Comments on: Rip Hamilton one of many players who express skepticism at lottery results

By: tarsier

tarsier — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 03:46:29 +0000

Those possibilities are of course possible. But any reasonable risk/reward analysis would quickly show that they are horrible ideas. Unless the tampering was really severe, Stern would only slightly increase the odds for NO. So it makes for a hard secret he has to cover up while probably not accomplishing anything. And if the balls were heavily weighted or whatever, everyone in the actual lottery room would figure out in no time as the same combination (or very similar ones) comes up over and over.

It always comes back tot he fact that while there may be incentive to rig things like games or the lottery, that incentive is relatively microscopic compared to the enormous risk that would accompany being found out for tampering. If you really do believe that Stern is cheating the system, you have to believe he is a total idiot.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 03:40:34 +0000

The former solution may work for a little while but only delays the inevitable. The latter solution simply replaces one person who must keep a secret with another.

By: Chris H

Chris H — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 02:45:27 +0000

the NBA pays people off or kills them so everything stays a secret :o.

By: Chris H

Chris H — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 02:44:30 +0000

There would be several ways in increase the odds of certain number conbinations, from weighing balls differently or sizing them differently, or even being able to change the way the discharge on the machine works. I am also not sure how the number combinations were chosen for each team. Also in a league that no longer has regional draft picks it was kind of nice that LBJ and Rose happened to land on teams that would love them right from the start. I’m not really a conspiracy theorist, but there were plenty of little coincidenses out there before Stern decided that several things this year were going to happen behind closed doors. Seriously a horrible decision.

By: D. Stewart

D. Stewart — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:34:14 +0000

The problem (as I see it) isn’t that David Stern fixed (or didn’t fix) the lottery. It’s our need to hide our processes and procedures behind closed and locked doors that we need to examine. It’s not even about whether a conspiracy actually took place. It’s the “perception” (especially among America’s youth) that a conspiracy is possible and often probable that needs to be addressed. From O.J. Simpson … to the collapse of the American banking industry … to our politicians and their negative election tactics … our kids simply don’t trust us anymore. In their minds we lie. It’s as simple as that. Adults lie. And any hint of wrong doing reinforces that impression and that mistrust. In a time when everything is shaded gray and nothing appears black and white, we have a huge obligation to our children to go “overboard” in showing them that we are not phoney … that we are not cheaters … and that we do not lie. The NBA needs to bring their annual lottery process out into the open. The ping-pong balls need to be the size of basketballs and our kids need to see them being placed in a giant Plexiglas hopper on their tv screens and then pulled out visibly (one by one) so that there’s absolutely no question whatsoever about the “honesty and integrity” of the process … or about the honesty and integrity of the adults behind the process.
And yes … it’s a shame that it needs to happen this way, because after all it’s “just basketball,” “just a game.” But it (like baseball and all the other national sports) represents us and says something extremely important about who we are as a people and what our core-values look like. If there’s even the slightest hint that Commissioner Stern and the NBA may have cheated: if there’s even a remote inkling that something’s not on the up and up, it should be fixed, and fixed immediately. Our kids need to know that the “basic rules of life” still apply … and that integrity and fair play are still sitting right there (out in the open) on the top of the rules’ list. We cannot continue to let them “suspect otherwise.” Our processes need to be transparent and obvious. Adults teach. Children learn. And they learn by our example. Let’s get our examples out in the open for everyone to see. Don’t leave our kids wondering. Let’s make sure our processes and procedures (even in sports) are 100% visible and transparent. Every time we hide behind locked doors and say, “Just trust us” … we teach our children to do just the opposite.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:16:58 +0000

Do you have any idea how hard it would be to keep that huge a conspiracy under wraps? It would stay a secret for a week, tops.

By: tarsier

tarsier — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:13:33 +0000

There are almost certainly crooked people in the NBA. But how would the lottery be rigged? There is a representative from every team watching the hoppers spew their ping pong balls. They saw the entire process. If there was tampering, someone would blab.

By: Roit

Roit — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:52:13 +0000

It’s so unfair. U C the last time our Pistons won the lottery was 60′s and we picked BL16. This was the only time that we won the lottery. Oh maybe if our team is on sales now, we can will the lottery. At least top 3 pick. However, we need to accept the fact now that we can’t change it. We should pick a big man. Above all, we can’t lost the best available player even if he doesn’t fit us.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:09:46 +0000

Alright, maybe we shouldn’t jump into conclusions… but if Dwight decides he’s leaving the magic next year, should we anticipate that the Magic will win the lottery next year?

By: neutes

neutes — Thu, 31 May 2012 23:45:49 +0000

The thing that gets me is that only a fool would buy the Hornets. They just aren’t a profitable franchise to own. But it’s not like you get to bitch about it because something with a 1.7% chance of happening didn’t happen.