With the fourth-worst record in the NBA after finishing 21-45 the (still, for now) league-owned Hornets had only a 13.7 per cent chance to win the first overall pick in the lottery, presumably to be Kentucky Wildcats star Anthony Davis.
The Charlotte Bobcats, meanwhile, were out of luck after finishing with the worst winning percentage of all time (.109) and having a 25 per cent chance of getting Anthony Davis, the home run pick for turning a franchise around.
After the lottery was conducted, an online poll by USA Today took 4945 total votes on the question “Do you think the NBA Lottery was fixed?” At least 82 per cent of respondents are at least a little bit skeptical; a staggering percentage. These are the results below,
With the Hornets ownership recently transferred to Tom Benson, the owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints the team seems to be stable in the Bayou, something Stern has been adamant about since the League took over ownership of the team in 2010.
Since Benson agreed to buy the team and take over starting next year, the NBA announced that they had awarded the 2014 NBA All-Star game to New Orleans (perhaps as a perk for the new owner) and have now been handed the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft.
It is an enormous conflict of interest for a League-owned team to take the number one pick in a draft that is so secretive, happening behind closed doors before the televised ceremony. "The drawing of the ping-pong balls is conducted in private, though observed by independent auditors and representatives from each team," but that doesn't make it any less fishy for fans and organizations around the league.
Maybe the NBA rewards teams that they think deserve it. When the Cleveland Cavaliers had their hearts ripped out courtesy of "Akron's Finest," they somehow had their pick with 2.8% chance at the number one pick turn into the first overall.
And when Chicago-born Derrick Rose was the consensus number one pick and the NBA hoped to reestablish a competitive franchise in the Windy City, the Bulls had their pick with just 1.7% chance of hopping up to number one overall miraculously climb the ladder.
So when the Hornets and Stern had to deal Chris Paul this past off-season and an initial trade to the Lakers was vetoed by Stern himself, the conflict of interest was never more apparent than it is perhaps today. How can Stern unbiasedly be choosing where certain players are playing? It makes no sense.
And really, the NBA opened themselves up to this controversy. I called it back when the Chris Paul flip-flop fiasco went down that they really needed to figure out the ownership situation before the draft lottery lest they win and provoke the shit-storm that we're currently in the eye of.
While it's too late to go back and settle the ownership issue far in advance, there is really no reason why the NBA can't just broadcast the actual lottery balls bouncing live for all to see. Would conspiracy theories die then? Probably not, but transparency is paramount to any future solution.
Tip your hand Stern, and show us what you're holding.
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