Wolves GM's post-lottery quips are air balls

It's understandable that the Minnesota Timberwolves feel snake-bitten when it comes to the NBA draft lottery.

The team had the best chance (25 percent) to land the No.1 pick this year after finishing with a league-worst 17-65 record - and for the 14th consecutive time, the Wolves could not score the lottery's ultimate prize.

But what the Wolves' top exec said after Tuesday night's lottery is not likely to garner any sympathy for the team.

Minnesota GM David Kahn jokingly implied that the NBA's lottery process is rigged, labeling this year and last year's winners as "story lines" - because the eventual lottery winners sent a child (who happens to have a nerve disorder) and a widow of an iconic NBA owner as team representatives.

Kahn's comments came after he joined Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor and Nick Gilbert, the 14-year-old son of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, as the three finalists for the No. 1 pick. Nick Gilbert, who suffers from a nerve disorder, proved to be his dad's lucky charm, landing the No. 1 pick for the Cavaliers (the team had just a 2.8 percent chance of doing so).

"This league has a habit, and I am just going to say habit, of producing some pretty incredible story lines," Kahn said after the lottery. "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. We were done. I told Kevin: 'We're toast.' This is not happening for us and I was right."

Forget that Kahn is suggesting that the lottery is rigged - even if he is trying to be funny.

But referring to a 14-year-old kid with a nerve disorder and a woman who recently lost her husband as "story lines" to make a joke is most certainly unfunny and reckless.

To be fair, Kahn never explicitly makes reference to Nick Gilbert's neurofibromatosis, a nerve disorder that causes tumors to grow anywhere in the body at any time. But his illness is well known and was highlighted by broadcasters at the lottery. His father called him his "hero" for the way he has fought the disease.

David Kahn called the boy a "story line."

Wizards owner Abe Pollin was one of the most respected executives (and philanthropists) in professional sports before he died in late 2009. He is credited with revitalizing the area around the Verizon Center in D.C. and a block near the arena is called "Abe Pollin Way."

David Kahn called his widow Irene's appearance at the 2010 lottery a "story line."

Again, Kahn is apparently trying to be humorous, but he should not have been so cavalier with his references to Nick Gilbert and Abe Pollin as contrivances pushed by the NBA to manipulate the draft lottery.

These people are incredible. Don't make light of their stories by suggesting they are part of a league conspiracy.

Here is video of Nick Gilbert winning the NBA draft lottery: