Question for the "Draft Lottery is Rigged" Crowd

[sp6r=underrated]

The only way deniers would believe it, is if Silver himself came out and said it. Why would he do that though when the fanatics eat out of the palm of his hand anyway?

Why hasn't the NYT, Washington Post, CBS, etc., never found any evidence of this conspiracy?

If you're right the NBA has been engaging in a multi-decade conspiracy that requires coordination between dozens of corporations. And yet no media company, many of whom have no financial relationship with the NBA have ever reported on the conspiracy.

It doesn't matter if it's hidden or overt, people will always say it's not rigged. Even a former ref has mentioned that he and other refs used to try to fix games and people just call him crazy. Like he's the only possible corrupt ref out of the hundreds that have come and gone.

Since I've mocked conspiracy theorists, here are the things I'll concede:

1. The NBA had 1 ref that we know try to manipulate games, Donaghy, and one player, Jonatay. I think it is possible there are others who have done so.
2. I do think the NBA tries to avoid suspending marquees players if they can help it.

But that's very different than the type of conspiracy you're alleging. Your alleging the owners of the other teams in the NBA don't care when the conspiracy **** them over.

For sake of discussion let's accept Silver forced the Mavs to trade Luka to LA and in return gave them Flagg.

That really **** over Utah. They've been tanking for years to get the # 1 pick. If Silver really did fix this draft he completely **** over the JAzz. What leverage does Silver have over the Jazz owners to keep them quiet?

[ocelot17]

People are talking about magic tricks on reddit.

Conspiracy theorists are cooked.

I was just thinking about nba using a magician or illusionist to rig the draft a few weeks ago lol.

I bet Penn and teller could show you how it’s done.

[Michael Lucky]

The only way deniers would believe it, is if Silver himself came out and said it. Why would he do that though when the fanatics eat out of the palm of his hand anyway?

Why hasn't the NYT, Washington Post, CBS, etc., never found any evidence of this conspiracy?

If you're right the NBA has been engaging in a multi-decade conspiracy that requires coordination between dozens of corporations. And yet no media company, many of whom have no financial relationship with the NBA have ever reported on the conspiracy.

It doesn't matter if it's hidden or overt, people will always say it's not rigged. Even a former ref has mentioned that he and other refs used to try to fix games and people just call him crazy. Like he's the only possible corrupt ref out of the hundreds that have come and gone.

Since I've mocked conspiracy theorists, here are the things I'll concede:

1. The NBA had 1 ref that we know try to manipulate games, Donaghy, and one player, Jonatay. I think it is possible there are others who have done so.
2. I do think the NBA tries to avoid suspending marquees players if they can help it.

But that's very different than the type of conspiracy you're alleging. Your alleging the owners of the other teams in the NBA don't care when the conspiracy **** them over.

For sake of discussion let's accept Silver forced the Mavs to trade Luka to LA and in return gave them Flagg.

That really **** over Utah. They've been tanking for years to get the # 1 pick. If Silver really did fix this draft he completely **** over the JAzz. What leverage does Silver have over the Jazz owners to keep them quiet?

Same reason the MLB steroid era went on for a decade and the cycling doping era went for 12 years covering for lance. Money talks until it can't any longer or it pisses off the wrong person. Everyone here openly admits nba superstars are on peds and we all look the other way. I used to ignore conspiracies theories, but after cp3, ad, LeBron, and now Luka. It is really hard to believe it is coincidental.

[SOUL]

Same reason the MLB steroid era went on for a decade and the cycling doping era went for 12 years covering for lance. Money talks until it can't any longer or it pisses off the wrong person. Everyone here openly admits nba superstars are on peds and we all look the other way. I used to ignore conspiracies theories, but after cp3, ad, LeBron, and now Luka. It is really hard to believe it is coincidental.

Several of these points don't hold any consistent or logical threads of what exactly is being rigged and the reasoning for rigging. There's also several arguments literally against what people are arguing for rigging (befitting big markets and screwing over smaller ones).

The CP3 nixed trade HURT a big market Lakers team from being better. Nonetheless, this was vetoed by the NBA since they owned the Pelicans.

The AD trade and then Pelicans winning the lottery benefited a small market team that doesn't really move the needle for the NBA in general. Pelicans get replenished with the #1 pick, cool I guess?

LeBron was going to be a superstar on any team, why pick Cleveland over a team like Chicago or New York? In fact, why did the NBA let New York founder for 20 years if they can rig these things? The hometown kid is a nice touch, but we've seen plenty of superstars/legends make their names in cities they had no ties to. Why not rig a championship for him there?

So if the conspiracy theory is that the NBA team wants small market teams to benefit and big market teams to benefit.. wouldn't that literally credit a conspiracy theory for every single team as being plausible?

[Michael Lucky]

Same reason the MLB steroid era went on for a decade and the cycling doping era went for 12 years covering for lance. Money talks until it can't any longer or it pisses off the wrong person. Everyone here openly admits nba superstars are on peds and we all look the other way. I used to ignore conspiracies theories, but after cp3, ad, LeBron, and now Luka. It is really hard to believe it is coincidental.

Several of these points don't hold any consistent or logical threads of what exactly is being rigged and the reasoning for rigging. There's also several arguments literally against what people are arguing for rigging (befitting big markets and screwing over smaller ones).

The CP3 nixed trade HURT a big market Lakers team from being better. Nonetheless, this was vetoed by the NBA since they owned the Pelicans.

The AD trade and then Pelicans winning the lottery benefited a small market team that doesn't really move the needle for the NBA in general. Pelicans get replenished with the #1 pick, cool I guess?

LeBron was going to be a superstar on any team, why pick Cleveland over a team like Chicago or New York? In fact, why did the NBA let New York founder for 20 years if they can rig these things? The hometown kid is a nice touch, but we've seen plenty of superstars/legends make their names in cities they had no ties to. Why not rig a championship for him there?

So if the conspiracy theory is that the NBA team wants small market teams to benefit and big market teams to benefit.. wouldn't that literally credit a conspiracy theory for every single team as being plausible?

Small market teams represent 2/3rds of ownership while the remaining 1/3rd is responsible for most of the revenue. Doesn't take a genius to understand the politics of this.

[Pointgod]

Do you conspiracy theorists realize that you’d find away to say the lottery is rigged regardless of the result? You can make an argument for any of the 14 teams winning the lottery. And how about the other 3 teams? How do you explain that?

[Godymas]

After every lottery they need to show the balls

[SOUL]

Small market teams represent 2/3rds of ownership while the remaining 1/3rd is responsible for most of the revenue. Doesn't take a genius to understand the politics of this.

This doesn't answer anything I said though lol. So you're saying that any trade/result can be called rigging if it makes sense?

[Raps in 4]

The only way deniers would believe it, is if Silver himself came out and said it. Why would he do that though when the fanatics eat out of the palm of his hand anyway?

Why hasn't the NYT, Washington Post, CBS, etc., never found any evidence of this conspiracy?

If you're right the NBA has been engaging in a multi-decade conspiracy that requires coordination between dozens of corporations. And yet no media company, many of whom have no financial relationship with the NBA have ever reported on the conspiracy.

It doesn't matter if it's hidden or overt, people will always say it's not rigged. Even a former ref has mentioned that he and other refs used to try to fix games and people just call him crazy. Like he's the only possible corrupt ref out of the hundreds that have come and gone.

Since I've mocked conspiracy theorists, here are the things I'll concede:

1. The NBA had 1 ref that we know try to manipulate games, Donaghy, and one player, Jonatay. I think it is possible there are others who have done so.
2. I do think the NBA tries to avoid suspending marquees players if they can help it.

But that's very different than the type of conspiracy you're alleging. Your alleging the owners of the other teams in the NBA don't care when the conspiracy **** them over.

For sake of discussion let's accept Silver forced the Mavs to trade Luka to LA and in return gave them Flagg.

That really **** over Utah. They've been tanking for years to get the # 1 pick. If Silver really did fix this draft he completely **** over the JAzz. What leverage does Silver have over the Jazz owners to keep them quiet?

The same reason it took 25 years to find out about Epstein's pedo island (I can guarantee you he wasn't the only one operating a pedo sex resort for the rich). And even now, we know barely any of the details. The rich are really good at covering their tracks because they have the means to operate outside of the law. And the financial resources to deflect any attention away from themselves. On top of that, the owners of those news outlets are also part of the billionaire club.

[sp6r=underrated]

Sigh, this thread makes me so sad. Low social trust is an immense problem. And this thread is a good example of how many well-meaning people have almost non-existent belief in the integrity of others.

I have no solution to this.

[VFX]

Do you conspiracy theorists realize that you’d find away to say the lottery is rigged regardless of the result? You can make an argument for any of the 14 teams winning the lottery. And how about the other 3 teams? How do you explain that?

There was only truly 1 team as an option for this lotto being classified as "rigged" at 1.3% chance of happening.

And it happened.

Not sure what else needs to be said. You can choose to believe it wasnt if you want.

[Sofia]

After every lottery they need to show the balls

We want to see your balls, NBA.

[Yoshun]

Sigh, this thread makes me so sad. Low social trust is an immense problem. And this thread is a good example of how many well-meaning people have almost non-existent belief in the integrity of others.

I have no solution to this.

People would rather believe they're getting lied to even if they're not than trust and run the risk of being screwed. It's unfortunate.

[Yoshun]

After every lottery they need to show the balls

We want to see your balls, NBA.

Speak for yourselves.

[sp6r=underrated]

Knock it off

[Sofia]

After every lottery they need to show the balls

We want to see your balls, NBA.

Speak for yourselves.

I speak for my militia. We’ll be chanting day and night outside NBA offices

“SHOW US YOUR BALLS”

[Pointgod]

Do you conspiracy theorists realize that you’d find away to say the lottery is rigged regardless of the result? You can make an argument for any of the 14 teams winning the lottery. And how about the other 3 teams? How do you explain that?

There was only truly 1 team as an option for this lotto being classified as "rigged" at 1.3% chance of happening.

And it happened.

Not sure what else needs to be said. You can choose to believe it wasnt if you want.

It’s happened before in the NBA. A low probability of something happening does not mean it won’t happen.

1993 Magic 1.52%
2014 Cavaliers 1.7%
2008 Bulls 1.7%
2025 Mavericks 1.8%
2011 Cavaliers 2.8%
2024 Hawks 3.0%

[Sixers in 4]

The only way deniers would believe it, is if Silver himself came out and said it. Why would he do that though when the fanatics eat out of the palm of his hand anyway?

Why hasn't the NYT, Washington Post, CBS, etc., never found any evidence of this conspiracy?

If you're right the NBA has been engaging in a multi-decade conspiracy that requires coordination between dozens of corporations. And yet no media company, many of whom have no financial relationship with the NBA have ever reported on the conspiracy.

It doesn't matter if it's hidden or overt, people will always say it's not rigged. Even a former ref has mentioned that he and other refs used to try to fix games and people just call him crazy. Like he's the only possible corrupt ref out of the hundreds that have come and gone.

Since I've mocked conspiracy theorists, here are the things I'll concede:

1. The NBA had 1 ref that we know try to manipulate games, Donaghy, and one player, Jonatay. I think it is possible there are others who have done so.
2. I do think the NBA tries to avoid suspending marquees players if they can help it.

But that's very different than the type of conspiracy you're alleging. Your alleging the owners of the other teams in the NBA don't care when the conspiracy **** them over.

For sake of discussion let's accept Silver forced the Mavs to trade Luka to LA and in return gave them Flagg.

That really **** over Utah. They've been tanking for years to get the # 1 pick. If Silver really did fix this draft he completely **** over the JAzz. What leverage does Silver have over the Jazz owners to keep them quiet?

Almost every rigging scandal that has been exposed related to the NBA has been a result of the FBI not the media. Terry Rozier, Porter, Donaghy why are you expecting the media to break these type of stories when they almost never have done so.

[Michael Lucky]

Small market teams represent 2/3rds of ownership while the remaining 1/3rd is responsible for most of the revenue. Doesn't take a genius to understand the politics of this.

This doesn't answer anything I said though lol. So you're saying that any trade/result can be called rigging if it makes sense?

If you have logical reason for explaining something that would happen in a vacuum in 1 of only 10 million scenarios, then it is common sense in following that reasoning. Again, this is the first time I've ever believed that the lottery is rigged but I can no longer ignore the obvious results that would lead any logical person to believe that it is. Again you never get 87% of people to believe something is rigged without clear and logical evidence that points to it. After all conspiracy theorists are again and again ignored for good reason by the majority. Point is i feel like I can no longer ignore it if the results keep slapping me in the face.

[meekrab]

People who think Ernst & Young are signing off on the lottery being fair just for a tiny bit of cash on top of their 50 billion dollars a year in revenue are just irredeemable.