People are only going to see what they want to see. If they believe it's a conspiracy, then there's no changing their minds. You can provide them with any kind of actual facts and specific process of things, and it will be rationalized in some form or way. These threads would not exist, if the Rockets won the lottery or placed in the top 3. Everyone would be talking about how the Rockets will be relevant again and how Stern gifted them for the league's interference of last year's trade.
And you can't really manipulate the balls either. Before the #1 in your list even happens, two other things happen: 1. 14 balls are selected randomly out of cases of fresh balls. I think they simply use multiple lotto mixing machines until they get fourteen. 2. Separately, the lotto numbers are randomly assigned to the teams by a computer. This is identical to you buying a lotto number at the convenience store, except the computer doesn't assign the same lotto numbers twice. Thus, both the balls are randomly chosen for use in the lottery, and the number combinations are separately assigned to the the teams randomly. So, even if you could fill the balls with helium or rig them somehow, you won't know what team has what lottery numbers assigned to them.
Those execs should talk to their fellow execs from the same teams that were actually in the room when it happened. And maybe Sports Illustrated, who also was apparently in the room when it all happened. This would have to be quite the big conspiracy between the NBA, it's individual teams, and the media.
Seriously, you people are on the same level as 9/11 truthers and birthers. There is no conspiracy. If fact, with the exception of the Bulls and Rose the likelyhood of the draft playing out the way it does is usually pretty high. I think the NBA highlighting certain storylines builds this idea up in people's heads but normally the evidence presented on how it is rigged is pretty flimsy. But, maybe I'm involved in the conspiracy too and I'm only defending it to make Stern look good on this board.
You're probably right. But I swear to you, I could convince a jury with a preponderance standard that the NBA lottery is rigged. I have no doubt of it. And that's really not good for the NBA.
It is no more complicated than regular state lotteries. see my previous post for how the 1000 lotto numbers assigned to teams are randomly assigned just like Quick-Pick...and, separately, the balls used in the lottery are randomly chosen for use from a case/cases of balls.
Exactly. Perception is more important than reality in this case. The way the NBA is currently being run has created an environment in which this question can be asked, and more importantly, can be taken seriously by so many otherwise credible people. Stern needs to go.
I don't doubt you could win over a jury. But if you invited the jury to watch the lottery, I assume that would change their minds. That's one thing that aelliott and I can't grasp. If it is rigged in some super elaborate way, how could us watching it on TV change that? Just because it isn't on TV adds zero to the conspiracy theory. If it could happen, it all could happen on TV or not.
I don't know if it would change their minds or not...because the truth is, I don't know exactly what goes on in that room. I wasn't there. Neither were you. Only people with a vested interest in the health of the NBA...and then some accountants who were paid to be there. But ima_drummer gets the bigger point....they're not helping with the perception. Clutch nailed it in the other thread on the same topic.
And media members. Feigen was there once; he tweeted about it yesterday. Said, "if you've been in the room, you'd know there is no way it could be rigged. " or something like that. And the E&Y thing, they lose their license as CPAs if they get caught knowingly rigging a lottery. "the bigger point" ... that Stern should go? Yeah, I agree after this. How could we have changed the perception? Maybe they should have dissolved NOLA and recreated them as an expansion team with an expansion draft. Then they can't get the top picks, but they get players from other teams. I guess I don't know enough about the sport's business to know why the league would buy and runs bankrupt franchises vs just dissolving it and selling a new one.
I agree with that - and I'd be curious to see their rationale for being secretive about it. I wonder if the conspiracy theories are just great for the NBA in the same way that BCS controversy is supposedly great for college football - it engages fans and gets them involved. Having villains makes people care more (even if they are angry) and maybe that increases viewership?
To rig it in the ping pong age you'd need collusion from each team and the auditors and the media. Not going to happen. The draw should be live. At least the first pick. I recall them saying the 2nd/3rd picks were tedious with multiple combos for each team possible, but some smarty producer should be able to figure a way to broadcast that. Plus everyone's really mainly interested in the first pick. Very crude math: the bottom three teams get 570 of 1000 balls. The bottom three teams have won the draft 10 of 19 yrs since the 1000 ball era. Based on odds, they should have won 11. Conspiracy???? There do seem to be an inordinate number of long shots winning, and if this was the track, I'd always bet the long shots. Don't see it here though.
I think you guys could convince a message board. But I don't think you'd convince a jury if the defense brought in their statisticians, lotto experts, control guys, auditors, observers, and walked the jury through the process. Unfortunately you'd have only convinced 12 more people at that point, and the rest would continue the complain. Some would suggest the jury was bought off (and Stern would do that too, wouldn't he).
http://www.businessinsider.com/nba-lottery-rigged-2012-5 If NBA exec's think this...then why shouldnt the common folk think this way either...
lol, you're probably right, too. Conspiracy theorists: "You can never convince me until I see it for myself on TV." Most likely followed by those same people realizing the TV didn't really convince them, and they want to actually run the machine.
That's a retread article. The original source is Woj http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--n...-rigged-talk-over-draft-lottery-20120531.html FWIW, Woj has been railing on Stern since the CP fiasco. If you believe from reading that article that the execs truly believe it was rigged, that's certainly understandable. But I have to immediately ask myself why aren't the exec's going on record with quotes? They seem to be mainly complaining about the perception of impropriety, so it should be their job to ask for an investigation. Seems like it's mainly a cry for Stern's head. I do like the point in your link that if Sacramento had one people would say that's a conspiracy to help them get a new stadium.
