In a continuing series of one-on-one interviews, Erie Times-News staff writer Duane Rankin talked last week with Cleveland Cavaliers reserve forward Lance Allred, who became the first legally deaf player to play in the NBA after a stint in the NBA Development League.

Allred, 27, will remain with the Cavaliers throughout the playoffs after initially signing a 10-day contract during the season. A 6-foot 11-inch center, Allred played for the Idaho Stampede, who won the 2008 D-League championship.

Allred talked about the Stampede winning the D-League title, the good and bad points of the D-League and being part of the Cavaliers during this year’s NBA playoffs.

Q: Hey Lance, we have a D-League team in Erie. So I first wanted to know how you felt about Idaho winning the D-League title this year?

A: I’m incredibly proud of those guys and it speaks highly to the team in the fact that I was called up to the NBA, Mouhamed Sene went down (with a knee injury), so the two centers went down and with Sene and me, they still managed to come together. In my three years of professional ball (Allred played a year in Europe before going to the D-League), that was the closest team of people I’ve ever been around. Genuine, incredible people and Coach (Bryan) Gates understood that if you want to be successful, before talent you have to have good people. Talent means nothing without chemistry. We had incredible people and a great sense of camaraderie that I haven’t had since college (at Weber State) in that we all genuinely cared about each other. And we were all happy for each other’s success. We had a veteran point guard like Randy Livingston running the show, it makes it very simple, makes it easy and keeps everyone interested because he does such a good job of giving everyone equal time with the ball. He’s brilliant at that. I’m just totally proud of those guys. It’s Idaho’s second (year) in the NBA Development League, and to take the championship? There was only one place to go but up from what we had last year; that’s not true, but we had the best record last year. We were tied with Dakota, but we lost in the semifinals. So obviously we had a chip on our shoulder to take it all. Now that we’re there, the only place to go now is down. So hopefully they don’t. I’m proud of them.

Q: You getting any jewelry?

A: I think I’m getting a (championship) ring. I hope I get a ring. If not, my feelings will be hurt. It is a team game and you’d like to think you did contribute something to the table. Even though I wasn’t there in the long run in the end. I was there for two years and only Randy was there longer than I was. I was there for a season and a half and most of the guys on the team were only there just for a season. Hopefully I do get a little bling for it.

Q: Can you explain the D-League experience and how it helped you get here?

A: The D-League has its pros and cons, to be brutally honest. I’m incredibly grateful for it. I mean, it’s a stat league. It’s the one league in the world where almost winning isn’t almost the most important agenda. It’s player development. So sometimes you feel as though you’re in this thing to win, but certain guys are supposed to get X amount of minutes, especially the NBA signee guys that come down. That’s tough. That really is tough because there are a couple of signees that came down that were really good about it, but then you have some that have a pretty bad sense of entitlement that don’t feel they have to be there, which is why you’re there in the first place. You have to deal with all that and all the politics of that. Sometimes it’s easy to get distracted about all this circumferential aspects that you have no control over. And so it gets very draining, but that’s part of the deal. It makes you fit your scheme. It makes you more professional. You have to learn just to ignore all the stuff going about you and just focus on what you can control. So having been around that, when you get called to the NBA where everything is taken care of and they make it so easy for us as players just to worry about basketball. You don’t have to worry about medication or prescriptions or doctor’s appointments. We had to worry about all. We had to manage our time and so when you’re in the D-League, sadly, you don’t make a lot of money. My first year, I made $12,000 gross. Yeah. That’s not helping with anything really. It’s eye opening. You’re so close to the NBA, but you’re not making much money and yet you don’t have a lot of equipment. Not a lot of basketballs. You’re not making a lot of money and you’re wanting for a lot. Whereas you get here, you’re making good money and you’re not wanting for anything. That’s the adjustment you have, but it’s kind of like just, uh, what’s the analogy I’m looking for? You go through such an extreme environment like that, you come out very refined and you learn to appreciate what you have. Obviously I’m grateful for the NBA Development League. It allowed me to climb up the ladder and develop and grow and learn from my mistakes and play. That’s the important thing. You can do all the drills you want and everything, but the best way to become a better basketball player at the end of the day is to play basketball and learn from your mistakes on the court. So I had that opportunity in Idaho and I was able to learn the American rules. The 3-second rule. The illegal defense. The spacing, and I enjoyed that much better than overseas because overseas had the trapezoid key and the closer 3-point line so there’s not a lot space for the big guys to work with. I’m not the biggest guy. I’m not going to muscle people around, but American-style basketball creates spacing and allows me use more of my quickness and my shot and to face people up and shoot jump shots and things like that. So in the NBA Development League, I was really able to work on that aspect and that’s what’s gotten me here. Not to discredit other NBA players. I mean, some of them are just brilliant, but the other 90 percent of us in the NBA, for most of us, it’s all about timing. Are you in the right place at the right time, and so for a guy like me, the NBA Development League was pretty much my one way in. I really don’t see how I would have gotten in the NBA by maybe playing overseas. It just worked out, and I’m credibly grateful for the opportunity I had in the NBA Development League. And it’s fun, too, for fans as well. Sometimes, during the long haul of the season in the NBA, sometimes the fans get frustrated because they feel like the team’s not playing that hard. Well, yeah, it’s 82 games and not everything matters. I’ve been complimented by so many fans especially Utah Jazz fans; the Utah Flash team had new team in the D-League this year. They had season tickets for both and I know people who gave away the Utah Jazz tickets to go watch the Utah Flash because, again, you have 10 borderline NBA players making no money, but they’re so close to their dream of being in the NBA and it’s such a stat league, that you feel like every game counts to keep your stats up so you can continue to stay noticed. Everyone plays their tails off. It’s incredibly, incredibly competitive. Incredibly cutthroat and especially since the beginning of the year, even when you sign a contract with the D-League, it’s not guaranteed. You have to go to tryouts and the coaches can cut you and everything. You have all these great college basketball players. I know of a few, and I’m not going to name them, but they came to camp and they had great college careers. Like conference MVPs and everything, and then they’re getting cut. They’re getting thrown out. It’s very dog-eat-dog environment, and if you can make it in the D-League, that says something about you. You still have to go through all this stuff you really have no control over sometimes. You have all these guys that want their dream of the NBA so they play their tails off every night.

Q: Wow. Last thing I want to ask. Being part of the playoffs is one thing. Being part of this series (against Washington) is one thing. But all the things that are going on around it, how are you viewing it?

A: I mean, how fortunate am I, because I’ve only been here for almost two months now. Six weeks or whatever, and I basically get a free ride, a free experience in the playoffs, whereas there are guys who have been playing for years in the NBA that don’t have any playoff experience. And I get to come in for free, basically just being a practice guy. After six weeks, I get rewarded getting a front row view of what the playoffs are and what to expect and stuff. I’m very fortunate. You win some and you lose some. Had I been in the NBA for three years now, I’d have more stability for myself. I’ll worry about that later. At this point, I’m incredibly honored for this genuine opportunity because a lot of other players in the D-League got called up to teams and for a lot of them, it’s just 10-day call ups with Band-Aids for practice or whatever, and they got sent back down. Some got called up during the season, but their teams are done. I’m very fortunate because, one, I wasn’t just a 10-day player. It’s nice to be rewarded in that aspect and hopefully I never forget the places I’ve been and I’ll never forget just how incredible this facility (Cleveland Clinic Courts) here I have at my disposal now. Also I’m one of the few D-League players to be in the playoffs. So timing just fell my way.

Q: Exactly. Thanks Lance.

A: No problem. Anytime.