May 30th the day the NBA died

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i actually agree with this part. this is about the only time someone can come up with some real reason to rig the lottery, basically a money for #1 pick exchange. and it involves the right people. to me the minimum size of the conspiracy is all of the owners because without all of them then you have some just willingly screwing themselves for absolutely no reason. and the maximum size of the conspiracy would be all of the owners. because bringing in absolutely anyone else a) makes keeping it secret virtually impossible and b) involves people who would have essentially no incentive to participate (the owners would at least have incentive and might be controllable enough to not spill the secret).

but beyond that it breaks down in so many other ways.

for one, the financial math of it all. tom benson is one guy trying to financially benefit 29 other owners. what numbers could possibly make sense for each side? how much could benson possibly care about the #1 pick when it's not even a lebron/duncan type #1 pick? he'd had to sacrifice $58 million to just get each owner $2 million. no one is paying $58 million for a #1 pick (and i don't think the amount he paid for the franchise was considered crazy). on the other side, the other owners are entering into a massive conspiracy, the likes of which if it ever got out would cripple the value of their franchises, for a one-time $2 million dollars? some of them probably make $2 million in the time it will take me to make this post.

and everything else below that you said:

it all just seems too impossible/illogical.

 

plus, the one thing isn't talked about is how the hell are you going to control Michael Jordan from spilling the secret. No owner has more to gain by from rigged lottery arbitration than MJ.

Why hasn't MJ spoken out if he thinks it was rigged? No one is going to stop him from talking. Are we really to believe MJ said OK to losing?

 

Do you guys understand that their are representatives from all 30 teams in the room watching the entire lottery?


its great to believe this conspiracy if you just want to be a complaining raving lunatic, but yea its just not true

 

on top of that. sat next to a guy who workd for the league in the 80s and worked with their television department and relationships with deals. Just another guy who told me Stern was brilliant with his vision for marketing to take it to another level .
People who don't know business don't understand that marketing can be as important as the product(which is obviously the players) but if you don't show case the talent, players in the right approach with the right exposure...it just doesn't happen

 

Look up the greatest tragedy in sports episode where it shows and zooms in on Stern folding a crease on the Knicks envelope allowing him to pick it out of the stack and giving them the #1 pick ala- Patrick Ewing... this guys a joke

 

If you flip a coin 20 times you'd expect 10 heads & 10 tails.

Do you know the odds of getting EXACTLY 10 heads if you flip it 20 times? Less than 18%.

Simple statistics. Random variation happens.

See the bell-shaped curve. Know it. Live it.

 

But then why do people use this same argument to say that you have to have a superstar to win a championship?

 

That's not how it goes.

Stern wasn't allowed to touch the envelopes before they went in the hamper. His role was to pull them out of the hamper. And yes, the Knicks envelope definitely had a crease in it. But wants makes the conspiracy questionable is the envelopes are tumbling like laundry in a dryer. It looked to me like the crease happened from the tumbling, randomly.

At least the video that I watched yesterday.

 

My thoughts are the same with haypartner on the crease. That crease theory could be a reach, so I'm skeptical at best. But that's not to say Sperm hasn't dictated the direction of the league in so many other occasions. I still want the dude and Silver to retire.

 

Whoever thinks this is rigged is just looking for something to talk about.

1) Do people know how many times the worst team has gotten the #1 pick? The last time that happened was in 2004 with the Magic. So has every year since been fixed? The odds of winning the #1 pick if you have the worst pick is 25%. Freakin' 25%. Not 100%. Not 75%. Not 50%. 1/4.

2) New Orleans is a poor basketball town. They couldn't sell out home games several years ago when CP3 took that team to the semis. You really think putting Anthony Davis there would put that city on the map? Please. At least wait for a big market team like the Knicks with Ewing in 85 before spewing out conspiracy theories.

3) Michael Jordan remains the NBA's biggest name globally. If it was fixed, Charlotte would have gotten the #1 pick, giving MJ a huge piece to start rebuilding his franchise and hopefully putting his name out there again as a good "owner."

 

And then you have more people who think otherwise.

 

Or dismiss all common sense and just believe a conspiracy despite all the evidence to the contrary. For example, post some really terrible math as evidence of your conspiracy. When shown how stupid it is, just pretend it never happened and continue on your merry way.

 

I agree an owner wouldn't sell their chance for the #1 pick for a paltry sum like that. But, in this scenario, I don't see it affecting the sales price, but the go/no-go decision for Benson to buy the franchise at all, or possibly in exchange for his promise to not leave New Orleans. So, the owners don't merely pocket more money for it; they do it to avert the disaster of another season without an owner there at all.

I mean, I still don't believe it. I can see it happening, but I don't think it did happen. Charlotte would have to be compensated later for taking it on the chin. Then, there'd never be an end to it all.

 

i totally understand that.

i also totally understand that there seem to be executives of NBA teams who are skeptical of the lottery.

This NOLA example is the worst thing that could happen to the NBA if it wants to prove the lottery to be kosher...because everyone owner in the league has incentive for the Hornets to get the #1 pick if it was part of the deal to sell the team to Benson. And the fact Benson was actually there, seated front and center, just seemed soooo freaking strange to me. Whether it's rigged or it isn't rigged...the perception of the credibility of the NBA is in the toilet.

 

But not Michael Jordan, imso. I don't see him agreeing to lose. Not when he has the best odds to get Davis.

I cannot fathom MJ agreeing to this. They would have had to keep it a secret from him ... and he still hasn't said anything about thinking he was robbed.

 

And of course, you'd have to convince the media members in the room to join the conspiracy, and get Ernst & Young to risk their entire multi-billion dollar business' reputation and credibility to help the NBA sell a franchise which has exactly zero benefit to them.

 

The siutation is to the point other league executives point it out. The question is not how are they doing it. The question is when they should investigate to see why there is so much distrust in within the NBA leadership about the process. Its one thing if fans question the process it another if the league execs also call it into question. Something is wrong there. Stern needs to be looked into. His draft lottery investigated.

 

So, you have 3 owners who protest, probably 4 adding in Mark Cuban. All the other owners outvote them. Then, they say 'you've got to take one for the team. We'll make it up to you later' And, 'remember, if you breathe a word of this to anyone, you'll destroy the league's reputation and it's revenue stream and the value of the franchise you bought.' Jordan and the other damaged owners fume, but what can they do? Cut off their nose to spite their face?

But again, I don't believe it was rigged.