Wasn't the CBA directly negotiating for 3 years Yao's entrance into the NBA, and didn't they specify that it had to be Houston in 2002 or he wouldn't be allowed to come over? I don't remember that well, but I do remember it being a huge deal that the CBA was so controlling over Yao that there had to be draft assurances.
I’ve had the belief for years that Adam silver sent Scott foster to screw us in game 1 and game 7 of the 2018 wcf because had we won the title, Tilman would have gone to the trump White House for a face to face congratulatory thanks. Remember when Ted Cruz was interviewed by tmz stating that the rockets would go to the White House if they won the title. I don’t think Adam silver wants the rockets doing good as long as tilman is the owner if les was still our owner I believe we don’t get screwed in the playoffs and harden might still be a rocket
Not that suspicious, but we did leap to the #1 pick with only the fifth worst record, back when it was weighted more heavily towards the worst teams. 2002 was a strange and very uneven draft. Phoenix got (arguably) the best player at #9 (Stoudemire). 3 of the top 6 picks barely even played in the NBA due to bad luck (Wagner, Williams) or just being terrible (Tskitishvili). And Luis Scola slipped all the way to #56!
He'll forget to rig it because they're not relevant enough. People still remember the Cavs winning three lotteries in four years from 2011-2014 despite having the 8th-worst, 3rd-worst, and 9th-worst records...lol. Then LeBron could come back be the hero and repair his image. Unfortunately, I don't think that's part of Houston's/Harden's script.
fwiw: CLE had the 2nd worst record in Kyrie's year. They also had LAC's pick at 8th worst record. So, in total, they had 23% odds = 2nd best odds. The LAC pick came through, and CLE's own pick struck out and dropped to 4th.
I see. I wasn't aware of that. So they had made it clear they wanted Yao to be in Houston before the lottery?
Oh yeah it was sort of a controversy at the time how controlling the CBA (aka Chinese government) was of Yao coming to the NBA. Not a shock that the Chinese were very very very controlling of their prized star athlete. Before the Lottery..... uhhh yeah. They started negotiating with the NBA in 1999, and he wasn't drafted until 2002. Yao himself is such a fascinating story in of itself that I don't know that you can really take from that a "the NBA draft is rigged" consensus but it is one instance of showing that yeah... of course there is influence at the highest levels. We aren't stupid. That being said, did Stern conspire to get Lebron to Cleveland... probably not. Did Silver conspire to get Zion to New Orleans?... probably not. If the NBA was rigged, don't you think the Knicks would have been a good team once in the past 2 decades?? There's so many instances of proof that if the NBA is rigged, they are pretty crappy at getting the results they are trying to get in the rigging process. There's no reason why the San Antonio Spurs have 4 rings as an example. With the NBA the phrase "it's complicated" applies regularly, and I think this isn't an exception here. Yes, I'm pretty sure the NBA had a heavy hand in getting Yao to Houston. No I don't think Adam Silver is going to fix the 2021 draft to get Houston back on top quick.
traded fatman to a big city helped create a media darling superteam let go of d'antoni who is ruining the game let go of morey after the china comments
Thanks, man! Nice to be remembered. We are well. Family has added a couple of grand-children. No COVID in our immediate family. A few folks I know had it and recovered. Hope you and yours are faring as well. I remember when Yao was going to be drafted. I was in WV visiting my wife's family. I convinced none other than the great Jeff Balke to call me when the draft order was settled. He was SCREAMING WITH EXCITEMENT to me with great Yao news over a crackling phone line that was breaking up as we coursed through the mountains.
He gave the Pelicans the #1 pick after AD's departure. Mind you, the Rockets are a much bigger market than NO and don't need all the help they do but it'd be nice if he did the same this year
if you buy into the rigged conspiracy theory then yes, we are due for the #1 pick in this draft. we gave the MVP to the largest media market, formed a superteam which we know the NBA loves because its great for ratings, and broken ties with morey which opens up our ability to earn in china once again. we might also help some other contenders make the playoffs more interesting depending on where Oladipo and tucker end up. not to mention the other teams in contention for the top pick already have more franchise cornerstone pieces like towns, fox, shai, and beal. the magic, pistons, and us are the ones is the most need of a top pick in order to maintain any sort of earning potential. so again if you believe in that conspiracy theory, then those should be the top 3 picks, magic, pistons, rockets. but the rockets being the biggest market of the 3 and helped the league by forming a superteam in Brooklyn, should be due the #1 pick.
C'mon Brother! I know it's been awhile, but....feel the love! Turturro in Miller's Crossing - "Look into your heart" : )
It's always amazing to me to see how many of you believe the NBA is rigged. It is a multi-billion dollar industry! Each team has a valuation of more than a billion dollars. The NBA itself is estimated to earn between 54-75 billion over a 10 year period and that is just here in the United States. That does not include overseas revenue sources. That's a whole lot of money to risk in order to favor one team over another at the lottery. Because if it were rigged and word of it were ever leaked and proven, how many of you would still watch? I wouldn't. And what happens when one of the billionaire owners in the NBA discovers they were screwed over in favor of another team? And the legal ramifications if such a scandal destroyed the valuation of those teams? Can you imagine the lawsuits these billionaires and their armies of attorneys would hit the NBA with? HOW DOES ANY OF THIS SEEM PLAUSIBLE TO ANY OF YOU?
