The Dallas Mavericks’ win in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery sparked another wave of conspiracy theories suggesting that the league rigs the draw to benefit certain teams. ESPN NBA analyst Richard Jefferson does not believe that is true, but he does think there is a reason the NBA does not push back harder against those claims.
In a recent episode of his “Road Trippin'” podcast, Jefferson argued that the NBA actually likes the conspiracy theories, as they add to the league’s reputation for drama.
“The two percent does happen. It happens a lot,” Jefferson said. “Everyone wants to say it’s rigged, but the NBA likes that illusion of this. It’s part of the allure. The NBA is the most dramatic sport. It’s the second-biggest sport in the world, but it’s the most dramatic.
“The drama that goes into basketball players on and off the court, all the drama, the pettiness, the dads on the court talking s–t to Hall-of-Famers, the NBA is always full of some s–t. That’s just part of the drama. The NBA likes the fact that people are like, ‘Oh, this is rigged.'”
Jefferson added that there is no way NBA owners would allow the league to rig the lottery to favor a certain team.
“There’s billionaires out there competing for Cooper Flagg. You think the Washington Wizards owner is going to let something be rigged and miss out on a guy that could change his franchise?” Jefferson asked.
One could argue with Jefferson’s assertion that the league enjoys the narrative. It probably doesn’t benefit them to let claims of impropriety linger, but there is also nothing they could say to dissuade the conspiracy theorists, and most of the people making the claims are going to keep watching anyway. Still, there is no arguing how much this year’s lottery result looks scripted.
Jefferson is correct that there is no way owners would let the league rig the lottery. Too much money is at stake for that. That reality will not stop the conspiracy theories, though.
H/T Awful Announcing
