As we all know, the annual NBA Draft Lottery is "not" rigged. Every year, the representatives of the teams who have a possibility of claiming one of the top 14 picks in the draft "enter" a super secret "room" no one can see and then watch as "lottery balls" "randomly" determine the future of multiple NBA franchises.
That's exactly what happened when the New York Knicks won the right to select Patrick Ewing in 1985. That's exactly what happened when the Cleveland Cavaliers won the right to select Ohio native LeBron James in 2003. That's exactly what happened when the Chicago Bulls won the right to select Chicago native Derrick Rose in 2008. And that's most certainly what happened on Tuesday night, when the Philadelphia 76ers won the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, OK?
Did former 76ers great Dikembe Mutombo tweet his congratulations to the 76ers organization hours before the lottery had started? Sure, yeah, OK. That happened. But it was a mistake. He deleted it and explained in an apologetic follow-up tweet, didn't you see? It did not mean the 76ers had already been awarded the pick hours before the draft through a process that had nothing to do with the lottery. And it did not imply the draft is rigged or that anything that about the lottery publicly is different from what happens behind the scenes. Everything is totally fine and transparent, OK? This is the Adam Silver era after all.
Look, we know what you're thinking: The NBA Draft Lottery is rigged and always has been. You think that the draft is a fallacy and that the league handed the 76ers the top pick as part of a handshake agreement in April to boot reviled 76ers GM Sam Hinkie, a man so reviled around the league for his embarrassing multi-year tanking strategy that people considered changing the very structure of the NBA Draft. Well, hey, c'mon, that didn't happen. That would be crazy. And that's not even how it works, according to the NBA!
Again, look, yes, it's weird. And yes, the 76ers fans seemed very happy, which is good for the league considering all they went through.
But c'mon, really? These jokes are just ridiculous.
The NBA would never alter the future of the league to benefit its image. That would be totally crazy. There is nothing to see here. Go to bed.
Related
Before You Go
