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Power of the bow tie: Cavaliers win lottery
AP
Photo
NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver, left, congratulates Nick Gilbert, 14, the son of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, after it was announced that Cleveland won the 2011 NBA basketball draft lottery, Tuesday, May 17, 2011 in Secaucus, N.J. Nick Gilbert was the on-stage representative for the team during the drawing announcement.
AP
Photo
Grant Gilbert, 13, the son of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, holds one of the lottery numbers that were drawn in combination giving the Cavaliers first place during the 2011 NBA basketball draft lottery, Tuesday, May 17, 2011 in Secaucus, N.J.
Associated Press
SECAUCUS, N.J.
The new face of the Cavaliers is 14 years old, wears a bow tie and has battled disease since birth.
Nick Gilbert looks nothing like LeBron James, but on Tuesday night he brought back all the hope that left Cleveland with its franchise player last summer.
The Cavaliers got a huge jump on their post-LeBron rebuilding process, winning the lottery and the No. 1 selection in next month’s NBA draft.
“Shocking events took place last summer and it was a slow, long, painful haul to get through it. Maybe this will be the final straw in getting over the hump, getting to the other side, and having a lot of hope for the future,” Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said. “That’s what we need.”
Gilbert sent his son and “hero”, 14-year-old Nick Gilbert, to the stage and the kid came up with a stunning victory, as the Cavs turned a pick from the Los Angeles Clippers that had only a 2.8 percent chance of victory into the top spot.
Nick Gilbert was born with Neurofibromatosis (NF), a nerve disorder that causes tumors to grow anywhere in the body at any time. He was wearing black-rimmed glasses and a bow tie and looked serious until he showed a keen sense of humor in a television interview. His father called him his “hero” for the way he has fought the disease.
“It’s sort of Nick fashion. He has been doing it his whole life to some degree. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of the way he carried himself and I am very excited for the fans of Cleveland, Ohio who have been through a very, very rough year,” Dan Gilbert said. “They deserve it more than anybody and they have some good hope now.”
The Cavs will select first for the first time since 2003, when they drafted James out of high school.
The Cavs will have two top-four picks next month as they try to back owner Dan Gilbert’s boast that they would win a title before James. They already had their own pick and acquired another at the trade deadline from the Clippers in the deal for Baron Davis. They will likely decide between point guard Kyrie Irving of Duke or Arizona forward Derrick Williams as the top pick.