NBA – After the lottery controversy, Adam Silver’s very honest opinion on the Mavericks

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

While Dallas achieved a tremendous feat by capturing the first pick in the upcoming draft, the news also fueled conspiracy rumors surrounding the franchise. When asked about the issue, commissioner Adam Silver gave a frank answer.

In terms of timing, the Mavericks couldn’t have dreamed of better. Just a few months after the heartbreaking Luka Doncic trade, fans can expect to see Cooper Flagg arrive on draft night. A happy ending made possible by winning the first overall pick during lottery night.

But while champagne was popped in Texas following this news, others cried conspiracy. According to critics, the NBA deliberately rewarded Dallas after the loss of its franchise player in a scenario not unlike that of Zion Williamson’s arrival in New Orleans, a year after Anthony Davis’ departure… to the Lakers, once again. Adam Silver responded on Breakfast Ball:

Adam Silver buries lottery cheating accusations

We call it a ‘Lottery’, and I think some people think it was a one in a million chance that Dallas was going to win. Remember, the worst-performing team had a 14% chance at winning (the first overall pick), which means there was an 86% chance they wouldn’t get it. Dallas had roughly a 2% chance, so the losingest team had a 7-times better chance. 2% is 2%, it’s going to happen.

When people say, therefore, that the lottery is broken, I have a different viewpoint, which the purpose of the Lottery is to disincentive teams from tanking. Here, you had a team that was clearly trying, 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.

Unsurprisingly, the league’s top boss categorically denies any manipulation. He even took the opportunity to deliver a slam to the franchises that deliberately lost this season in order to land Cooper Flagg… However, it will take much more than that to convince the fans, who absolutely don’t believe his claims.

@kylenabecker : Adam Silver is a liar. This is classic disinformation. We all know they fixed it so Luka would go to LA and then Dallas would get the #1. What are the odds this happens after the NBA’s PR disaster? Outside of a few teams, the NBA product is bad. Adam Silver has got to go.

@AidanLaPorta69 : Adam Silver is the worst liar I’ve ever seen