Is the NBA draft lottery rigged? I will be paying close attention to the lottery this year. Blake Griffin, an Oklahoma-native, is going to be the number one overall pick this coming draft. Oklahoma is currently on the outside looking in at getting him, but last year Chicago got Chicago-native Derrick Rose first overall after having less than a ten percent chance of landing the first pick. Cleveland landed Ohio-native LeBron James in the 2003 draft. The friggin' ping-pong balls aren't even shown. If the Thunda get the number one overall pick, I've sworn to myself to stop watching NBA basketball (until the Pistons get the number one pick).
I've always strongly believed that it was rigged. Why do it behind closed doors? Look at the way things fall. Stern and the refs rig the outcome of individual games and the eventual winner of the NBA championship by manipulating rules. I would be very very surprised if the draft were legit.
Joe throws away his lottery pick on Darko. Stern compensates Joe with a Championship the very next year. That's how you rig it.
The NBA draft and its implications are WAY TOO HUGE to be rigged. I'm sure all of the involved NBA executives are right there physically on hand when the draft lottery is taking place. No possible way it is rigged.
then why have the drawing in private away from the media..... light makes the whispers go away.... the number of shakey looking drafts just add to the mystery.... now if stern wants to make up for the last 20 plus years of shafting the pistons i'll be happy to miss the playoffs for the number 1 pick.
I think the drama of revealing the order of the draft is more interesting the way they currently do it than to have 4 out of the 14 ping pong balls pop up and trying to figure out which of the 1001 combinations has occurred and what exactly does that mean. No one would understand what is going on if ball #3, #7, #11, and #14 popped up. It makes no sense to have the ping pong balls pop up on live TV.
Okay, you got me. Don't tell anyone. By the way, who do you think I should send Blake Griffin to this year?
Who knows? ... It could be rigged, but I highly doubt it. If it were to ever be leaked out, the NBA would lose a lot of credibility and a lot of fans. So, no I don't think they are dumb enough to take such an enormous risk. Same with the officiating. Is it bad most nights and slanted towards marketable "star" players? ... sure it is. But it's not rigged. Plus, if it were rigged, Oklahoma City sure as heck wouldn't be getting the #1 pick. Oklahoma City is of little importance to the overall well being of the NBA; a small market team. The New York Knicks on the other hand, that's a different story. The league would greatly benefit from them being relevant again. Off-topic, but the Sonics should have never been forced to leave Seattle, a great basketball town. 40 years they were in that city!! I'm still pissed off about that.
PRIME EXAMPLE Roscoe! YouTube - NBA on CBS 1985 NBA Draft Lottery - COMPLETE VERSION When it all started....
They should do away with the ping pong balls all together. Stern should pull out little pieces of paper, read them, and then immediately feed the paper through a shredder.
On Fox Sports pregame, they said the quote was: I can play 18 minutes with my eyes closed and a 100-pound trunk on my back."
It makes more sense because 100 lb trunks actually exist. I've never actually seen one, but I would bet that there is one out there somewhere. You don't often see them on athlete's backs, but we also live in a pretty established country (some of us). It's too bad he can't carry the whole team on his back.
