I'm Droooling......

[Diesel]

Get 1 kid. Blind fold him. Put him into a kid sized tumbler which has tumbled the balls around for three minutes. The kid comes out with one ball that bears a teams logo!

That's a lotttery.

[Lascar78]

lol

Oh but I'm sure you'd claim that the kid was chosen by stern and trained to find the appropriate ball that was of a different size. I mean if we can build computers out of dna, surely we can train a blindfolded kid to find a bigger ball...

[chillzatl]

that could help him locate a certain ball, blindfolded. Like a bat in a cave or something!

[Wretch]

Telling me that the lottery is real is not proof; I believe in odds and probabilities, so showing me results of random drawings is nothing out of the ordinary. Questions don't arise from things that go accordingly. Questions arise from things that go TOO accordingly. Such is the history of the NBA's draft lottery system.

If the NBA Lottery was operated by anyone other than NBA league officials, then I would have absolutely no questions. I wouldn't even need to witness it. But it isn't. Nobody knows much about the machine and only a select group of people get to watch it run.

I don't question the purpose of having a lottery at all. I think discouraging teams from tanking is a great idea and the entertaiment value is immeasurable. It's a great system. No question.

The thing is, we can all assess every team in the NBA and say who needs what. The lottery dictates where the stars in this league fall. If Stern has control over that, then he has the ability to address team needs, create parity, and increase marketability as he sees fit to.

[Weez]

but who else is going to run it? See, that's where I lose your train of thought...you say that Stern dictates things,esp. the balance of power, so easily. A couple of things against that:

do you think Stern was in favor of Melo going to the talent rich west last year? Had the Nuggs fallen out of the top three...or anyone but the Grizz not won the 2, Bron and Melo would square up four times a year against each other and the likes of other shooters such as AI, TMac, PP...

you talk about Stern rigging it so Duncan went to SanAnt to spite Boston/Pittino. Makes no sense. Stern knew Robinson would be back the next season, he also knew Boston, a staple franchise rivaled only by the Lakers in term of greatness and following, sucked at the time and really could have used him...esp. in such a nice, big market as Boston.

there have been so many 'happenings" that "would" make sense for Stern to rig...but things just don't work out that way. Remember, each lottery is an independent lotto, it's results not impacted by the previous years...thereby, any "freak occurence" could happen again.

[CHORO44]

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1208/2...cle.jhtml?term=

I am dispatched to Secaucus, N.J., to witness the drawing of the pingpong balls that determine the order of the first 13 picks in the NBA draft. I arrive certain I will find some sort of conspiracy afoot. This is the NBA, after all, and when it comes to all-time great conspiracies, this league ranks up there with JFK, Jimmy Hoffa and the Roman Senate. Every NBA fan knows that whenever a ref's whistle blows, whenever a draft lottery is conducted, whenever so much as a sneaker squeaks on the court, it is orchestrated by the great league conspiracy.

With super-famous, love him-or-hate him prospect LeBron James on the line, no way the league will leave it to fate to decide the top pick. Right? Surely the fix is in. Surely there is Velcro involved, weights in the balls, controlled air in the lottery machine. Something. I am allowed behind the scenes, and I am certain I can uncover the conspiracy.

Here's how the NBA lottery works: 12 team representatives (Houston did not show, having traded its pick to Memphis) pack into a conference room in the bowels of the NBA office. Another 12 team reps are in the studio and won't know the results until the envelopes are unsealed. There's a lottery machine at the front of the conference room, operated by the official turner-on-er, Kenny Payne of the league office. Payne takes out a case filled with 14 pingpong balls, each marked 1 through 14. He holds up each for inspection, announces the number and drops it into the machine. He then performs his most important function of the evening: turning on the machine.

The league does not simply assign each team a number and draw from there. Instead, each team gets a group of four-number combinations, and the size of that group depends on how bad the team's record was. When four numbers randomly are drawn out of 14, there are 1,001 possible combinations, and the worst team in the lottery is assigned 250 of those combinations. The next team gets 200, and so on down to the last team, which gets only one combination. Because Cleveland and Denver tied for the worst record, they both got 225.

After the machine is on, league official Lou DiSabatino takes out a stopwatch, turns away from the machine and times it for 10 seconds. He holds up his hand, signaling Payne to hit the button that will select the first ball: 6. Five seconds later, he does it again: 2. A pause: 3. Then there's a 12.

6-2-3-12. Checking the assigned combinations ... it belongs to Cleveland. And that's it. The whole thing takes 25 seconds.

Imagine my surprise. No intrigue? No dropped ball, no Velcro? Where are the Knicks sneaking up to steal the top pick? I expected the league to create some kind of diversion while Payne pulled the old switcheroo, but there are no diversions. I have traveled a long way to find a conspiracy, but come up with 6-2-3-12.

When it is over, I approach Russell Wells, figuring any good conspiracy could use a guy named Russell. Plus, Wells as in the room representing Smartplay International, the company that produced the NBA's lottery machine. He shows me the machine, which he calls a "standard daily," pointing out that the same type of machine is used in 35 state lotteries and several international lotteries.

"You could use this for any lottery," Wells says. "We have hundreds of different designs."

Uh-huh. How about the secret hatches? The magnetic force field? The Velcro? You know, the conspiracy?

"Excuse me?" Wells says. Hmmm. Never mind.

Deveney's mock lottery picks

1 Cleveland: LeBron James, G/F. He gets a crack at point guard, unless the Cavs trade Dajuan Wagner or Ricky Davis for a point.

2 Detroit: Darko Milicic, PF. Tayshaun Prince is the Pistons' future small forward, and the playoffs revealed the need for a post scorer.

3 Denver: Carmelo Anthony, SF. What luck--a team that needs everything gets a player who can do everything.

4 Toronto: Chris Bosh, PF. The Raps still have remorse over the loss of Keon Clark; a defensive-minded big man with better offensive potential offsets that.

5 Miami: T.J. Ford, PG. Pat Riley's long search to replace Tim Hardaway is over. But can Miami's cement shoes keep up with Ford?

6 L.A. Clippers: Jarvis Hayes, G/F. They took two big guys in the last draft; now they fill in a wing.

7 Chicago: Dwyane Wade, SG. The Bulls get the high-flying wing player Eddie Robinson was supposed to be.

8 Milwaukee: Chris Kaman, C. Jason Caffey, Ervin Johnson, Joel Przybilla ... you get the idea. Kaman is the big man the Bucks need.

9 New York: Anderson Varejao, PF. He's talented but needs polish; the Knicks might not have enough patience.

10 Washington: Kirk Hinrich, PG. Their current point guard choices are Larry Hughes, Tyronn Lue, Juan Dixon and Juan Carlos Navarro.

11 Golden State: Luke Ridnour, PG. If they keep Gilbert Arenas, Ridnour is a backup. If they lose Arenas, Ridnour starts.

12 Seattle: Leandro Barbosa, PG. No pressure--Barbosa just has to make people forget Gary Payton.

13 Memphis: Mickael Pietrus, G/F. The Grizzlies can't guard anyone, but a defensive stopper such as Pietrus on the perimeter helps change that.

E-mail staff writer Sean Deveney at sdeveney@sportingnews.com.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Sporting News Publishing Co.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

[Wretch]

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but who else is going to run it?

---

We are only talking about random results. You or I can flip a coin. ANYONE can produce a system that gives you random results. What is the need for the NBA to conduct the drawing? There are a million and one ways to market the NBA lottery regardless of who pushes the button on the ping-pong ball machine.

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do you think Stern was in favor of Melo going to the talent rich west last year? Had the Nuggs fallen out of the top three...or anyone but the Grizz not won the 2, Bron and Melo would square up four times a year against each other and the likes of other shooters such as AI, TMac, PP...

---

Stern isn't in control of who each team picks. Besides, he handed the #2 pick to Detroit who could have drafted Melo, but opted to take Milicic. So your own logic here supports the theory.

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you talk about Stern rigging it so Duncan went to SanAnt to spite Boston/Pittino. Makes no sense. Stern knew Robinson would be back the next season, he also knew Boston, a staple franchise rivaled only by the Lakers in term of greatness and following, sucked at the time and really could have used him...esp. in such a nice, big market as Boston.

---

Yeah...the thing is, Boston sucked and would continue to suck; so they could be right back in the lottery the next year - AND THEY WERE! AND THEY SELECTED PAUL PIERCE!. And why would Stern need to help them? They had TWO lottery picks. They selected Chauncy Billups and Pitino's own Wildcat Ron Mercer. Imagine Boston's back court if they had selected McGrady and hadn't given up on Billups and traded him.

Billups, McGrady, Pierce...

...and how often does a team get to select TWO players the calibur of David Robinson and Tim Duncan? Stern created a monster here! A championship monster that could rival the weighted Eastern conference. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity (that happened before with Orlando - *lol* OMG does nobody see this?!?! *lol*) and Stern jumped at the opportunity. That'd be like Jermaine Oneal having an injury the season before last, the pacers falling into the lottery, and being handed the #1 or #2 pick...and selecting Bron or Melo...

And Duncan was a BronBron calibur selection!

OH MY GOD! *LOL* Whew.... Maaan, please. Give me a break here...

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there have been so many 'happenings" that "would" make sense for Stern to rig...but things just don't work out that way. Remember, each lottery is an independent lotto, it's results not impacted by the previous years...thereby, any "freak occurence" could happen again.

---

*LOL* Does anyone see any of this? Study the results with an open mind. I'm not saying the lottery is fake and it's a conspiracy. Who the hell am I and what do I know?! I'm just a simple basketball fan...

But at the same time, I don't believe everything that's said to me just because someone says it - and I have sat by and watched and analyzed each draft, every year since I was in high school. I love it! And I love what Stern has done with the league...and if the draft is rigged by Stern then I have 1001% confidence in him to do what needs to be done.

[Wretch]

I've read this before; but why does it sound like a magic show to me now?

"Watch! An ordinary (insert somthing here) right? I take it and (do something ordinary right here) and hocus-pocus! (insert desired magical effect)"

"It's magic I tell you!"

Yeah...magical misdirection...

[Lascar78]

You're right, clearly you're nothing like a conspiracy nut...

Also stop acting like he had some crazy machine built. It's a standard lottery ball drawing machine. He purchased it from a supplier just like your local state lottery did. Why isn't anyone running around claiming the state lotteries are fixed? I mean the lottery conducts the drawing themselves! Why? Why not hire someone else to do it for them? It's their machine. surely somebody could DIRECTLY profit from that.

But nobody claims it because it's not feasible. The balls are moving in a random way, and the ball removal is triggerred by a human operator. Which means it's not at an exact time. There's no way of knowing where a given ball will be when you hit the button, given the speed of the balls. I mean they don't even know exactly where each ball is when they start the machine. There's a reason this is the type of machine people use around the world for lotteries. Everything is completely random, it's literally un-fakeable. The only way would be to have a ball rigged in some way to stay in front of the extraction tube the whole time, and that would be so obvious.

This is so ridiculous.

[Wretch]

First and foremost, I've never said that the lottery is rigged - only that its results are convenient and that it is possible. I have read somewhere that Stern had a machine built for the lottery and that some techs from some institute built it. I just filed it away under "well, that's interesting" and didn't pay much attention to it. I could have even read it wrong...but I'm not going on about it; and haven't been since Diesel posted that link about who built it.

So...what are you getting at with that?

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He purchased it from a supplier just like your local state lottery did.

---

And that means...?

See, this is what I'm gettin at. How does this validate that the machine is legitimate? Stop dribbling your lips and give me a stupid-free answer for that.

(...)

You can't. There is no solid evidence supporting a greater probability either way regarding the machine's legitimacy.

It's real because it was built by a company who does nothing but build lottery machines, because a handful of people get to watch it, and because David Stern says so.

That 'bout Right?

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Why isn't anyone running around claiming the state lotteries are fixed? I mean the lottery conducts the drawing themselves! Why? Why not hire someone else to do it for them? It's their machine. surely somebody could DIRECTLY profit from that.

---

Because you are dealing with the government and you are dealing with people's money. If the operators were not responsible to the public and the law, then they'd have someone spinning a small cage with envelopes in it and that person would reach in and grab one.

...*sigh* see this not a good example of a stupid-free point.

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But nobody claims it because it's not feasible. The balls are moving in a random way, and the ball removal is triggerred by a human operator. Which means...

---

Nothing. The secret behind magic is misdirection. I'm sure you've heard that before. While you are being ALLOWED to watch the balls, and while you are watching the balls, and while you watch someone press a button - there could be so many things done before and during the process.

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There's a reason this is the type of machine people use around the world for lotteries.

---

And there is absolutely NO WAY that the NBA could buy this machine and its balls and hand it over to someone to make modifications...?

(...)

That isn't possible either is it, huh? Because uh... Because uh... Because dammit you say so!

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The only way would be to have a ball rigged in some way to stay in front of the extraction tube the whole time, and that would be so obvious.

---

What if it were half the balls? And what if there were three differently rigged sets of balls. You could follow all that action and spot the foul play...

...in 25 seconds or less.

It is possible to build or rig a lottery machine. There is motive for David Stern to guide the fate of the best talent in the draft. There have been convenient results in the history of the NBA draft. Say what you want, but I'm not going to debate physics with you. The motive and the results are a much better subject to discuss.

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This is so ridiculous.

---

Well...

Then shut up.

[Diesel]

When Boston missed out on Tim Duncan, Rick Pitino was hired before the draft. He thought he would come in with Tim Duncan and another star.... Well, Stern has always had a dislike for college coaches

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y Mike Szostak, New England Sports Service

When he was hired to revive the Boston Celtics, Rick Pitino vowed that he would be as creative as possible in negotiating trades.

He can start now.

Despite having the most chances in the 13th annual NBA Draft Lottery, 264 out of 1,000 or 36.3 percent because Vancouver and Toronto were ineligible to win the No. 1 pick, the Celtics lost yesterday and came away with the No. 3 and No. 6 picks in the NBA Draft on June 25.

San Antonio, which finished with the third-worst record (20-62) and had 157 chances at No. 1, struck gold.

"Wonderful, absolutely wonderful," Spurs chairman Peter M. Holt exclaimed to NBC's Greg Gumbel after the results were televised nationally during halftime of Game 7 of the New York-Miami Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Philadelphia, which had the fifth-worst record (22-60) and 89 chances at the No. 1 pick, leapfrogged Denver, Boston and Vancouver and won the second pick.

Vancouver slipped to fourth, and Denver dropped a notch to fifth.

Boston, which in a worst-case scenario would have picked fifth and ninth, owns the No. 6 pick courtesy of the 1996 trade that sent center Eric Montross and the No. 9 pick last year to Dallas for the No. 6 pick last year (Antoine Walker) and Dallas' first-round pick this year. The Mavs posted the sixth-worst finish this season.

Five minutes after Holt started accepting congratulations for winning the lottery and, presumably, the rights to everybody's concensus No. 1, Wake Forest center Tim Duncan, Pitino was on the phone to San Antonio's head coach and general manager, Gregg Popovich.

Pitino, since May 6 the Celtics president and head coach, offered his own congratulations and then initiated the proverbial trade talk.

"Whether they were thinking of a trade, I don't think they were thinking along those lines," Pitino said later during a teleconference.

"I talked about any scenario down the road, that we'd like to get together and communicate, just that I'm interested in doing that. We didn't speak particulars. We just want to keep our lines of communications open," Pitino said.

Pitino's call was a smart move because the Celtics are desperate for a player of Duncan's stature. Not only can he play basketball -- he averaged 20.8 points and 14.7 rebounds, was the ACC player of the year for the second time and can score, rebound, block shots and pass -- he is a senior, mature and respected. Even as an untested rookie, Duncan would sell any FleetCenter tickets that Pitino's aura fails to sell.

But Duncan's future in Boston seems to be an annual visit with the Spurs, so Pitino tried his best to put a positive spin on his assets.

"There's no question that we would have drafted Tim Duncan No. 1. I like Tim Duncan as a person and as a talent, but that doesn't mean that No. 3 and No. 6 down the road can't have the same value that Tim Duncan has," Pitino said.

---

The sad thing is that Boston had a better chance than Most... 36.3% to win the lottery with one of their two lottery picks... How convenient that both Philly and SA jumped over them!

[Lascar78]

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It's real because it was built by a company who does nothing but build lottery machines, because a handful of people get to watch it, and because David Stern says so.

---

It's real because a company built it and independent auditors verified it. Just like the real lottery. There is nothing more that can be done. In order for a fix to be in, the auditors have to be bribed and risking their entire businesses on this. And either the machine/ball manufacturers or someone else who modified them is also in on it. Well what would the difference be if an independent company conducted the whole thing? D Stern can bribe a machine builder and some auditors, but all of the sudden he can't bribe this other company (of his choice) instead? You'd be crying foul all the same once again.

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Because you are dealing with the government and you are dealing with people's money .If the operators were not responsible to the public and the law, then they'd have someone spinning a small cage with envelopes in it and that person would reach in and grab one.

---

what are you retarded? You don't think the personal fortune of the new hawks' ownership strongly depends on the lottery results? You don't think the cavs owners will make alot more money that if they ended up with the #5 pick last year? And do you not think that these owners would be complaining if they had even the slightest hint of a reason that the league could be screwing them of potential millions? Yeah right. Mark Cuban would be on this 24/7 if there was any room for cheating.

D Stern is very responsible to the law. I'm sure it's in the NBA bylaws that this is a fair lottery. If it was proved to be fixed he would be sued by the owners before he knew what happenned

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Nothing. The secret behind magic is misdirection. I'm sure you've heard that before. While you are being ALLOWED to watch the balls, and while you are watching the balls, and while you watch someone press a button - there could be so many things done before and during the process.

---

No magician ever submits his instruments to independent auditors because they're tricked out. And how could there be misdirection? The ball mixer is see-through, you can see the balls getting appropriately mixed and then sucked up when he hits a button. Do you think D Stern suddenly does a cartwheel and while everybody's staring, someone pulls one of the balls out? It's a simple process. That's the beauty of those machines is nothing is hidden. You can see the balls as they mix. You would be able to notice abnormal ball behavior. And you see that the closest ball to the extraction tube is selected when he hits the button.

If they use a gravity mix machine, it's not riggable except by making some balls too big to go in which would be obvious.

If they use an air mix machine, the only way to rig it is to make some balls heavier so the machine can't pick them. Some people did that once and got caught. You could see that all the weighted balls weren't going as high as the other ones

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The motive and the results are a much better subject to discuss.

---

Ok, consider this from Stern's perspective. Consider what he has to gain and lose. If he doesn't get caught, he gets to decide the order that the top teams pick in. So he can reward who he wants, punish who he doesn't like. So that's a little personal satisfaction to gain for him. Ok. He also can guide the best players to the markets of his choice to maximize NBA profits. Ok. Not sure why he wouldn't have given LeBron to Jerry West and Memphis, or to big markets in New York or Chicago, but I'm sure you do.

Now consider what he has to lose.

If he gets caught, the league takes an unbelievable hit. It's shoeless joe jackson all over again, but worst. He'll see the league he basically made go to crap in no time. He'd of course be done, sued by all the owners, maybe end up behind bars, with the league and his personal reputation ruined. More importantly, instead of leaving a legacy of being the guy who took a small league to a global empire, he leaves a legacy of being the guy who screwed the league, and a cheater. Everything that happenned in the league is now in question.

He has SO MUCH MORE to lose that he has to gain by doing this that he would never consider it.

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Well...

Then shut up.

---

Well...

then fukc you

[Diesel]

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Ok, consider this from Stern's perspective. Consider what he has to gain and lose. If he doesn't get caught, he gets to decide the order that the top teams pick in. So he can reward who he wants, punish who he doesn't like. So that's a little personal satisfaction to gain for him. Ok. He also can guide the best players to the markets of his choice to maximize NBA profits. Ok. Not sure why he wouldn't have given LeBron to Jerry West and Memphis, or to big markets in New York or Chicago, but I'm sure you do.

Now consider what he has to lose.

If he gets caught, the league takes an unbelievable hit. It's shoeless joe jackson all over again, but worst. He'll see the league he basically made go to crap in no time.

---

Why do you think that some people believe that the draft IS fixed? Do you think that they just made it up from nothing? The reason is the same reason why Wretch has questions about the process. Everything is too convenient.

But back to another question that you nor Weez can answer....

Why have a lottery in the first place? To Stop tanking???

Come on man...

Baseball doesn't have a lottery.

Football doesn't have a lottery.

Since the basketball draft stopped going 6 rounds, they really didn't need a lottery either.

The answer is simple if you really think about it. The Commish has the ability to dictate where the talent goes. Labron James going to Cleveland and not Denver is story book.

Ewing going to NY is story book.

Duncan not ending up in Boston is story book.

Washington getting the top pick is story book.

Too many times, the conclusion is "too perfect" and the fact that the process is behind closed doors....and only a few people really understand it... makes it even more suspect.

[Wretch]

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It's real because a company built it and independent auditors verified it.

---

I've heard that EY audits and witnesses the event. But "auditing" could mean anything, especially when the NBA hires them to do it.

What I have heard is that people watch the proceedings. Here's some questions for you.

#1) Why are people "allowed" to watch the lottery?

#2) Why would anyone need to watch the lottery?

What you are alluding to here is that a "conspiracy" is stupid. It's baseless and "ridiculous." Right? Then why are there so many people concerned about watching it? I mean, it's been audited right? Why are people...intelligent people, professional people...why are they writing columns about it?

If it's been audited, meaning the machine has been certified inside and out, then it all has to be the odds just working out the way they do - and nobody has any questions.

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Just like the real lottery. There is nothing more that can be done.

---

Hey the NBA lottery is real too! 'Cause you said so! *lol*

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In order for a fix to be in, the auditors have to be bribed and risking their entire businesses on this. And either the machine/ball manufacturers or someone else who modified them is also in on it.

---

Ernst and young audits the lottery, at the request of the NBA no one, as in nobody outside of the NBA, requires them to do it.

With that, the question is how deeply is the process audited. Are they certifying the machines random results or are they certifying that machine itself?

The NBA has hired Ernst and Young and there doesn't have to be any bribing or anything. They could tell EY to simply certify that the machine produces random results. PRESTO, the NBA's got the backing of EY, no foul play, nobody is lied to. They tell EY, when the time is right..."watch us as we get the machine out of the closet, take it to the studio, and run it."

Everybody's happy.

Give me a report on EY's audting of the NBA's lottery, but don't tell me simply that they audit it. That means nothing.

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Well what would the difference be if an independent company conducted the whole thing? D Stern can bribe a machine builder and some auditors, but all of the sudden he can't bribe this other company (of his choice) instead? You'd be crying foul all the same once again.

---

Answer the damn question for yourself! The NBA pays for the machine. The NBA owns the machine. The NBA operates the machine. The NBA hires the auditors to audit the machine.

That is a far cry from say...

Stern giving EY 1 million dollars and telling them to create a committe of 10 people - technicians, random sports writers, and attorneys. They tell them, get a lottery machine, keep the lottery machine, operate the lottery machine, create a method to choose the top 3 spots in the lottery.

The difference is, it's not a David Stern process - it's an independent process.

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what are you retarded? You don't think the personal fortune of the new hawks' ownership strongly depends on the lottery results? You don't think the cavs owners will make alot more money that if they ended up with the #5 pick last year? And do you not think that these owners would be complaining if they had even the slightest hint of a reason that the league could be screwing them of potential millions?

---

*LOL* What are the 12 other lottery team owners going to sue Stern for a LeBron? These athletes aren't for sale by the NBA; there's no price tag on them. Stern can do whatever he wants with these players. He could sit down with the next CBA and say that in an expansion draft, you can only protect 1 player.

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Yeah right. Mark Cuban would be on this 24/7 if there was any room for cheating.

D Stern is very responsible to the law. I'm sure it's in the NBA bylaws that this is a fair lottery. If it was proved to be fixed he would be sued by the owners before he knew what happenned

---

League rules and regulations are governed in house. When you buy a team, you buy a room in the house. The difference is like a superstar smoking weed out in the street or smoking it in his home. Sure there are likely some legal liabilities to people with financial interests in the NBA, just like it's illegal to smoke pot in your house; but as long as Stern is smoking it under his roof...someone has to get IN the house to see him doing it.

The NBA is a private organization, whose financial interests are not tied to the government.

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No magician ever submits his instruments to independent auditors because they're tricked out. And how could there be misdirection? The ball mixer is see-through, you can see the balls getting appropriately mixed and then sucked up when he hits a button.

---

This is a very thin arguement.

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Ok, consider this from Stern's perspective. Consider what he has to gain and lose. If he doesn't get caught, he gets to decide the order that the top teams pick in. So he can reward who he wants, punish who he doesn't like. So that's a little personal satisfaction to gain for him. Ok. He also can guide the best players to the markets of his choice to maximize NBA profits.

---

Maximize NBA profits...*lol* Tell me, what is David Stern's job?

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Ok. Not sure why he wouldn't have given LeBron to Jerry West and Memphis, or to big markets in New York or Chicago, but I'm sure you do.

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Because Memphis plays in the Western conference and Stern was trying to bolster the strength of the East. I don't know if my eyes could stand the beating of another Spurs Vs. New Jersey finals...I don't know if the ratings could take such a beating either. And if he wanted Detroit, an already pretty good team, to get a #2 draft pick then why would he give that pick to Memphis?

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Now consider what he has to lose.

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Nothing, because he will not get caught. That's the whole point. Why does the NBA hire an independent company to Audit the lottery? Because they want you to believe it's real.

That is the purpose of EY here: "Building and communicating trust. There can be no doubt that the world is operating in a less trusting environment"

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If he gets caught, the league takes an unbelievable hit. It's shoeless joe jackson all over again, but worst. He'll see the league he basically made go to crap in no time. He'd of course be done, sued by all the owners, maybe end up behind bars, with the league and his personal reputation ruined. More importantly, instead of leaving a legacy of being the guy who took a small league to a global empire, he leaves a legacy of being the guy who screwed the league, and a cheater. Everything that happenned in the league is now in question.

---

Which is why as D said, he would not get caught.

Fukc me? Are you mad? You're mad. Don't be mad. I'm not trying to get you mad dude; and yeah, you are mad. Behind this computer screen, your lips are all knotted up, just shakin' your sweaty little fist. Wooo dat wascally wabbit!

And me? You're like a videogame machine to me. I just press the reset button and *POOF*

Besides it's not that serious there, skippy. I'm not even saying the draft is rigged. Just that it could be.

[Catapult]

Here's a challenge for you conspiracy theorists:

List all the teams that fulfill the rule "not-too-convinient" for the 1st pick. That is teams, if they will get pick, you can't come up with a reason Stern handed the pick to them.

Then make a similar list for the 2nd pick and 3rd pick. i'm curious to see how many teams you will come up with.

[Diesel]

In order to do that challenge, you have to know the situations...

For instance, this year. If Stern decides to help Phoenix it could be so that they can make a good bid on Kobe.

Or if he decides to help Washington, it could be because he knows that he needs to Spread the talent over the East.

However let's look at some former drafts....

Cleveland Lebron James 6-8 245 PG/SG Akron OH HSSr.

-Convenient because Cleveland was a market that was about to die. James is from Akron....

*Detroit Darko Milicic 7-1 253 PF (Serbia-Montenegro) 1985

-Convenient because Detroit was a good team that could possible go to the next level with the right pick. It would make the NBA Finals a lot better.

Denver

Carmelo Anthony 6-7 234 SF Syracuse Fr.

New GM, Kiki Vanderweigh had cleaned house and made Denver a team that was worth watching. He had already started the fix for that market...

Now your challenge is interesting... However, let me challenge you..... If the Hawks get one of the top three picks this yr, would you believe that it's possible that the results could be rigged??

[Boondocks]

Only reason for me to consider that the lottery might be rigged is because of the winners of the lottery.

Orlando, Houston, NJ, Washington and Cleveland who were all bottom dwellers in attendance, won the first pick. They all had the worst attendance records, and promptly got a big boost to sustain the health of the franchise.

On the contrary, hawks had the worst attendance record last season, but with the team being in progress of sale it's hard to reward it with the 1st pick.

[Wretch]

But what you didn't know was that Atlanta was almost handed the 2nd pick. The 2nd or 3rd pick came up with 3 numbers that the Hawks had. When the final number fell, we lost out; but it is interesting how close we got.

[Wretch]

Well first, I don't know if the lottery is staged; I don't fully trust Sterns claims and I'm not sure he could resist, but most of this is just speculation based on convenient results. The point that I've been trying to make here for a couple of days is that not only is a lottery machine riggable, but there is very little independent control over it's proceedings. Regardless, if Stern is rigging the draft, then I do have the utmost confidence in the man. Through the outstanding job he's done with the NBA since he stepped in, he has proven that he knows what to do.

But to answer your question...

You know, I've watched the draft for YEARS. But only recently have I begun to seriously question it. When Orlando was given back to back top selections, I thought it was kinda strange...but I was too excited that they might pair Shaq and Webber to really analyze anything. I think the '97 draft is about where I really started taking a good look.

And all I see is convenience. I think Houston landing Yao seems pretty straight up. Then again, someone was making a point in here... Why didn't Stern put Melo and Bron in the same conference so they could go head to head? So Yao goes west for several prime time matchups with Shaq. It's made for TV and that is a HUGE part of the NBA's financial well being.

There are also only certain markets that the Chinese were willing to let Yao play in. One of the factors was the percentage of Asian Americans in that market. I've read that Houston has a fairly decent Asian population. But, which one of these teams would have made a better selection?

New York landing the top pick would have been TOO obvious.

Couldn't send him to LA, because then Atlanta gets to keep that pick. I wonder how Houston's population demographics compares to every other lottery team that year. If I get time, I'm gonna look it up.

Either way, I think this will be a good year to REALLY take a look at teams that really don't need a top selection: Chicago, the Clippers, Phoenix. And teams that really do: Orlando, Atlanta, Philly. And teams that if they get a top selection are likely playoff bound next season: Cleveland, Utah.

The thing is, this year the teams with the worst records really don't need a PF. So it won't make sense to give that team the 1 or 2 pick ('cept Orlando, who I believe will get a top 2 selection). Either way, we are the team drawing the most attention in this draft.

New owners, new management, sucky attendance, a fresh team to market, and a homegrown top prospect - not to mention being screwed by previous draft decisions. Topping it off, we've also landed one of the NBA's league executives as our CEO.

If we don't get a top selection, I will be VERY surprised and will have MUCH more confidence in the legitimacy of the lottery.

[Lascar78]

the worst part of this is now I'm torn in what I want in the lottery. On the one hand I want us to get lucky and get a top 3 to give our franchise a boost of course. But on the other hand I want us not to, so you conspiracy nuts can pipe down about it for a minute. Either way I win, but either way I also lose. arrggghhh... *goes cross-eyed*

as for your reasons for being doubtful, I really think it comes down to their being so many possibilities, and you would have interpreted most of them as being shady.

You bring up the asian population in houston? I don't think so. Texas as a whole has 500,000 asians, when california has nearly 4 million. Why didnt stern give it to golden state, who clearly has more asians in the area, and had a bad attendance etc... Or NY who has 1 million asian citizens?

http://goldsea.com/AAD/population.html

http://goldsea.com/AAD/pop_centers.html

The reason is it's a random lottery. and no matter what happens, when there are franchises, players, and cities at play, there are enough facts out there that you can connect some of them and make a reason why Stern would have chosen any city any year.

That's no reason to think there's a fix