The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery delivered a surprising outcome when the Dallas Mavericks secured the top overall pick despite holding just a 1.8% chance just months after trading Luka Doncic, as fans claimed the lottery is rigged. Now Adam Silver responds.
The unexpected victory immediately ignited a wave of speculation and accusations that the lottery might be fixed in the wake of the major trade of the Slovenian to the Crypto.com Arena, with even LeBron James laughing about it.
However, the NBA Commissioner has now taken decisive action to quell doubts be defending the validity of the lottery, and its integrity, dismissing the conspiracy theories as unfounded.
“When people say, therefore, that the lottery is broken, I have a different viewpoint, which the purpose of the lottery is to disincentivize teams from tanking,” Silver told FS1’s Breakfast Ball, emphasizing the underlying purpose of the draft lottery is to discourage teams from deliberately losing games to improve their draft positioning.
“Here, you had a team that was clearly trying,” Silver added, of the Mavericks. “Whatever people think of that [Doncic trade], they were trying to win.
“Then Kyrie got injured, then Anthony Davis got injured, and so then they found themselves in the lottery. Odds are odds, and that’s how it turned out.”
Mavericks CEO fires back at rigged claims
Dallas became only the fourth team in NBA history to win the draft lottery with odds under two percent, joining a rare group of improbable winners.
Their victory grants them the chance to select Duke’s Cooper Flagg, widely regarded as one of the most promising prospects in recent memory. Coincidence? The jury is still out in the eyes of the NBA’s fans.
Particularly as the controversy surrounding the Mavericks‘ improbable win was further fueled by patterns noted among previous top picks following major trades, with social media users pointing to historical parallels.
For example, the New Orleans Pelicans received the No. 1 pick immediately after trading Chris Paul in 2011, and again after trading Anthony Davis to the Lakers in 2019.
In response, Mavericks CEO Rick Welts spoke out to counter the growing narrative. Reflecting on his long history with the draft lottery, Welts dismissed the conspiracy claims with bemusement.
“I’m the only person who was in this room and the room 40 years ago,” Rick Welts told The Washington Post. “I was in charge of the NBA draft lottery 40 years ago when Patrick Ewing won.
“I’ve been doing conspiracy theory stories ever since. This is very surreal, personally.”
The longstanding transparency efforts and procedures the NBA has implemented to maintain trust in the lottery process, even amid controversial outcomes.
Despite the heated speculation, both Silver and Welts underscore the randomness and unpredictability inherent in the draft lottery system. Do you believe them?
Read the full article here
