Among NBA owners accustomed to getting their way in every other area, perhaps what sets Cavaliers governor Dan Gilbert apart is his penchant for online outrage.
From sending A strongly worded letter to then-Secretary David Stern. Try to get him to block the Chris Paul trade. lakers In 2011, he most infamously wrote to a fan in a 2010 issue of Comic Sands (later deleted): “I personally vouch for it.” cleveland cavaliers After LeBron James left the team for the first time, Gilbert has shown multiple times that he is willing to vent his anger online.
But his latest complaints were a little more subtle than those in the past.After the Cavaliers struggled without Donovan Mitchell Losses narrower than expected to boston celtics While losing 1-3 in the second round of the NBA playoffs, Gilbert sent out the following tweet:
Hey, Cleveland…I thought our team played hard tonight, especially without our two best players. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that he has to work hard 24/7 to win in this league (you know what I mean). Let’s win Game 5 and bring this back to Cleveland!
— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) May 14, 2024
At first glance, that seems innocuous enough, right? But what does this 24/7 line mean? It mentions that LeBron James was in attendance and had a good time, right? Perhaps it hinted that help was on the way? In a normal tinfoil hat situation this isn’t a bad guess, but in this case the answer is much simpler. You’d miss it if you didn’t, as Gilbert appears to be reading between his lines and winking at his fans. Boston hit 24 free throws to the Cavaliers’ seven, prompting complaints about the officiating. Lost 109-102.
Gilbert is clearly trying to get his message across here by providing plausible deniability to avoid fines. And maybe, in retrospect, you’ll wish the Cavs didn’t make at least one or two more free throws. It wouldn’t be so subtle if he were talking about his 24/7 or working hard 24/7, right? He could save thousands of dollars by making one fewer free throw. yeah.
It’s hard to imagine that some grand NBA conspiracy would cause the undermanned Cavs to lose their home games. shorten A series to help Boston have an easier path to the conference finals(???)…but that’s probably not what Gilbert is suggesting. Maybe he just thought the referee was awful, not malicious.
But while those interested in cheering can always find a rant with the referee, it’s kind of hard to think Gilbert has a real case here. His team was missing its best player and scorer and made 16 more threes than the Celtics (48 triples to Boston’s 32). That means they consistently got to the line less than the Celtics in almost every scenario and avoided the paint as much. .
But still, it’s pretty funny to see Gilbert complain like this, and it’ll be interesting to see if the NBA feels there’s enough here to actually fine him. If so, please write a press release, preferably in Comic Sans, to make this whole thing even more interesting.
We will update this story if they resolve this issue with Gilbert.
