Paying the price

NBA sends message with Lucas' suspension

They should have known better.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were fined $150,000 and head coach John Lucas was suspended for the first two games of next season for including LeBron James, a high school junior, in a voluntary workout at Gund Arena.

It's surprising they would take a chance on violating the league rule that prohibits contact between teams and players not yet eligible for the draft, because news of the workout is going to get out. With media coverage the way it is, you can't hide things like that, unless it's a very private session somewhere. So it sounds as if either they didn't know the rules or James wasn't officially invited.

James is from Akron, Ohio, near where the Cavs work out. The team might have had an informal workout, and he might have just shown up. But this kid was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, so the team really should have known who he was and that he didn't belong there.

Either way, Lucas' two-game suspension seems a little excessive. But David Stern and Co. honestly are committed to keeping kids in school, so they came down hard on him. They can't stop a player from coming out and applying for the draft, and if he's there, people are going to draft him. The league has to crack down where it can.

In fact, league management would love to see every player go through four years of college. They not only develop and mature, but they also have a way to establish a name. Then, as they come into the pros, they're already seasoned and heralded, so the NBA isn't starting from scratch.

Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. His column appears weekly on CNNSI.com

 

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