TEHRAN (AP) -- In an emotional press conference owner Robb has officially stepped down as co-owner of the Tehran Lakers franchise.
"I'm tremendously saddened by the executive office's decision to keep us from drafting the player we had hoped to draft since this entire process began," Robb said, whose dispirited nature was visible in his unkempt appearance. "We only had one name since the day we were awarded the franchise and the first overall pick, and that we were denied that specific player, I just can't reconcile that.
"I was just so ready. I told everyone how much fun I was having. Shooting down EVERY trade offer that LarBrd33 sent to me over AIM, pestering Rondo2287 with ridiculous trade proposals, playing up our image as an honest and fun-loving Iranian basketball franchise, and most fun of all, writing these AP reports. No one could have enjoyed their time here as much as I did."
The outspoken owner was then asked about the process from his point of view. "We didn't think it was a secret that we might not be able to make our selection, since, you know, our ownership group lives in Korea and Portugal, so we made every effort to make sure that the player we targeted would be selected for us. Did we make any mistakes? Yeah, I would say panic-drafting Tim Duncan when it turned out NO ONE wanted him was our biggest mistake, but seriously we should have just slept in and let everything take care of itself, so I feel as if our only mistake was trying to be more involved."
The particular rule that kept the team from selecting the first player in the draft seems as if it was enacted in order to keep the draft moving and to not have posters waiting around for an owner to make picks. "We feel we adhered to the spirit of the law, if not the exact letter--which we had been following to the best of our ability. We weren't trying to slow anything down. In fact, if you look at our franchise throughout this draft process, we've done everything we could to make the process more convenient. We created this very profile for other posters to contact us and be involved, we had daily updates on our team, we were one of the most active teams in the draft thread and we adhered to every rule we could, even posting our pick in red letters like was mentioned and a good amount of teams forgot to do."
"The most disappointing aspect of a very disappointing process was the lack of discussion from head office. When I asked about the situation, I received the same responses and there was no dialogue. I understand the commissioner was obviously very busy, but if the first pick of the entire draft is messed up, it's like the domino effect, don't you think?
"We were told that the decisions on the process were made to 'keep judgment out of it,' but look at when we made our pick. Big Ticket posted the player's name in black letters and we posted ours in red letters, as per league policy. Choosing to accept the black letter pick instead of the red letter pick was a judgment, wasn't it?
"Ultimately, though, I have no anger against league office, they're doing the best they can, but this is one of those situations that I just can't resolve. The fun of the process was sucked right out of me."
Robb was asked if there was any consolation that would allow him to return to the franchise that he, along with his new friend cordobes created, "No. There's nothing. I don't want the specific player because we don't feel as if another franchise should go through what we went through. We don't feel like another city should be denied that opportunity. Look at whoever was drafting fourth. They thought they were going to be stuck with that jerk Kobe Bryant, and now they have Chris Paul. Congratulations to them.
"We're just really saddened that the Iranian people are going to be denied the player they all expected to have, and were ready to embrace."
Though never mentioning him by name, the team's logo (designed by former Hornets owner lon3lytoaster) has an image of a frowning LeBron James on a sand covered basketball court thinking to himself "I was told there would be a beach..."
For the final question of his press conference owner Robb was asked about the succession of the franchise, "I truly hope cordobes will answer the call to run this team. He was a great person to work with, and even though he was unable to join the franchise for the past week's draft preparations, his keen basketball mind assures us that he can run this franchise well--better than myself, I'm sure."
A recent poll of Tehranians showed extraordinary support for cordobes as the successor, with 96% of respondents saying that they'd have cordobes or no one else. Three percent voted for the Ayatollah Khameni.
In an address to the people the Ayatollah was quoted as saying "I gotta say, I'm more an MMA guy, myself."
Robb, in his last comment of the day told the media that "Whoever runs this franchise, I just hope they have as much fun as I was having before this regrettable incident."
Topic: 30 team CelticsBlog draft, year two (Read 259781 times)