“Last year it was Abe Pollin’s widow and this year it was a 14-year-old boy and the only thing we have in common is we have both been bar mitzvahed.,” cracked Timberwolves GM David Kahn Tuesday night after watching the Cavs capture the top pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. When some have suggested Kahne owes the Pollin and Gilbert families an apology, the embattled Minnesota exec insists he was a) just kidding around, and b) trying to make the lottery halfway memorable. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Kent Youngblood :
“The first question I was asked [Tuesday] night … was whether the Timberwolves were jinxed for our lottery record through the years,” Kahn said. “I don’t believe in jinxes, curses, hocus-pocus and I certainly don’t think we were wronged. But I do believe in the power of story, and it’s a heck of a lot better story for a 14-year-old kid to beat out a couple of middle-aged executives standing together on a national stage, and that our league tends to have its own share of luck in being a part of those stories.
“That was the entire meaning of what I said last night in a joking fashion, and what I believe was received in such a fashion.”
Kahn said the league had him miked up from 45 minutes before the lottery went on, intending to use what they got for a show that will run later. He noted wryly that the league encourages folks to be compelling and funny. “On the other hand, they want to then say, ‘You can’t say that,’ ” he said.
“All I’m saying is, that’s what drives sports,” Kahn said. “The story lines tend to win out. It’s karma. I turned to people last night, after it was over, and I said that next year, all the teams will send teenagers.”