OT - Dikembe Otumbo tweets congratulations to 76ers before lottery was held

XLIX said:

Yes, it's an amazing coincidence that when superstars leave teams, those teams have horrible years and end up with one of the worst records in the league.

Cleveland only won it twice after LeBron left. The fact that you have to so ridiculously exaggerate only proves you have a weak point to begin with.

If the NBA was going to rig the draft lottery, why in the world would they rig it for Cleveland??? Not to mention that it has been many years since we've seen a truly extraordinary #1 such as a LeBron, Shaquille, Duncan, Robinson or Ewing. No player over the past decade has even been worth rigging the lottery over.

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By 2, you really mean 3 in 4. Irving, Bennett, Wiggins.

ViperGTS said:

It's sad. A former player tweets out congratulations hours before the event even happens, deletes it, and we're just supposed to shrug and say, no big deal?

I bet your the type of person who if an alien ship landed in your backyard and little green dudes with big heads and only eyes said, "Hello earthling!", you'd tell them they aren't real and to get off your lawn. Am I right?

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I don't think they did it because they wanted to bring him back to Cleveland. IMO, they did it because they thought he was staying in Miami and allowing Cleveland the best opportunity to load up with talent so there could be an actual rivalry (which = TV ratings) was in the NBA's best interest. They underestimated how fickle LeBron is, though, and as soon as the going got a little tough in Miami, he tucked his tail between his legs and ran back.

I hate when you reward mediocrity. Are the sixers going to be a team that will compete and win 30 games next season or will they stink and tank for yet another season?

In terms of the celtics? Idk what they will do. Maybe draft another undersized guard? Smh. Maybe draft Bender? That would be a disaster.

First the story around here is that they tweeted all the old Sixers asking for congrats if they won and he simply retweeted without reading it...whatever..

Secondly, I am hoping NJ sucks agin next year as Celtics have the right to swap picks in 2017 before getting their pick in 2018...Ainge ought to be in jail for that theft....

Would people here think the lottery was rigged if the Celtics got the #1 pick? The argument that it would be rigged in such a circumstance could be pretty compelling, if looked at through a certain lens:

- The need to get an historically great franchise back into championship contention.
- The Celtics getting some due payback for not getting the #1 pick on a couple of other occasions when they had either the best chance (1999) or a really good chance to get it.
- The need to create a true competitor to Cleveland in the weak Eastern Conference.
- It's Boston, and Boston is full of cheaters.

Blah blah blah. You get the idea.

PatriotsPimp136 said:

I hate when you reward mediocrity. Are the sixers going to be a team that will compete and win 30 games next season or will they stink and tank for yet another season?

In terms of the celtics? Idk what they will do. Maybe draft another undersized guard? Smh. Maybe draft Bender? That would be a disaster.

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The 76ers really need to turn it around quickly. You can't keep stacking top 3 picks on your roster year after year and continue to still suck. I think that, if I was running the team, I'd go with the best player (Ingram or Simmons) and then decide, among all the top picks they've acquired the past few years, choose the core I want to go with, and then in the next ensuing drafts, use their first round picks to trade for quality veterans. Because a team full of young players just isn't going to compete at a high level.

There's a storyline for every team having the lotto rigged for every #1 pick. I don't think it's rigged anymore.

ViperGTS said:

It's sad. A former player tweets out congratulations hours before the event even happens, deletes it, and we're just supposed to shrug and say, no big deal?

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Yes, because if the whole thing is rigged, then why the hell would they let Dikembe Mutombe, of all people, in on it?

ViperGTS said:

I bet your the type of person who if an alien ship landed in your backyard and little green dudes with big heads and only eyes said, "Hello earthling!", you'd tell them they aren't real and to get off your lawn. Am I right?

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When someone has to use the hypothetical of aliens landing in my backyard to support their contention, well.... That really just proves how bankrupt the contention was in the first place.

But sure, buddy.... it's a conspiracy that all 14 lottery NBA teams were in on..... Not to mention that before the event, the conspiracy theorists were all predicting LA.

ausbacker said:

By 2, you really mean 3 in 4. Irving, Bennett, Wiggins.

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Ok, 3 of 4 by virtue of a trade. And yet they still sucked until LeBron went back.

KontradictioN said:

Anyone who thinks the lottery isn't rigged should look no further than the Cavs winning the draft lottery in 3 out of the 4 years LeBron was gone. They really wanted to bring the Cavs back to relevancy. As for last night? I was actually surprised the Lakers didn't win it.

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Why in the world would the NBA care about bringing the Cavaliers "back to relevancy"? They are not exactly a large market team.

XLIX said:

Yes, because if the whole thing is rigged, then why the hell would they let Dikembe Mutombe, of all people, in on it?
When someone has to use the hypothetical of aliens landing in my backyard to support their contention, well.... That really just proves how bankrupt the contention was in the first place.

But sure, buddy.... it's a conspiracy that all 14 lottery NBA teams were in on..... Not to mention that before the event, the conspiracy theorists were all predicting LA.

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It's not hypothetical. NBA draft picture from back in the day.

XLIX said:

Ok, 3 of 4 by virtue of a trade. And yet they still sucked until LeBron went back.

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No, they won 3 out of 4 lotteries and the Wiggins one was especially dubious given they had a 33-49 record and .017% chance of winning it. There were 8 teams with worse records than the Cavs at the 2014 NBA Lottery. In fact, they never owned the worst record in the league in all 3 lottery wins.

ivanvamp said:

Would people here think the lottery was rigged if the Celtics got the #1 pick? The argument that it would be rigged in such a circumstance could be pretty compelling, if looked at through a certain lens:

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This this this, and this is the part that cracks me up about our local "The NFL is rigged!" conspiracy theorists. You know who I mean, the ones who claim the league is totally rigged - except for those years where the Patriots win it all. Then it's legit.

ausbacker said:

No, they won 3 out of 4 lotteries and the Wiggins one was especially dubious given they had a 33-49 record and .017% chance of winning it. There were 8 teams with worse records than the Cavs at the 2014 NBA Lottery. In fact, they never owned the worst record in the league in all 3 lottery wins.

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Oh wow! Something crazy happened in the world of sports!! It's must be all rigged then!!! BTW, they had a 1.7% chance of winning it, not the ridiculous 0.017% chance you claim. But hey, what's being off by a factor of 100 matter to the conspiracy theorists?

All of this is not to mention that people still haven't addressed the 3 key points of:

1) If the lottery was rigged, why would they rig it for Cleveland??
2) If the lottery was rigged, all 14 draft lottery teams would have to have been on it
3) If last night's lottery was rigged, #1 would have gone to LA, not Philly. LA was the team the conspiracy theorists were all over.

XLIX said:

Oh wow! Something crazy happened in the world of sports!! It's must be all rigged then!!! BTW, they had a 1.7% chance of winning it, not the ridiculous 0.017% chance you claim. But hey, what's being off by a factor of 100 matter to the conspiracy theorists?

All of this is not to mention that people still haven't addressed the 3 key points of:

1) If the lottery was rigged, why would they rig it for Cleveland??
2) If the lottery was rigged, all 14 draft lottery teams would have to have been on it
3) If last night's lottery was rigged, #1 would have gone to LA, not Philly. LA was the team the conspiracy theorists were all over.

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Did you even bother to read that Huff Post article? Apparently not. Too many convienent coincidences there for there not to be fire. Yet you still keep banging your drum.

Why would all 14 need to be in on it? I don't understand that. Why did the other teams in the NFL stand by and watch the Commissioner hose the Pats and say nothing? For the good of the league of course. Same here. You can think it, even know it and you won't do anything. That's even if they are smart enough to see what's going on. I'm sure there's things you can do with ping pong balls that can get the outcome they want.

In this case, the solid the Colangelos did in taking the Philly mess trumped the Lakers who got to keep their pick which is good enough at 2 in this draft.

The Cleveland angle has been described already.

XLIX said:

Oh wow! Something crazy happened in the world of sports!! It's must be all rigged then!!! BTW, they had a 1.7% chance of winning it, not the ridiculous 0.017% chance you claim. But hey, what's being off by a factor of 100 matter to the conspiracy theorists?

All of this is not to mention that people still haven't addressed the 3 key points of:

1) If the lottery was rigged, why would they rig it for Cleveland??
2) If the lottery was rigged, all 14 draft lottery teams would have to have been on it
3) If last night's lottery was rigged, #1 would have gone to LA, not Philly. LA was the team the conspiracy theorists were all over.

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.017% is 1.7%. Spare me your faux outrage.

XLIX said:

Why in the world would the NBA care about bringing the Cavaliers "back to relevancy"? They are not exactly a large market team.

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You didn't read my follow up post? Ratings. The Heat and the Cavs both being good would have been good for ratings. Ratings = $$$. From what we've learned from Donaghy, the NBA would do certain things and tweak certain games in order to increase ratings and revenue.

Well either Philly or the Lakers should bite on a Trade with Celtics...we have all those picks and this by far is the WORSE year to have the Third Selection in a VERY WEAK DRAFT!

ViperGTS said:

Did you even bother to read that Huff Post article? Apparently not. Too many convienent coincidences there for there not to be fire. Yet you still keep banging your drum.

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It would be impossible to run a draft lottery every year and not find "convenient coincidences." Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

ViperGTS said:

Why would all 14 need to be in on it? I don't understand that.

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Because each lottery team has a representative in the room and gets to watch the drawing, inspect the equipment, etc.

ViperGTS said:

Why did the other teams in the NFL stand by and watch the Commissioner hose the Pats and say nothing? For the good of the league of course.

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That's a bankrupt analogy. When the NFL punishes the Patriots unfairly, no other team suffers (if anything, other teams gain by unfairly punishing the Patriots). If the NBA rigged things for one team to win the draft lottery, the other teams in the draft lottery would be pretty darn pissed.

The simple fact of the matter is this:

1) Not one single person can explain why the NBA would be in the tank for Cleveland, of all teams, especially in the immediate aftermath of LeBron leaving when there was no indication he would ever return. I can at least understand the logic behind Ewing going to NY 30+ years ago, but why the heck would the league say "Cleveland just lost LeBron, but it's such a small market and suck ass city that we need to ignore NY, Philly and LA so we can rig things in Cleveland's favor!"

2) The conspiracy theorists cry CONSPIRACY! no matter what happens. Yesterday at this time, they were all predicting LA would win. But LA didn't win. Instead, Philadelphia won. CONSPIRACY!

3) When something statistically unlikely happens: CONSPIRACY! When the most statistically likely outcome happens: CONSPIRACY! When a big market team wins: CONSPIRACY! When a small market team wins: CONSPIRACY!

3) Last night's outcome was the single most likely one possible. CONSPIRACY!

ViperGTS said:

Same here. You can think it, even know it and you won't do anything. That's even if they are smart enough to see what's going on. I'm sure there's things you can do with ping pong balls that can get the outcome they want.

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No, there aren't "things you could do with ping pong balls to get the outcome that you want" which wouldn't be obvious to 8th grader looking at the equipment.

KontradictioN said:

You didn't read my follow up post? Ratings. The Heat and the Cavs both being good would have been good for ratings. Ratings = $$$. From what we've learned from Donaghy, the NBA would do certain things and tweak certain games in order to increase ratings and revenue.

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Whatever team LeBron is on is going to be good for ratings. He is the league's marquee player over the past 10+ years. The Cavaliers are a top draw because of LeBron, not because of the city of Cleveland. Without LeBron, Cleveland was a crappy team from a crappy city with no ratings appeal whatsoever, so there is no reason to rig the lottery in favor of Cleveland.