this is a massive logic fail......... Seriously I don't even want to respond...but I will at least say: The 4 scenarios were all of the same basic premise. They were related in the sense that they benefited the nba as a business and are similar in they replaced a superstar for a no 1 draft pick to compensate a situation that would destroy a team otherwise...the last one, the hornets, being the most noteworthy. If you are looking at this from perspective that stern is rigging the lottery with a game plan of replacing teams that lose massive stars with draft picks so that team does not die...thus increasing the over all value of the league and preventing teams from becoming burdens. (which the logic that has been laid out) So then the statistical probabilities would be calculated based on this premise. Yes this requires you to consider the aforementioned "reason for the rigging" as fact. But that was part of my point. I established this situation as likely. So...if commissioner is fixing this...those 4 scenarios would have been the most beneficial for the the NBA to happen. So in order for those drafts to happen by pure chance it is almost impossible...once again this does force one to take in consideration that stern was rigging the draft before the mentioned statistical probabilities can be taken in consideration....but it by no means was it a statical failure...you just didn't pay attention to the context of that argument.
http://www.businessinsider.com/nba-lottery-rigged-2012-5 NBA exec's sense something terrible happened last night...this is disgusting...and I hope someone sue's the crud out of stern...if there can ever be any proof of this...
One of them was a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Mike & Mike interviewed her this morning. The lottery teams designate their own witnesses. I don't know how the media members are picked. None of the witnesses are allowed to leave the room, use a phone, use a computer, talk to anyone not in the room, etc. until everything is done. They want the team execs is the studio (another room) to be unaware of what occurred in the draw.
Conspiracy or happenstance? Which is the most likely scenario? The problem with conspiracies is that so many people would have to keep their mouth shut for it to work. Remember, everybody thought Stern rigged the 1985 lottery to give Ewing to New York too. But if that had been a conspiracy, how likely is it that so many people would all keep silent for 27 years? I don't think the fact that the fourth worst team won the lottery is so surprising. After all, the entire point of the lottery is to ensure that the worst team is not guaranteed the top pick, in order to prevent excessive tanking. So, in other words, the lottery is working exactly as designed.
Rich and powerful people are not necessarily smart. Those same execs could have chosen themselves to be the actual eyewitnesses to the ping pong party, assuming they own a lottery team, but they did not want to be bored out of their skull by watching the whole process and locked in a room with no electronics for a couple of hours. They picked somebody else to do it for them, and apparently now don't trust those eyewitnesses.
The NBA has been a joke for a while. It's virtually unwatchable. That anyone is surprised by this is...crazy.
So here, the only real conspiracy would have been the New Orleans Hornets because it directly benefits the league. But here: Conspiracies were acceptable for all sorts of other reasons that didn't help the league directly. Here, losing an arena is a conspiracy, but in your other post, Sacramento getting the #1 pick to help get an arena would not have been a conspiracy. Sounds reasonable.
Prospective Dates in which the NBA Officially Date: February 1, 1984 - First NBA Lottery November 7, 1991 - Magic Johnson retires from the NBA (after revealing that he's HIV+) August 28, 1992 - Larry Bird retires July 1, 1998 to January 20, 1999 - The Beginning of the New Modern NBA January 13, 1999 - Michael Jordan retires for a 2nd time and in procession comes the fall of the Chicago Bulls. 2001-02 - Illegal defense guidelines will be eliminated in their entirety. Illegal defense guidelines will be eliminated in their entirety. January 22, 2002 - The NBA Finalizes a TV Deal with Walt Disney Company (ABC) and AOL-Time Warner for $4 Billion over the next 6 years. The Death of the NBA on NBC ... and pretty much any relevance on network television. May 31, 2002 - 2002 Western Conference Finals, Game 6 May 15, 2007 - Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw are suspended for 1 game, after leaving a bench for an altercation with Robert Horry (who pushed Steve Nash towards the scorer's table) July 8, 2010 - The Decision (ESPN) and Lebron's collusion with other superstars to make an exodus towards South Beach. What was so special about yesterday, that hasn't already happen. Again, I think people take these games, way too seriously.
The only real way that it's possible the NBA is rigged is that the referees have no accountability. They can pretty much do whatever they want and shape a game or series or even a championship on their own. Hell they've done it in the past. That's the real joke in the NBA. As for the lottery being rigged...ehh It's possible, but highly unlikely. There's just too many reasons against something like that happening and not enough legitimate good reasons for it to be true.
First we do not know the scope of this..how many drafts were affected and what the requirements were to initiate a response. So ... no I cant tell you that...and it is illogical and blatantly ignorant to assume that because we have knowledge of the "tip of the iceberg" so to speak that we must be able to provide full disclosure of the scheme... The point is these situations and the unlikely probability that they would come together in addition to the league excecs complaining ...warrant a deeper investigation. Not to mention the blatantly obvious ref fixing we see every year.
One unnamed exec who witnessed the ping pong balls being removed from the basket said that Mr. Stern mysteriously moved back and to the left after each ball was removed. Back and to the left.
What does this accomplish? Are the people who rant about the lotto being rigged really going to change their minds just because they see a machine with a bunch of balls bouncing around? If so, they're dumber than I think they are.
There's no good argument for why the NBA doesn't a) Have the lottery carried out by a independent 3rd Party b) Have it performed live on TV I don't think the NBA rigs each lottery, nor do I believe they rig most playoff games, but I sincerely believe they put in the fix when they want to. Ewing LeBron Rose Hornets ..,and I also believe that they "punish" overt tankers (Boston-Duncan, Miami-Rose, Char-Davis, etc). It is tin foil hat territory, but this league is indisputably shady in certain corners.
