New Orleans NBA Draft Lottery Conspiracy Talk Resurfaces After Dallas Wins Top Pick

The New Orleans Pelicans have once again found themselves at the center of a conspiracy theory. Perhaps the most plausible conspiracy theory in all of sports.

Dallas Mavericks Spark New Lottery Questions

Last night was the annual NBA Draft Lottery. The basic concept is that the the 14 worst teams in the NBA, based on their record at the end of the previous season, are entered into a lottery for a chance to win the top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. This process was instituted in the 1980s after accusations that teams were intentionally losing games to boost their chances to get the top pick in the next draft.

This year's NBA Draft Lottery was won by the Dallas Mavericks, who got the #1 overall pick when they had a slim 1.8% chance of getting the top pick. Which instantly fueled conspiracies.

Did Trading a Superstar Help the Dallas Mavericks?

The Mavericks blew up their own season, and franchise, during this season by trading NBA superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. This instantly drew comparisons to previous NBA Draft Lottery "coincidences" from earlier years. Essentially saying that the NBA gifted the Mavericks the top pick for their trading of an NBA superstar.

These conspiracies date all the way back to the original NBA Draft Lottery.

The Original Controversy: 1985 and the New York Knicks

Literally the first NBA Draft Lottery in 1985, was surrounded by controversy. The New York Knicks won that lottery, which essentially handed them blue chip prospect Patrick Ewing from Georgetown. Many fans, writers, and reporters have believed that the NBA 'rigged' the lottery to get the Knicks the top overall pick, because they wanted to have a strong and successful team in the nation's #1 media market.

The NBA Commissioner who oversaw the 1985 Draft Lottery was New York native David Stern. There are theories that say the envelope Stern drew to reveal the Knicks had been frozen, allowing him to feel a difference in that envelope over the others. While some believe that the Knicks envelope had been dented against something to create a distinct crease that Stern could see.

A History of Suspicious Lottery Wins Beyond New Orleans and Dallas

But this was just the first of many NBA Draft Lottery conspiracies. In fact, the New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets have multiple chapters in this conspiracy story.

The conspiracy theory train left the station in 1993 when the Orlando Magic, a young expansion franchise, won back to back NBA Draft Lotteries. Giving them Shaquille O'Neal and another #1 overall pick (they took Chris Webber, but traded him right away for Penny Hardaway and more draft picks) even with just a 1.52% chance of winning the lottery. The theory was that the NBA wanted to give their new team in a hot market a young and dominant duo to build their presence in Florida.

The LeBron James Factor: Cleveland's Controversial Wins

In 2003, one of the strongest arguments of conspiracy surrounding the NBA Draft Lottery happened. The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the odds and won the NBA Draft Lottery, as one of the most hyped prospects ever was entering the draft. That prospect, LeBron James, also happened to be an Akron, Ohio native...and Akron is essentially a suburb of Cleveland.

Conspiracy theorists believe the NBA ran back the LeBron plan in the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery, when Chicago native Derrick Rose was the consensus top pick in the draft. Despite having a 1.7% chance of winning the lottery, the Chicago Bulls won the #1 pick, and were able to keep Rose home.

In 2011, the NBA Draft Lottery was won by the Cleveland Cavaliers again. But the top pick (Kyrie Irving) wasn't a local product this time. No, instead conspiracy theorists believe that the NBA gifted the Cavs the top pick because LeBron James just left the franchise to "take his talents" to "south beach"...he went to the Miami Heat. Close to what happened with the Mavs this year.

New Orleans' First Entry into Lottery Lore

Now we hit the first New Orleans conspiracy. In 2012, the New Orleans Hornets were owned by the NBA themselves. The franchise was in a weird transition (if you couldn't tell by the name New Orleans Hornets), they just facilitated a controversial trade of Chris Paul, and the NBA was looking for a buyer for the stripped out franchise. So why not give yourself the #1 overall draft pick to help sell the team. So the New Orleans team won the Draft Lottery and got the top pick, and superstar Anthony Davis.

The New Orleans Pelicans and the "Boomerang" Conspiracy

There was a "boomerang" conspiracy involving the Pelicans too. Where the NBA wanted to overcorrect to prove there wasn't a Draft Lottery conspiracy.

This happened in 2019, when both of the NBA's top markets were included in the lottery. Fueling a lot of speculation that the NBA would force one of those two franchises to win the lottery, and take the #1 pick, and consessious top pick Zion Williamson. But the conspiracy here is that the NBA wanted to disprove the existing accusations, and make it so neither of the major markets won the lottery. They selected the New Orleans Pelicans as the winner to try and prove a point. But this time, the Knicks actually did have the best odds to get the top pick, while the Pelicans only had a 6% chance of getting it. Creating a new fold to the conspiracy.

More Questions Than Answers: The NBA, New Orleans, and Dallas

We did skip the 2014 "LeBron returns to Cleveland" conspiracy here. That one is a little harder to explain, but it does make total sense when you read about it.

When you look at all of this evidence, it's actually kind of difficult to ignore. The NBA Draft Lottery is either a twilight zone of probability, or there are strings being pulled to make the results favorable for the marketing of the league.