https://www.si.com/nba/shaq-nba-draft-lottery-conspiracy Hot on the heels of last week’s NBA draft lottery igniting speculation that the league is “rigged” thanks to the Dallas Mavericks getting the No. 1 pick after having just a 1.8% chance of doing so, here comes Shaquille O’Neal to throw a bone to the conspiracy crowd. Recalling his own experience of getting drafted by the Orlando Magic with the No. 1 pick in 1992 in a recent interview, O’Neal made it clear he thought there was some funny business going on. “In 1992, the draft was in June or something,” O’Neal said. “I meet Mr. [David] Stern in March. He says to me, ‘Can’t wait for you to come to the NBA.’ Then he pulled me to the side, ‘You want to play where it’s cold or where it’s hot?’ He asked me that. And I was like, ‘Hot.’ And he smiled and I smiled and then a couple of days later they had the draft thing with the top three things and Minnesota was No. 3. And then Charlotte was No. 2 and Orlando, Fla., was No. 1. “I didn’t think anything about it, but you hear a lot of these conspiracy theories and there’s a lot of situations that can make these things sound good and sound true. Like, ‘O.K., Dallas gets rid of one of the best players, but oh, we’re getting a new one. Ding, ding, ding.’”
Yes the nba is 100% rigged and fixed. The league is using smart ball technology to alter shots to cover BET spreads. The league wont revise the 3pt rules despite years of push back how awful it has become because the league can control the outcome like a remote control. The nba has altered its entire history by rigging games. watch kings lakers 2002. gm 6 is the most rigged game in nba history. Rockets were robbed in 93 and 97. bulls would not have 6 rings without help from stern and his refs.
You seen teams sneak into the top 4 , Houston , Atlanta , and Dallas, recently. Yea so tanking is not a reward, and it shouldn't be but the truth is bad teams will just be what they are lottery bound. As far as West Coast and East Coast teams, mostly the Lakers getting the best players has always been the case. The best players get the calls ,and it don't matter what, like Curry in his flop of a game strategy. Harden was getting flop calls too so it's not like it always what you think But yeah I agree the higher market teams with best players gross more, so you can see this as a heavy edge on stars and tv ratings. It's always been about what product you have and what sales period.
Of course the NBA is rigged. Adam Silver didn't champion the legalization of gambling out of charity and the kindness of his heart.
Yes the endgame is money. Dallas move is about casinos and an entertainment district including a new stadium and having a marketable American player to energize that initiative. Wemby to the Spurs was due to the league’s continual desire to expand the Euro market and what better way to do this than giving him to the Spurs, who have had several French players on their team, a large French fanbase, and several licensing and TV deals in France. The Yao move was similar to the Wemby move but to expand the Asian market. Houston has a large Chinese American population with ties to their homeland. They wear red-a favored color in Chinese culture. There was already a large and growing Asian market that NBA has set roots in since the 80s. This move would only propel the market to greater heights. I’m sure Hakeem was tied to US policies of improving economic ties with Nigeria including Oil development in Africa from Houston based companies like Chevron. Houston also has a large Nigerian population.
Olajuwon came to the United States and went to other states after visiting Houston and said "Heck No" give me Houston (college) because the climate is close to that of back home. ....and the Rockets landed Olajuwon, c'mon, what a coincidence. [ agreeing with you ]
Yeah but you can make even more billions if you do. And better to have control of the outcome than not.
Vegas don't rig results. They just manipulate the odds so that they always win with large volumes of betting. The gamblers still win or lose by chances. But the house win by slanting the odds toward them. Rigging really doesn't make any difference to their profits because there are people on both sides of the bets. They increase their profits by luring more people to gamble. Rigging only benefits people who have control of the results and bet on one side.
I'm pretty sure that the NBA rigs games and makes major bank from those games through gambling one way or another. We can agree to disagree.
but tying marketable and recognizable faces to a franchise is an important part of revenue generation. I don’t think it’s simply about legalized gambling and rigging it.Take the Dallas situation. They are pushing legislation to legalize gambling in Texas. But they also want to create an entertainment district and resort like area for casino goers and Mavs fans. They also want to integrate this experience with a new stadium near this entertainment district. We are talking about big money opportunity. If cooper flagg pans out he would be the face of an exciting team energizing this fan base and franchise. Players with star power are simply brand ambassadors. Having the right player with the right market matters and all the owners and the league know this.
I was convinced the league was rigged after game 7 of the 2005 Dallas series. The refs screwed us the entire game until it was a blowout.
Mosty agree. I will say Vegas would benefit from big markets being in the finals (e.g., not OKC, Not the Pacers). I don't think this matters as much for Draftkings, fanduel, etc as the gamblers there just want to gamble, and not necessarily as tied to teams.
