Lotto Rigged For Hornets Conspiracy Theory

[Rudi]

Great article about the rigging that took place last night.

SOURCE

MIAMI – This was the fitting end to one of the darkest, most unseemly episodes in the history of the NBA, the perfect punctuation on the commissioner's manipulation of the sale and salvation of a lost franchise.

The New Orleans Hornets won the draft lottery and get to pick one of the most transcendent prospects in years, Kentucky's Anthony Davis. The NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets, with a 13.7 percent chance, won the lottery. For over a year, David Stern pushed hard to get maximum value for his owners on the re-sale of the Hornets, and Tom Benson gave Stern an asking price and an assurance the franchise wouldn't leave New Orleans.

"It's such a joke that the league made the new owners be at the lottery for the show," one high-ranking team executive told Yahoo! Sports. "The league still owns the Hornets. Ask their front office if new owners can make a trade right now. They can't. This is a joke."

The reaction of several league executives was part disgust, part resignation on Wednesday night. So many had predicted this happening, so many suspected that somehow, someway, the Hornets would walk away with Davis. That's the worst part for the NBA; these aren't the railings from the guy sitting at the corner tavern, but the belief of those working within the machinery that something undue happened here, that they suspect it happens all the time under Stern.

There's no proof, and there will never be proof. Yet, there's an appearance of impropriety – always an appearance – that marches arm-and-arm with Stern into the twilight of his commissionership, marches right out the door with him.

In New Orleans this season, everyone followed orders. The Hornets feared crossing Stern could cost them not only jobs with the Hornets, but futures in the NBA. They ate that trade for Chris Paul to the Lakers, and dutifully sold the commissioner's story that it was never agreed upon, never completed. The Hornets played Darryl Watkins, Jerome Dyson and Lance Thomas 41-plus minutes in the final game of the season in an 84-77 loss to Houston. They played them until the Hornets bottomed out with six points in the fourth quarter of the loss that left them at 21-45 for the season.

"I bet I could get my owner to tank if I knew the chance of getting the No. 1 pick was 100 percent," an NBA team president said in an email.

Perhaps this is too harsh, but it's how rivals feel; a lot of them. They're suspicious, dubious, and the Hornets' winning the lottery fed all of that in an immense way. Monty Williams had the Hornets playing hard for so much of the season, making the most out of so little. They weren't designed to win 21 games in that shortened schedule, and that's a credit to Williams, one of the NBA's fine young coaches.

This is the problem for Stern, and will always be: Within his own league, they're dubious about him, his underlings, about the centralized power structure in New York. Stern created the mayhem of the Hornets season – the vetoed Paul trade that disrupted the operations and balance of several teams – and the fallout never relented. Here comes Tom Benson now, whose NFL organization is mired in one of the great institutional scandals in pro sports history, walking into New York for the draft lottery with a bad team, in a bad arena, and leaving with a franchise star.

Yes, the Hornets are staying in New Orleans, and that's wonderful news for the people there, for the NBA. All around the league, though, everyone will forever wonder: At what cost?

 

[Fappin Raptor]

Why doesn't the NBA give the 1st pick to the worst team? Why is a lottery involved at all?

 

[G-men]

Why doesn't the NBA give the 1st pick to the worst team? Why is a lottery involved at all?

So Patrick Ewing could go to the Knicks.

 

[EmpireWF]

Why doesn't the NBA give the 1st pick to the worst team? Why is a lottery involved at all?

Because teams will tank. At least with the lotto, if a team tanks, there's no guarantee they're getting the top pick.

 

[ralaw]

The NBA has a lottery special on television that people tune in to watch....................if the NFL had a lottery could you imagine how huge it would be? I bet Goodell is taking note.

 

[KNUBB]

Everybody mad.

 

[NAHSTE]

This article is shit, and its basis is "other owners are salty, thus, the NBA is rigged."

 

[FedEx227]

Just show the damn thing live so people stop bitching about it being rigged. There's no way anyone besides the team that gets the first pick is going to feel good about it.

 

[Juggernaut]

How was this a great article? They even proved that the article meant shit within itself.

There's no proof, and there will never be proof. Yet, there's an appearance of impropriety – always an appearance – that marches arm-and-arm with Stern into the twilight of his commissionership, marches right out the door with him.

 

[NAHSTE]

Rudi: GREAT ARTICLE GUYS READ BELOW

Article: Hey guys, I have no evidence to support what I am about to claim, but here is some baseless speculation made by myself, bolstered by the baseless speculation of others!

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

This article is shit, and it's basis is "other owners are salty, thus, the NBA is rigged."

The NBA is rigged, but its not because owners are salty about it.

 

[FedEx227]

Woj is usually better than this too.

 

[Realist]

Just show the damn thing live so people stop bitching about it being rigged. There's no way anyone besides the team that gets the first pick is going to feel good about it.

This. I don't see the point of being all secrect about it. It just reeks of being rigged when you are doing things behind the curtain. At least if it was on TV, people wouldnt feel this way about the NBA. Its not like it would take long anyway, according to reports, they only pick the top 3 anyway and everyone else just falls in line with their draft pick

 

[EmpireWF]

Wojo taking some heat of late between the Deron Williams report and this grimy piece.

 

[FedEx227]

This. I don't see the point of being all secrect about it. It just reeks of being rigged when you are doing things behind the curtain. At least if it was on TV, people wouldnt feel this way about the NBA. Its not like it would take long anyway, according to reports, they only pick the top 3 anyway and everyone else just falls in line with their draft pick

People are suspicious because they can't prove it's NOT rigged. The proof that it's rigged is really arbitrary and stupid (in this case not so much in LBJ/Rose).

 

[Villain]

People are suspicious because they can't prove it's NOT real.

What does religion have to do with this?

 

[Ranalli]

So Patrick Ewing could go to the Knicks.

what this guy said

 

[Ranalli]