled for thousands and thousands of long hours and travelled many miles to represent the NBA and its players to fans and businesses around the world. As with most human beings given a good job with definite goals and responsibilities, we took those jobs very seriously and did our very best on behalf of all the NBA. At times, the job descriptions called for us to enforce the rules our employers had signed into the league’s constitution and by-laws or the NBA rule book. Those were the times that were often most challenging because so many of our employers liked to try and bend the rules to best fit their own small world, their own situation, their own roster or their own rather short-term future. Not surprisingly, some of those people – while willing to hold their hands on a bible – swore they’d never toss a game. Instead, they camouflaged their so-called “tanking” by assembling rosters that would fail team chemistry 101 at any college in the land.

It is important to read between the lines of the words I’m writing because, at no time, do I believe the coaches and players walk out to the court with losing a game as a goal. In fact, I believe the coaches and players of the NBA and pro sports, in general, are the most competitive beings in the universe, right up there with thoroughbred race horses. In my years at the NBA, players like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, and old-schoolers like Bill Russell, Jerry West and Rod Thorn taught me what the words “mental toughness” meant and how it related to competitiveness and winning games. On the flip side, full team rosters and starting lineups without cohesiveness are destined to fail, no matter how mentally tough or competitive any one player might be.

With that in mind, I give you the lead-up to the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery and, for those not aware of the situation, I’ll provide some background: In 1983 and 1984, the Houston Rockets were amongst the least cohesive and victory challenged teams in the NBA. Under NBA rules in ’83, the Rockets and the Indiana Pacers, as the worst teams in the Western and Eastern conferences of the NBA, participated in a “coin-flip” to determine the first pick of the annual NBA Draft, even though both Chicago and Cleveland had lost more games than Houston that season. The coin-flip was the first legislation to disincentivize teams from losing games on purpose in order to gain a better position in the annual draft and it drew the line of demarkation by conference. Through sheer luck of a “50-50” chance coin-flip, or the luck brought on after Manhattan restauranteur Jimmy Weston bestowed a clock shaped like a map of Ireland upon the Rockets’ staff contingent headed up by the great PR man, Jim Foley, the Rockets won the flip and the right to draft 7-foot-4 college player of the year Ralph Sampson while Indiana was left to select Steve Stipanovich with the second pick of the ’83 NBA Draft.

A year later, a slightly better Rockets team with Sampson and a dysfunctional roster around him were back in the West cellar. This time, with the great Hakeem Olajuwon as the prize, straight out of the University of Houston, none-the-less, the Rockets’ contingent was back at Jimmy Weston’s. Of course, the lucky Irish clock was removed from its place on the wall to accompany the Rockets’ group when they ventured to the 15th floor of Olympic Tower to call “heads or tails.” Team owner Charlie Thomas’ daughter, Tracy, had the guts to make the call and only as luck would have it, the coin came up heads and the crew headed back to Houston with the rights to “Dream” tucked into their briefcases. It was an unbelievable thing to witness and, although I was and remain extremely good friends with Foley to this day, I remember feeling quite sorry for Larry Weinberg and the Portland people that May day.

The times moved on and the league (Board of Governors) quickly adopted its lottery system to be instituted before the 1984-85 season when yet another prized collegian would be the No. 1 choice of the draft, that being Patrick Ewing of Georgetown.

Flash forward from Ralph and Hakeem’s years to May of 1985 and the elegant setting of the Starlight Roof on the 18th floor of the Waldorf-Astoria and the challenge of the event was the fact the NBA and the folks who televised “At the Half” for CBS Sports were contractually bound to wait until the wee hours of the morning of May 12, 1985 to load-in, then build-out the set and properly place cameras and equipment. While the conspiracy theorists, still somewhat ignoring the unbelievable luck incurred by the Rockets, conjured up the ridiculous vision of a “freeze-dried” envelope, the truth of the matter was that the people involved were deeply focused on the physical aspects of installing the set, cabling television cameras up 18 floors and getting a clear broadcast signal from trucks parked on the Eastside of Manhattan to the CBS Broadcast Center of the Westside of the city.

While some people might remember the “lucky horse shoe” from the great Canadien-born pacer “On the Road Again,” brandished by Knicks GM Dave DeBusschere when he took to his spot on the set, I remember being bleary-eyed after flying cross country on a Red-Eye after Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals to join my colleagues in New York to conduct the very first NBA Lottery. I remember watching the calm, professionalism of Rick Welts, the head of our group, as he orchestrated the event plans. Rick, by the way, hails from Seattle where he started his career in sports as a ballboy for the Sonics, and he ran the Golden State Warriors franchise for a quadruple title span. I remember watching Ed Desser planning the television aspects with set-designer Hugh Rasky and CBS Sports producers, like Bob Mansbach. Ed, by the way, hails from Los Angeles and had worked for the LA Lakers before joining the NBA staff as Director of Broadcasting. I remember assisting the great Brian McIntyre as we credentialed an ungodly number of interested media types from all corners of the USA. McIntyre ran the NBA media operation, just as he runs his life and family, with great honest, dignity and trust. Brian, by the way, hails from the great city of Chicago and cut his teeth in pro sports selling game programs for the Bulls and Black Hawks before the Bulls hierarchy was smart enough to hire him full-time in their small front office.

There were a number of others, all equally dedicated to the job at hand. Some of them grew up in New York but others, like Rob Levine, grew up as a Celtics and Red Sox fans in Sharon, Mass while still others hailed from Oakland, Denver or San Diego. So, while critics of the league office thought there might be a New York bias, the truth was quite the opposite, as the staff took on a decidedly nationalistic demographic as Stern tapped the shoulders of talented workers from different places to help him polish the gem that was the NBA in the early ‘80s. At the time, the NBA was a gem tarnished by years of mismanagement or non-managment, really, but, it was ready to burst-on to the international sports scene in ways never imagined by anyone, once it was properly polished and positioned to a legion of new fans.

The focus on the day of the 1985 NBA Lottery was actually so very basic, it took on more of a cry of hope to “not screw it up” rather than a form of any deep planning for after-the-fact. Yes, there were plenty of rehearsals, usually utilizing the team logo cards which were printed to be placed on the respective team table-tops at the draft, staged those years at The Felt Forum, adjacent to Madison Square Garden. The late Jack Joyce, a retired FBI agent who was a confidant of the late Commissioner Larry O’Brien was in charge of the NBA’s security department and he was charged with spinning the drum on the lottery set, as his assistant, a NYC detective, Horace Balmer, kept a watchful eye on the process.

Levine, who was one of Welts’ top aides, made the suggestion to secure each envelope with a sticky, gold seal he purchased at a local stationary store on Madison Avenue which gave the look of a classy invitation to the otherwise plain envelopes. Levine was the last person to touch the envelopes before they made their way to the stage for all to see Joyce, Mr. Jack Wagner and David Stern conduct the actual event in front of the bright lights and TV audience. There was no refrigerator. There was no dry ice. There were no bent envelopes or anything else that would have made any of us lose the very high level of credibility we all treasure and value to this day. And, as Stern has noted on occasion of interrogation from inquiring minds, we were not in the practice of committing a punishable felony of fraud anywhere or anytime, never mind in front of television cameras for all the world to see as we represented the league and worked so hard to enforce its rules and procedures – on and off the court.

Looking back after all the years, I was fortunate enough to witness unbelievable acts of athleticism and, literally hundreds of hotly-contested, high-pressure feats, such as Julius “Dr. J” Erving making his incredible reverse, under-the-basket and off-the-backboard lay-up in the 1980 NBA Finals against the LA Lakers, Michael Jordan’s “spectacular move” driving to the hoop a few years later against those same Lakers. I saw Magic Johnson whipping crisp passes to James Worthy or lobbing them into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who would sink his patented sky-hook. I even watched Vince Carter jumping over Frederic Weis at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games but, to this day, there were two episodes that really stood out and I truly could not believe that I witnessed during my NBA career.

One was the first time the “Dream Team” took the court at the Basketball Tournament of the Americas and the other was the palpable tension that built up about “two envelopes” into that ’85 Draft Lottery. No one could’ve properly planned or really anticipated the magnitude of either one of those moments in time. They were just truly incredible moments in sports history.

Now, after 39 years, I have mixed feelings about all that’s been stated about the ’85 event. My reactions to the conspiracy theorists were, in fact, much like Stern’s. My first thoughts were just amazement at their concept and imaginations with an honest hope that someone with that mindset is on the right side of the law. Then, some anger and resentment that so many – more informed people – would call our decency and credibility into question. Then, a return to amusement at the continued silliness and ridiculousness of the length new media would actually go to continue such a stupid myth. And, then, a return to anger at the sheer longevity of the accusations. I try not to take it personally, but, deep down it still hurts.

Overall, I was happy to see the league take action steps over the years to instill more sense of fairness for the lottery teams. In 1986, the competition committee influenced the league’s Board of Governors to make adjustments to the system and the NBA decided the lottery would determine the order of selection for the first three picks only. The remaining non-playoff teams would select in inverse order of their regular-season records. Therefore, the team with the worst record would be assured of picking no worse than fourth, the team with the second-worst record no worse than fifth and so on.

In 1993, the NBA board approved a modification of the system effective with the 1994 lottery, to again increase the chances of the teams with the worst won-loss records to gain one of the top three picks in the draft while decreasing the chances of the teams with the best records. The new system increased the chances of the team with the worst record drawing the first pick from 16.7 percent to 25 percent, while obviously decreasing the chances of the team with the best record amongst lottery teams. In ’95, the NBA adjusted the lottery with the addition of the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies (now Memphis) franchises and in 2004 the system was adjusted to make room for the return of Charlotte to the NBA and the probabilities set to what they are this week when the NBA stages the lottery in Chicago.

All of those adjustments in the rules were intended to balance fairness in the process to re-stock teams in desperate need of talent upgrades against the improper “tanking” of games by the front office personnel of teams seeking to position their franchises for an upcoming draft. To this day, I’m not sure there is a solution that can make it a perfect science, but I do applaud the NBA for consistently tweaking the system over the years and for focusing on the issues while seeking new and possibly better mechanisms to fairly disperse the never-ending talent pool entering the league.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Although the playoff runs for both the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins continue, the portion of the schedule allowing the local/regional sports network coverage has come to a conclusion and with it, two iconic Boston broadcasters have retired from their play-by-play duties.

The great Mike Gorman began his Celtics broadcast duties in 1981 after breaking in as a local Providence sportscaster and voice of the early days of BIG EAST college basketball. Gorman held down the play-by-play duties for the Celtics’ home and road games and played a perfect sidekick to the late Tommy Heinsohn through most of the years.

Since moving to New England in 2008, Gorman’s voice has resonated through our home almost as much as our own family voices. He’s simply in the upper echelon of the best NBA broadcasters of our lifetime, joining Marc Albert (NY Knicks), Mike Breen (NY Knicks and ABC/ESPN), Chick Hearn (LA Lakers), Hot Rod Hundley (Utah), Al McKoy (Phoenix Suns), Ian Eagle (NJ/Brooklyn Nets and TNT) and a handful of other NBA team greats.

Just as Gorman finished-up with the Celtics, Boston Bruins (NESN) play-by-play man Jack Edwards announced his retirement from the broadcasts after 19 years. Edwards began his career with ABC Ch 5 Boston and continued with ESPN, working as an anchor in the early days of the Bristol, CT based sports network. He found his calling working play-by-play for the Bruins but had to retire early after experiencing a yet-to-be-diagnosed problem with his speech patterns. (He has said he’s been tested upside down and there’s no medical issue diagnosed).

“The past 19 years, to witness and describe some of the greatest moments in the New England sports pantheon has been a thrill of a lifetime,” said Edwards upon signing off. “I want to thank every employee at NESN, especially our production team. Brian Zechello, Rose Mirakian-Wheeler, Patrick White, and all the photographers represented on this trip by Bobby Swan.

“Most of all, I want to thank my broadcast partner Andy Brickley,” Edwards continued. “You’re the brother I never had until I started working with you. And it’s been a joy ride for 19 years. And this is my goodbye.”

“I have four brothers, but now I have five,” Brickley responded. “Absolutely a pleasure working with you, Jack. Great call again tonight. Tremendous finish.”

Can Cavs Defend Home Court vs C’s?

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CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have wrestled home-court advantage away from the top-seeded Boston Celtics. The next task is not giving it right back.

After splitting two games in Boston, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers look to make a big statement when they host the Celtics on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference second-round series.

After being crushed 120-95 in Game 1, Cleveland thrashed the Celtics on Boston’s home floor in Game 2 and notched a 118-94 victory.

Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell understood that it was a huge breakthrough but immediately turned the attention to Game 3 — suddenly the most important game of the playoffs for both teams.

“It’s always good to get a win on the road, but at the end of the day, it’s one game,” Mitchell said after scoring 29 points. “So it was good to get the win. We did a lot of really positive things. But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.

“You got to go take care of home court. It’s nice to get this win, but at the end of the day, we got one day to prepare and get ready to protect home court.”

Boston is looking to bounce back quickly after it appeared it was going to roll through the series following the dominating Game 1 performance.

Trailing by as many as 29 in the second half of Game 2, after being tied at halftime, was a stunning development to the Celtics.

“Just get ready for Saturday,” said Boston star Jayson Tatum, who had 25 points in Game 2. “Nobody was in there defeated, deflated. I mean, you never want to lose, especially in the playoffs.

“There’s a lot of things we can learn from, and we get it — the world thinks we’re never supposed to lose. We’re supposed to win every game by 25. And it’s just not going to be like that all the time.”

Mitchell was one of three 20-point scorers for Cleveland on a night in which his club shot 54.7 percent from the field. Evan Mobley had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Caris LeVert scored 21 points off the bench.

Mobley was a big factor on the defensive end as Boston shot just 41.3 percent from the field. Tatum and Jaylen Brown (19 points) were both 7 of 17 from the field and Derrick White (10 points) was 3 of 11. White scored 25 points in Game 1.

“That’s where he’s at his best, continuing to protect the paint,” Mitchell said of Mobley. “Especially having him guard on the ball, and being able to deter them on their shots and layups. …

“It’s not easy attacking Evan like that, so just having him able to be that dominant, but also give us offensive production, was big time.”

Mobley’s play in the interior was huge with center Jarrett Allen (ribs) again sidelined. Allen has missed five straight games and is listed as questionable for Saturday.

Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis (calf) will miss his fourth straight game.

NBA Draft Lottery: Who Will Pick #1

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CHICAGO – Four teams enter the 2024 NBA Draft lottery on Sunday with better than 13 percent odds of landing the No. 1 pick, but the prize holds relatively modest value one year after Victor Wembanyama arrived in the NBA from France.

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The Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards share the top odds — 14 percent — ahead of the Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers, who picked second and third behind the San Antonio Spurs last June. The Spurs scored the No. 1 pick, selected Wembanyama, and hold the fifth-best chance (10.5 percent) at getting the first overall pick in the 2024 draft via the lottery.

Since the lottery rules changed in 2019, each of the four teams to win the lottery and No. 1 pick entered with 14 percent odds to land the pick. The first year under the competitive balance rules in 2020, the Timberwolves won the lottery and selected Georgia’s Anthony Edwards.

While any team in the NBA would’ve welcomed a chance to bring Edwards or Wembanyama on board, there’s a bit of a red-headed stepchild narrative around the 2024 draft class.

The order of draft selections for lottery teams — the 14 teams not in the NBA playoffs — will be assigned mid-afternoon (3 p.m. ET, ABC) on Mother’s Day. Final positioning in the lottery was determined after the regular season based on record with the NBA settling tiebreaks involving teams with identical regular-season records.

Detroit drafted first overall in 2021 (Cade Cunningham) and fifth in 2022 (Jaden Ivey) and 2023 (Ausar Thompson). The Pistons find themselves back in this position following a league-worst 14-68 finish to the regular season.

Equal chances for the No. 1 pick belong to the Wizards. Washington last won the lottery in 2010, selecting Kentucky point guard John Wall.

The Hornets picked first once — in 1991, when they selected UNLV’s Larry Johnson — but have drafted outside of the lottery only once in the past 23 years. Charlotte selected Brandon Miller No. 2 overall in 2023 and LaMelo Ball with the third pick in 2020.

Greg Oden was the Trail Blazers’ pick at No. 1 in 2007 and Portland hasn’t been back in the top spot since. Point guard Scoot Henderson went at No. 3 to Portland in 2023. Kentucky shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe (seventh overall, 2022) and Lehigh guard CJ McCollum (10th overall, 2013) were the only other top-10 draft picks for the franchise since Oden.

Sporting the best record in the West in the regular season and playing in the conference semifinals, trade-happy Oklahoma City maintains two chances in the lottery as owed compensation in previous swaps with the Utah Jazz (6 percent chance at No. 1 pick) and Houston Rockets (1.5 percent odds at No. 1 pick). Because of pick protections placed on the trade, the Thunder would receive Utah’s selection only if it’s Nos. 11-14.

The current scouting consensus for the No 1 pick is Zaccharie Risacher.

Cavaliers Look to Even Series

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The visiting Cleveland Cavaliers look to even their second-round Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Boston Celtics when the teams play Game 2 of the best-of-seven series tonight. The top-seeded Celtics pulled away in the second half of Game 1 to earn a 120-95 victory on Tuesday.

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“Obviously there’s a lot of areas that we can improve on,” Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Facing a team like Boston, I think it’s good to be able to play them and see them, and then play them again because you’re not used to the speed, the spacing, the shooting — all those things — until you get up against them. Especially coming from the series that we just came from (against Orlando) that was more of a half-court slugfest. … We’ll learn from it and we’ll be better on Thursday.”

Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell said the improvement has to start on offense. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers have failed to score 100 points in six of their eight playoff games.

“We got (42) 3s up and we hit 11,” said Mitchell, who scored a game-high 33 points in Game 1. “I think the biggest thing now is just being able to hit and knock them down.”

Boston received 32 points from Jaylen Brown and 25 from Derrick White, who sank seven 3 pointers.

“I think the most important thing is to win,” White said. “I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter if I score zero or score however many I scored (Tuesday). When we win, I’m doing enough.”

Cleveland was held to 15 points in the second quarter and trailed 59-49 at halftime. Boston led by 15 points after three quarters and opened the fourth on a 10-2 run.

“I thought we created some open shots,” Bickerstaff said. “I think we got some of the looks we were looking for; they just didn’t go. I think we missed four or five layups in that second quarter. Typically, we make those. We got some open 3s from guys who we wanted to take them. We’ll make more of those as the series goes along.”

Brown said it would be a mistake to read too much into the Game 1 result, especially since Cleveland had little time to recover after it advanced with a Game 7 victory over Orlando on Sunday.

“Anything can happen,” Brown said. “It’s the NBA playoffs. We’re just taking it one game at a time and that’s all we can control. And we try to come out, be the harder playing team. We stick to our agenda and we let the chips fall where they may. It’s gonna be tough for a team to have to beat us four times. But as long as we come out, we execute both ends, we’re the harder playing team, I think we’ll be fine.”

After Thursday, the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 (Saturday) and Game 4 (Monday). The Celtics won two of their three games against the Cavaliers during the regular season, but Cleveland won the only game it played at home.

“They came out here and did what they were supposed to do,” Mitchell said. “Now we have to find a way to steal Game 2.”

–Field Level Media

Clark Scores 21 in First WNBA Game

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ARLINGTON – In her first action as a professional, Iowa’s sensational collegiate star Caitlin Clark did not disappoint as the recently drafted WNBA rookie scored 21 points for the Indiana Fever in a 79-76 preseason loss to the host Dallas Wings on Friday.

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Clark, the No. 1 pick in last month’s WNBA draft, scored 11 of her team’s first 19 points and scored 16 in the first half. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer finished 6-of-15 shooting from the floor, including 5 of 13 from 3-point range, while adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“My biggest goal coming into tonight was to continue to be myself, play aggressive,” said Clark, who missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would’ve sent the game to overtime. “I thought that’s what I did. I think there’s a lot to be proud of.”

Despite playing on the road, Clark was cheered throughout the game, including an ovation when she was introduced as a starter. She hit her first two shot attempts, both 3-pointers, and hit four of eight 3-point attempts in the first half.

The Fever play one more preseason game Thursday against the visiting Atlanta Dream before opening the regular season on the road against the Connecticut Sun on May 14.

“There’s a lot of good to take away from it. At the same time, it’s a preseason game, so don’t get too disappointed by it,” Clark said. “Just go back and watch the film, learn from it, and get ready for our next one.”

–Field Level Media

Celtics Take HEAT Series in Five

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each tossed in 25 points to help the Celtics wrap up their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the visiting Miami Heat with a 118-84 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday.

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Celtics’ forward Jayson Tatum added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Celtics, who won the final three games in the best-of-seven series.

Boston will play either fourth-seeded Cleveland or fifth-seeded Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Cavaliers have a 3-2 lead over the Magic in that series, which resumes Friday.

White and Sam Hauser each made five 3-pointers in the Celtics’ win. Hauser finished with 17 points off the bench.

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 23 points and six assists, and Tyler Herro added 15 points. Caleb Martin and Thomas Bryant each finished with 10 points, the only other Miami players who scored in double figures.

Eighth-seeded Miami shot 3 of 29 (10.3 percent) from 3-point range and was outrebounded 56-29.

The Heat, who didn’t have Jimmy Butler (knee) or Terry Rozier (neck) for the series, was also without rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. on Wednesday. Jaquez was diagnosed with a right hip flexor strain that also caused him to miss the fourth quarter of Game 4.

Boston played Wednesday without Kristaps Porzingis, who will be sidelined for an unspecified amount of time with a soleus (calf) strain. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Porzingis would be re-evaluated next week.

NBA Playoff Round-Up

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Pacers’ guard Tyrese Haliburton converted a three-point play with 1.6 seconds left in overtime, lifting the Indiana Pacers to a 121-118 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Haliburton gained separation after using a nifty crossover on Patrick Beverley before sinking a shot from the foul line. He added a free throw to complete his 18-point, 16-assist, 10-rebound performance and overcome a scintillating 42-point effort by Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton.

Myles Turner collected 29 points and nine rebounds and Pascal Siakam added 17 points and nine rebounds to help the sixth-seeded Pacers seize a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Sunday in Indianapolis.

Damian Lillard, slowed by an ailing Achilles tendon, overcame an apparent left leg injury late in the first quarter to finish with 28 points, eight assists and three steals. Bobby Portis collected 17 points and 18 rebounds for the third-seeded Bucks, who played their sixth straight game without two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (left calf strain).

Mavericks 101, Clippers 90

Dallas all-star Luka Doncic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help Dallas beat visiting Los Angeles in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Kyrie Irving scored 19 of his 21 points in the final 14 minutes for the Mavericks, who lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is set for Sunday in Dallas.

Norman Powell and James Harden each had 21 points for the Clippers, who committed 19 turnovers. Ivica Zubac added 19 points and eight rebounds.

Timberwolves 126, Suns 109

Anthony Edwards recorded 36 points and nine rebounds as Minnesota beat host Phoenix to take a 3-0 playoff series lead for the first time in franchise history.

The Timberwolves will aim for a sweep in Game 4 of the best-of-seven, first-round Western Conference series on Sunday night at Phoenix. Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 14 rebounds and Karl-Anthony Towns added 18 points and 13 boards for third-seeded Minnesota.

Bradley Beal scored 28 points, Kevin Durant added 25 and Devin Booker registered 23 points and eight assists for the sixth-seeded Suns.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | April 21

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While We’re Young (Ideas) on Caitlin Clark and the WNBA

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Every decade or so, an issue comes down the pike, and it’s so complex it can only be played out on the sports pages – specifically the NBA section. The complexities have ranged from public health to race relations to geopolitical crisis to labor law. You name it, the NBA has played it.

In the late ‘70s, the NBA was considered too Black and too druggie. The San Diego edition of the Los Angeles Times went so far as to call out the NBA for having 75% of its players using illegal drugs. (It was not a coincidence, the league had playing rosters of some 75% Black players, as well).

The NBA countered with the first and most significant Anti-Drug Agreement in professional sports, and the concept was championed by NBA Players Association President Bob Lanier (RIP 1948-2022) and signed by Big Bob and then Commissioner Larry O’Brien.

Early 1980s? The NBA was embarrassed by having only a handful of games on national TV and the championship games being tape delayed, all while salaries were soaring with no end in sight.

Up stepped the NBA with a new concept in Collective Bargaining that placed player salaries in line with the overall (monetary) success of the league. The new ‘83 CBA introduced maximum (Salary Cap) and minimum team salaries along with an improved Anti-Drug Agreement. The deal was a first for pro sports, and it was lauded by New York Times labor writer A.H. Raskin as a model, not just for sports but for all of labor law. Over the years, the league and NBA Players Association worked on the CBA and improved its rules/agreements, which govern the league’s player movement to this day.

The 1990s came along, and so did the public health crisis of the HIV/AIDS virus, a decade-plus old and raging out of control around the world. Just how could the NBA intersect with such a medical crisis?

Instead of hiding or being shunned by the league, fellow players and society, Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard and NBA champion Earvin “Magic” Johnson stepped up to a podium at the Fabulous Forum in LA and announced to the world that he had tested positive with the HIV virus and would have to retire from the NBA. Johnson stated his intention to help educate the youth of the world, stressing healthy living and teaching literally everyone the intricacies of and how to live with the virus, stressing safe sex and calling for much-needed research dollars to perfect prescription drug cocktails that were life-saving.

Johnson’s message was front page news in every publication in the world and he furthered his teachings by participating in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game where he won MVP honors in a truly magical manner. Johnson went on to play on the one and only USA Basketball “Dream Team” that took the gold medal at the ‘92 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Fast forward to 2020, and another virus ran rampant throughout the globe. It wasn’t until NBA Commissioner Adam Silver abruptly stopped the league from playing games that the general public realized just how serious COVID-19 was going to be. Only the IVY League was exercising full caution ahead of the NBA, but no one was listening until the NBA made its decisive move.

Now that’s a long introduction – we call it background in the biz – to introduce the topic of the day – maybe of the 2024-2030s – and that is the impact of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, drafted this week into the WNBA by the Indiana Fever. In one season, Clark sold more Iowa jerseys than Jersey Mike sells subs. While doing so, and now officially licensed Indiana replica uniforms and WNBA orange hoodies are flying off the shelves, the issue of “women in sports” has been raised by every media outlet in the land, from CNBC business to an Indiana-based columnist inappropriately making a “heart-shaped” sign to Clark while she was in the middle of meeting the WNBA media for the very first time.

Clark, who handled the press conference incident with grace and dignity, has done more to advance women’s basketball in one season than the WNBA has done since its inception on Memorial Day weekend in 1997. Clark led her Iowa Hawkeyes to the NCAA women’s Final Four, losing to national champion South Carolina in the championship game just weeks ago.

The coolest thing about Clark is she made the difference with her “game,” as in “She’s Got Game.” Her impact made all her teammates better and helped drive television ratings to all-time highs (According to Nielsen: 18.88 million people watched South Carolina clinch their undefeated season by beating Iowa, 87-75). The game marked the third all-time TV ratings high for the women’s game, and a 289% increase over the previous year’s NCAA championship. Only the ‘96 USA Basketball women’s national team win at the Atlanta Olympics can claim a higher ratings number (19.7 viewers).

The men’s final drew 14.8 million viewers on Turner (cable) and with that, let the comparisons begin, as media watchers noted that Clark’s Iowa team rated higher than any basketball game (men’s or women’s and college or professional) since 2019, according to ESPN, and the most viewership ever for a women’s college basketball game, as the broadcast peaked at a stunning 24 million viewers.

To put this in perspective. The games topped…

  • Every World Series game last year.
  • Every NBA Finals game last year.
  • Every Daytona 500 since 2013.
  • Every Masters final round viewership since 2013.
  • All but five College Football Bowl games in 2023.

As the WNBA Draft took place, the next (semi)-logical comparison was made as Clark’s WNBA rookie scale salary calls for her base salary to be:

  • 2024: $76,535
  • 2025: $78,066
  • 2026: $85,873
  • 2027: (option year) at $97,582

Quickly, the media pointed out that the NBA’s No. 1 draft choice, Victor Wembanyama signed a No. 1 pick NBA scale contract of $55,174,766 or some $13.7 million a year.

Knee jerk reactions were a combination of disbelief and horror by many who knew next to nothing of the NBA’s vast collective bargaining history since the maximum and minimum team salaries were introduced in 1983 and the number of years, ticket sales, and new global television deals it took to grow the NBA “pie” to its record levels of today.

For instance:

  • The NBA will generate about $13B in revenues this year. The WNBA will not approach that number. For additional background, the NBA’s (USA/Canada-based) national media deals pay the NBA and its teams $2.8 billion with a “b” for 2023-24. The WNBA and its teams will net $65M total for media rights.
  • The NBA is finishing its 78th season in business. The WNBA is enjoying its 28th season. The comparison in years would make it 1973 for the NBA.
  • In 1973, NBA players were making $15,000 (minimum), the median was $25,000 and the average was $40,000. The “key salary” figure at time was $65,000. If you were making $65,000, you were pretty good.
  • In ’73, the NBA had 45 players making $100,000, and keep in mind at the time there was a bidding war factor with ABA to sign and/or entice players between the years 1967 and ’76) – (Source: New York Times: Leonard Koppett).
  • Remember, the NBA plays from October to April with an 82-game season with 30 clubs and for successful playoff teams it could be some 100+ games all the way to late June. WNBA players compete in a 40-game, four-month season with 12 teams.
  • In addition to her base salary, Clark can make another $500,000 or more in WNBA-related earnings (coming from league activated marketing deals) this coming season.
  • Without a doubt, the marketing strength and vast WNBA TV deals will help her gain significant income through new endorsements and via existing business partnerships. Recent reports have that dollar amount exceeding $3 million and potentially jumping to an eight-figure Nike shoe and apparel deal worth $20,000,000 itself. (Be Like Mike and take the stock options).

The differences far outweigh the similarities, so it’s quite disingenuous to compare Clark’s salary to Wembanyama’s. But, if Clark were to be drafted in the first round by an NBA team this June, which is within reason, she would be slotted into the NBA’s rookie pay scale. Period. There’s no gender issue in the NBA’s CBA. Rookies selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft will make roughly $2m (for the 30th selection) to $10,504,800 for the No. 1 pick in the draft.

If Clark were to be selected with, say, the 20th overall pick of the draft, she’d make $2,780,000 for her first season, with bump-ups to $2.9m and $3.05m for the following two years. A four-year option salary would come in at 54% of her salary in 2026-27.

Now, the question of the day: Is Clark good enough to command an NBA salary? And, play it out: is the most talented musician at the Berklee School of Music good enough to gross the $2 billion Taylor Swift made in 2023? Or, we can get real serious across the entire socio-economic chart and start comparing the salaries of school teachers, bus drivers, nurses, first responders and the like to entertainers and athletes.

The point is that it’s not a fair comparison to knee-jerk and compare salaries unless you’re putting it all in context. That is the attempt in this column.

One last point: In 2020, the likes of Sue Bird and the (WNBA/NBA) Players Association heads were lauding their new CBA, and rightfully so. Said Bird, a member of the WNBA Players Association executive committee: “The deal represents moving forward both from a WNBA perspective, but also in general, for women in sports and society. We continue to push forward and there’s a lot of aspects of this deal that mark that.

“When you look at things like what we’re able to do with maternity leave and family planning … We’re going to be looked at as – I think – pioneers in the sports world.”

The players called the deal “historic,” due to its potential to change the financial landscape of women’s professional sports. “We’re betting on ourselves,” they said. “We’re betting on our ability as a league to bring to our American culture what people say they want.”

Just like Julius “Doctor J” Erving, Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the new member of the Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark, can be the game changer and put the WNBA on a path to incredible heights.

And guess what? Someday soon, while Clark and her 2024 Draft Class join up with the incredibly talented veteran stars of the league – A’ja Wilson and the entire Vegas Aces roster for one, Sabrina Ionescu and the NY Liberty, along with Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Brittney Griner, 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year and Clark’s new teammate Aliyah Boston, and all the other fabulous players in the W – they’ll all marvel when yet another unique, amazing, hard-working and game-changing athlete comes along, Just Like Mike came along to build on the foundation set by Doc, Larry and Magic, and Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, and George Mikan before him.

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HERE NOW, THE NOTES: On a personal note: Some of my media brethren are trying to manufacture a “Bird vs Magic” style rivalry in the WNBA between Clark and former LSU star Angel Reese, drafted by the Chicago Sky. Let’s see what happens if the rivalry manifests itself or not in the years to come, but, putting that aside, this columnist thinks the proper comparison for Clark is the great Doctor J.

While playing for UMass, the Virginia Squires, New York Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, Doc did things that we’d never seen before, and he did it pretty much every game he played. Yes, Erving operated far above the rim and had mitts the size of Montana, while Clark “operates” from the center court logo zone, a zip code away from the rim, and makes every player on her team better. She does something we haven’t seen before almost every night, sometimes astonishing Golden State’s Steph Curry. Again, it’s tough – maybe impossible – to make the comparisons.

WAYBACK: Looking in the wayback machine for the NYT story cited above, it also quoted the great Pat Williams (former GM at Orlando and Philadelphia) and noted his P.O.V. on the late Commissioner David Stern’s ability to “sell” the NBA. Said Williams: “Now, the 47-year-old Mr. Stern is embarking on his next big gambit: peddling the sport abroad. And he likes nothing better than hustling. ”We had people in this league who would have trouble selling Blue Cross to Humpty Dumpty,” said Pat Williams, the general manager of the Orlando Magic. ”David Stern can sell an anvil to a drowning man. He can sell a pogo stick to a kangaroo. You ready for this? David Stern could sell a stethoscope to a tree surgeon.

“That’s the ultimate tribute I can pay the man,” said Williams.

NUGGETS AND TIDBITS: This might come as a shock, but the Boston Red Sox rank No. 2 in MLB with 28 Home Runs, trailing only the Baltimore Orioles with 30. This fast April start for the Sox in the HR Dept. is their most through 21 games since 2002 (30) and it ties for fifth most in franchise history. … The Red Sox 17 HRs on the road ties the San Francisco Giants for most in MLB (as of April 20-AM). … Heading into Saturday’s games, OF Tyler O’Neill ranked second in the American League with seven HRs while 1B Triston Casas is tied for third with six dingers.

SURPRISE, SUPRISE: Scottie Scheffler is atop the PGA leaderboard at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Course in South Carolina. Scheffler shot an acceptable two-under (69) on Thursday but amped it up to go 69-65-63 heading into the Sunday (April 21) finale. Five golfers are within three strokes.

SAD NOTE: It was very sad to get a text message from former St John’s coach Fran Fraschilla with the terrible news of (former St. John’s classmate) Howie Schwab passing away on the morning of April 20. Known to many sports fans as the “Stump the Schwab” ESPN personality, his friends knew him as the sports editor of “The Torch” at St. John’s and the kindest and most thoughtful guy you’d ever want to know. The WWYI column will delve deeper into “The Schwab” next week, but please say a prayer for Howie, his wife and family. Simply put, he was a very good man and the most loyal (to St. John’s and his ESPN employer) that you’d ever meet.

HEAT Play Way Into NBA Playoffs

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MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Miami’s Tyler Herro tallied a near triple-double of 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and the host Heat punched their ticket to the 2024 NBA Playoffs with a convincing 112-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists in the one-sided win in the final Eastern Conference play-in game.

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The Heat will face the top-seeded Boston Celtics on Sunday in the first round of the playoffs. Miami and Boston met in the two last East finals, with Boston prevailing in 2022 and the Heat winning last season.

Miami dominated Friday’s contest even with star Jimmy Butler sidelined with a ligament injury to his right knee. Butler was injured in Wednesday’s play-in loss against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Reserve bigman Kevin Love contributed 16 points and seven rebounds, and Bam Adebayo scored 13 points for the Heat.

DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points and Nikola Vucevic had 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for the Bulls. Coby White had just 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting after scoring 42 points against the Atlanta Hawks two nights earlier.

Javonte Green added 12 points off the bench, and Ayo Dosunmu had 10 on 3-of-15 shooting for Chicago.

Miami also defeated the Bulls last season in the battle for the final spot in the East. The Heat eventually lost to the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals.

Miami shot 46.3 percent from the field, including 14 of 33 from 3-point range.

The Bulls made 38 percent of their attempts and were 13 of 43 from behind the arc.

Chicago trailed 70-60 after a basket by Green with 3:15 left in the third quarter, and then Miami delivered the knockout punch.

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NBA Bans Porter for Life

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The NBA issued a lifetime ban to Jontay Porter following an investigation into his involvement in gambling on league games, the league announced Wednesday.

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An investigation directed by the league found that Porter “violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes and betting on NBA games,” according to a league news release.

Porter, a center, was under a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors in the 2023-24 season.

“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

“While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players. Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our league and game.”

According to the league, Porter played only three minutes of the Raptors’ home loss to the Sacramento Kings on March 20 before telling the team he didn’t feel well. Prior to the game, he “disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor,” the league said.

Additionally, per the NBA, another known better placed an $80,000 online wager that would have paid out $1.1 million if Porter underperformed the odds.

The prop bet was frozen and not paid after it was deemed suspicious.

The NBA also reported that between January and March as a member of the Raptors or their G League minor league team, Raptors 905, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games through an associate’s account and won about $22,000.

Porter, 24, averaged 4.4 points through 26 games (five starts) for Toronto this season. He began his NBA career with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020-21, then didn’t appear in the league the next two seasons.

He last played on March 22.

His older brother, Michael Porter Jr., started 81 games for the Denver Nuggets this season.

–Field Level Media