Former Cavs GM David Griffin On Team Drafting Anthony Bennett: ‘You F*ck Up Sometimes’
On the night of the 2013 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers shocked everyone when they selected UNLV big man Anthony Bennett No. 1 overall.
Bennett only played 52 games for the Cavs and is not currently on an NBA roster.
The Athletic‘s Jason Lloyd released his first book, The Blueprint: LeBorn James, Cleveland’s Deliverance and the Making of the Modern NBA, today and shared an excerpt where former Cavs GM David Griffin, who was acting as the team’s VP of basketball operations at the time, discusses the decision to draft Bennett.
Griffin was blunt, saying, “you fuck up sometimes,” and that Bennett “had no desire to overcome adversity whatsoever.”
More from The Athletic:
“The issue with Anthony was, and we had no way of knowing it at the time, the kid had no desire to overcome adversity whatsoever. As soon as it was hard, he was out,” (David) Griffin said. “His whole life, he rolled out of bed bigger, better, and more talented than everybody else. As soon as it was hard, it was over. And I was the one on campus at UNLV. I’m the one who got sold the bill of goods and I bought it hook, line, and sinker. You fuck up sometimes. But I feel bad Chris took it for that, because Chris was the one guy who wasn’t sure.”
Lloyd’s book is available for purchase now.
