Except the lotto balls don't have logos. They pick 3 lotto balls with a number on them, and those combos of numbers correspond to one of 1000 possibilities. Say Minnesota has a 20% chance of winning, they might have any number from 200-399. Say Houston has 0.1% chance of winning - they might have 953. So 3 balls get picked - 3, 6, and 2. Then you look up who has #362 and that's who gets that pick. That doesn't make for exciting TV. You'd think the fact that the teams themselves have reps there watching would be enough to quell the conspiracy nonsense.
This is the summary of why they do it the way they do: The bigger concern is that the NBA lottery is a good bit more complicated than your standard lottery, which could confuse a TV audience. There are 14 balls in the hopper, with 1,000 combinations assigned to the 13 lottery teams. It's not like most Saturday nights, where the lotto-ticket holder at home can know instantly if they've won or lost. A TV broadcast would have to be able to link the winning combinations with the appropriate team quickly, for the viewer's sake. The biggest difference, though, would be the order in which the picks are announced, and it's a drastic difference. The (allegedly) drama-building method of counting from No. 13 down would have to be scrapped. The way it happens in real life, four-ball combinations are pulled out of the drum to assign the top three picks, in order from No. 1 to No. 3. The next 10 spots are determined by a team's record, which is why the team with the league's worst record can't do worse than No. 4. If that team fails to claim one of the top three picks in the Ping-Pong portion, the worst team automatically gets the fourth spot. So ... All the TV drama would thus be instantaneous, especially when the draft pool offers such an overwhelming favorite for No. 1. The first combo of numbers would produce the lottery winner, with the team sporting the worst overall record assigned only 250 of the 1,000 possible combinations.
You are right. I stand corrected. They did not broadcast it in 2003- http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=1530348 I could swear I remember seeing it broadcasted once. Was it 2004?
They could put logos on the balls, with a sticker covering it up. Then, when they get to the last 3, they could remove the stickers to show the logos. That would be more exciting then reading the 3rd and 2nd pick from a slip of paper. Edit: Ok, that wouldn't work, because then they wouldn't know the teams at 14 through 4th pick. Maybe they could just do away with the countdown from 14 to 4, and just show who won the top 3 picks.
Yeah, I don't know why they aren't showing the ping pong balls in public. They are just asking for conspiracy theories. That said, the worst team not getting the top pick is supposed to be why the lottery, rather than a straight draft order by records, was there in the first place. It was designed to deter tanking -- a little bit at least.
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He probably will get fined, but only because a few idiots looking for headlines made it appear as if he thinks the NBA is rigged. He doesn't. He was joking. It's OBVIOUS from the video: <iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bLzYrfhttT0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 2:12 is where he starts talking about. The AP writer's response to how he framed the story? So the job works by ignoring context -- fannnntastic. This really should be a non-story, but it's now turned into a probable fine for David Kahn thanks to irresponsible journalism.
They could do that - but that would then involve a hopper with 1000 lotto balls. Truly randomizing that would be a pain. And they'd have to deal with repeats popping out since a single team would have multiple ping pong polls. There's nothing wrong with the current way they do it - the teams are there to verify there's nothing shady. And all the conspiracy talk - which happens no matter if big or small market teams win - is just more discussion about the NBA.
If you have a 25% chance of winning, doesn't that mean you have a 75% chance of losing? You're supposed to bet the field, right?
Well he is a lottery expert with invaluable experience ...I'd take his word over any other owner since the 90's...
....the real wrinkle to this is I believe Kahn is Stern's buddy - came from the same law firm....hell, Kahn got into NYU law with a recommendation from Stern. If you look at his career - Kahn has totally played the buddy system with Stern to get where he is today. And THIS is the battle Kahn chooses to make? To embarrass the only guy in the world who thinks he belongs in the NBA? The crazy thing is it's totally inconsequential whether he got the #1 pick, he doesn't NEED the #1 pick to get the best player for his team. Maybe he is posturing for an expected return to the lotto in the near future....still seems like a poor move IF the lotto is fixed. I will say this though - I'm sure more than a few GMs and Owners in this league suspect on some level some shenanigans from Stern's office but outing Stern would only hurt their investment/job security.
What they should do is send out two reps from each team Rep A is the person that is out on stage represented the team. Rep B is the backroom where the lotto is conducted by whatever accounting firm (Ernest & Young it seems) and sits there throughout the proceedings. There are no cell phones, computers etc allowed in the backroom and the Rep B from each team will have to stay in that room until the results are announced publicly on TV. But all of those reps will know the order of the lottery so if they come out and say "what Team A didnt get the first pic" then something went wrong. Right now I dont like how they made it so that one accountant is the only one who knows who received the picks before its announced on air. Person can easily exchange the team poster boards in the envelopes as he (or stern) wants and know one else would know. Regardless of how strong or weak the draft class is the lottery can change the course of the franchises in it for better or worse the fact that its been lately so secretive doesnt seem right
darren rovell on cnbc just said that the lebron james 2003 and yao 2002 draft were broadcasted, and he was in the room covering the process.
Sounds like he jinxed himself with his negative comment "I told Kevin: 'We're toast.' This is not happening for us and I was right."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/story?id=1383452 this is the article about the yao draft. it wasn't broadcasted in 2003, but it was observed by journalists.
The team with the best odds to win still only has a 25% chance. The fact that they haven't won in a while is hardly unrealistic. Not to mention while the Puppies had a 25% chance, the Cavs had a 22% chance. It's pretty even odds, overall. And like I said, the fact that you can make a story with Cleveland is irrelevant - because you can make a story with any of the other thirteen teams, as I already showed. Not to mention that Toronto and Golden State are much bigger markets than Cleveland. After all, you were the one so confident in Sacramento getting the pick because of the moving story. That's what they already do. There are team representatives who are watching this stuff, it is not just one guy.
Of course it is rigged. This has been common knowledge ever since the first lottery was created to ensure the Knicks got Ewing. Khan must have been living in a cave to just now figure this out.
