Someone said LeBron to CAVS = NBA draft is rigged

[Ogaju]

Someone said that if LeBron goes to the Cavs it would cement his feeling that the draft is rigged. LOL

Well I am glad we got one convert.

Anyone still think the NBA is not rigged?

[fairweatherfan]

I think if someone believes the lottery's rigged despite it being independently audited every year by a much larger organization, reps of all teams monitoring it, and the entire process being posted online after the picks are announced, nothing will change their mind.  Confirmation bias is a helluva drug.

[GreenWarrior]

maybe not rigged but awfully convenient for Cleveland.

[sed522002]

May not be rigged, but its been Cavs saving grace.

[Beat LA]

I believe that that was MaxwellSmart86, and I completely agree with him.  To win the lottery 3 times in 4 years, the last time with only a 1.7% chance of success, is bull****, quite frankly.  Even when they didn't get the first overall pick in 2012, it was still in the top 5 at #4.  I don't care if you believe in conspiracy theories or not, at minimum, this has to at least make you entertain the possibility that something's not right here.  The face of the franchise walks and you're rewarded with the #1 pick in the next year's draft?  I know that they were horrible, but so were other teams, and rarely has a club with one of the three worst records in the league won the lottery, anyway.  For some reason, it's better to fall somewhere in the range of 4-6 on average, I think.  Cleveland doesn't get the first pick in 2012? - we'll make it up to you next year.  Botch the pick with Anthony Bennett? - that's okay, we'll give you another chance to redeem yourselves next June. 

Oh, I expected this to happen after Lebron left, I just thought that the league would at least try to not make it so obvious.  1.7%?  WOW   That's the exact same percentage that Chicago had when they 'won' the lottery.  How many games did they miss the playoffs by in 2008?  3?  This is ridiculous.  We need a rule change, and quickly.  It's almost like this was scripted.  Oh wait

[86MaxwellSmart]

What I Believe is.....as long as the Number Combinations are assigned in Numeric Order (not Random)...and they SWITCH the Balls after the Practice run---it IS Possible to put new balls in the hopper, that weigh a bit more than the others (from a locked suitcase BTW)...The Air is blown upwards in the hopper.

It is possible to Rig the Lottery---Change those 2 things, and they Cannot rig it.

[fairweatherfan]

I believe that that was MaxwellSmart86, and I completely agree with him.  To win the lottery 3 times in 4 years, the last time with only a 1.7% chance of success, is bull****, quite frankly.  Even when they didn't get the first overall pick in 2012, it was still in the top 5 at #4.  I don't care if you believe in conspiracy theories or not, at minimum, this has to at least make you entertain the possibility that something's not right here. 

The #4 pick isn't drawn, they got it automatically by missing the first 3 while having the worst record. 

And the Clips actually won it in Irving's year, they just stupidly didn't protect it in the Baron Davis salary dump.

And none of it makes me think something's not right - as my old stats professor used to say, "chance is lumpy".  In my classes I'll sometimes use a random number generator to make a list of outcomes, and also have a student make a list that they think "looks random", then show them both to the class and ask which is which.  Most people think the human-made list is actually random, because real random chance has lots more odd streaks and unlikely events than they'd expect. 

Short version - people suck at understanding probability and what actual randomness looks like.  They tend to prefer storylines that explain it as some invisible hand pulling the strings instead.  Same deal here.

[fairweatherfan]

What I Believe is.....as long as the Number Combinations are assigned in Numeric Order (not Random)...and they SWITCH the Balls after the Practice run---it IS Possible to put new balls in the hopper, that weigh a bit more than the others (from a locked suitcase BTW)...The Air is blown upwards in the hopper.

It is possible to Rig the Lottery---Change those 2 things, and they Cannot rig it.

You've had this explained to you before, but the "real" balls in the locked suitcases are weighed and measured before they go in there.  Ernst + Young would be awfully bad at their multibillion dollar jobs if they only measured the practice balls. 

The reason why they switch the balls is because the practice run can scuff or alter the balls, so the only way to be sure they ARE equal is to use a fresh set.  In other words, you're complaining about the exact thing the practice is meant to prevent.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I believe that that was MaxwellSmart86, and I completely agree with him.  To win the lottery 3 times in 4 years, the last time with only a 1.7% chance of success, is bull****, quite frankly.  Even when they didn't get the first overall pick in 2012, it was still in the top 5 at #4.  I don't care if you believe in conspiracy theories or not, at minimum, this has to at least make you entertain the possibility that something's not right here.  The face of the franchise walks and you're rewarded with the #1 pick in the next year's draft?  I know that they were horrible, but so were other teams, and rarely has a club with one of the three worst records in the league won the lottery, anyway.  For some reason, it's better to fall somewhere in the range of 4-6 on average, I think.  Cleveland doesn't get the first pick in 2012? - we'll make it up to you next year.  Botch the pick with Anthony Bennett? - that's okay, we'll give you another chance to redeem yourselves next June. 

Oh, I expected this to happen after Lebron left, I just thought that the league would at least try to not make it so obvious.  1.7%?  WOW   That's the exact same percentage that Chicago had when they 'won' the lottery.  How many games did they miss the playoffs by in 2008?  3?  This is ridiculous.  We need a rule change, and quickly.  It's almost like this was scripted.  Oh wait

don't forget that just them getting the number one pick to draft Lebron was super lucky. They had the best chance but rarely does the team with the best chance get the #1 pick....except when your Cleveland

[86MaxwellSmart]

What I Believe is.....as long as the Number Combinations are assigned in Numeric Order (not Random)...and they SWITCH the Balls after the Practice run---it IS Possible to put new balls in the hopper, that weigh a bit more than the others (from a locked suitcase BTW)...The Air is blown upwards in the hopper.

It is possible to Rig the Lottery---Change those 2 things, and they Cannot rig it.

You've had this explained to you before, but the "real" balls in the locked suitcases are weighed and measured before they go in there.  Ernst + Young would be awfully bad at their multibillion dollar jobs if they only measured the practice balls. 

The reason why they switch the balls is because the practice run can scuff or alter the balls, so the only way to be sure they ARE equal is to use a fresh set.  In other words, you're complaining about the exact thing the practice is meant to prevent.

Yeah, I'm sure you know all of this as fact....C'mon man...there is also no reason to not Randomize the number combinations...ONLY if you might want to rig it...I am not stating my stance as "Fact"---just that these things look extremely FISHY.

a lot of people think it is rigged---maybe...maybe not---but if it is---THIS is how they do it.

[fairweatherfan]

What I Believe is.....as long as the Number Combinations are assigned in Numeric Order (not Random)...and they SWITCH the Balls after the Practice run---it IS Possible to put new balls in the hopper, that weigh a bit more than the others (from a locked suitcase BTW)...The Air is blown upwards in the hopper.

It is possible to Rig the Lottery---Change those 2 things, and they Cannot rig it.

You've had this explained to you before, but the "real" balls in the locked suitcases are weighed and measured before they go in there.  Ernst + Young would be awfully bad at their multibillion dollar jobs if they only measured the practice balls. 

The reason why they switch the balls is because the practice run can scuff or alter the balls, so the only way to be sure they ARE equal is to use a fresh set.  In other words, you're complaining about the exact thing the practice is meant to prevent.

Yeah, I'm sure you know all of this as fact....C'mon man...there is also no reason to not Randomize the number combinations...ONLY if you might want to rig it...I am not stating my stance as "Fact"---just that these things look extremely FISHY.

a lot of people think it is rigged---maybe...maybe not---but if it is---THIS is how they do it.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the day Ernst & Young says "Oops, we forgot to test any of the lottery materials used in the actual lottery draw for 20 consecutive years.  Our bad lol!"

[86MaxwellSmart]

What I Believe is.....as long as the Number Combinations are assigned in Numeric Order (not Random)...and they SWITCH the Balls after the Practice run---it IS Possible to put new balls in the hopper, that weigh a bit more than the others (from a locked suitcase BTW)...The Air is blown upwards in the hopper.

It is possible to Rig the Lottery---Change those 2 things, and they Cannot rig it.

You've had this explained to you before, but the "real" balls in the locked suitcases are weighed and measured before they go in there.  Ernst + Young would be awfully bad at their multibillion dollar jobs if they only measured the practice balls. 

The reason why they switch the balls is because the practice run can scuff or alter the balls, so the only way to be sure they ARE equal is to use a fresh set.  In other words, you're complaining about the exact thing the practice is meant to prevent.

Yeah, I'm sure you know all of this as fact....C'mon man...there is also no reason to not Randomize the number combinations...ONLY if you might want to rig it...I am not stating my stance as "Fact"---just that these things look extremely FISHY.

a lot of people think it is rigged---maybe...maybe not---but if it is---THIS is how they do it.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the day Ernst & Young says "Oops, we forgot to test any of the lottery materials used in the actual lottery draw for 20 consecutive years.  Our bad lol!"

I'm not saying you are wrong---just that if there is the slightest chance that it is rigged, this is how they could do it---they need to Randomize the number combinations--to take all questions away.

[the_Bird]

...  so, conspiracy theorists, explain something to me.

Why in the Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. would the League want to grant favors to CLEVELAND, of all franchises?  Why wouldn't they be making the CELTICS or the Knicks or some other team that actually has a national fanbase, why wouldn't they be the ones being granted the favors?  The best thing that could happen to the NBA would be to have exciting, relevant franchises in the biggest markets - to have the Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, and Bulls battling it out every year.

Why, pray tell, CLEVELAND?   

[staticcc]

Confirmation bias. If Lebron picked the Heat, the same guys who believed the draft is rigged would not have changed their minds.

[RyNye]

Yeah, I'm sure you know all of this as fact....C'mon man...there is also no reason to not Randomize the number combinations...ONLY if you might want to rig it...I am not stating my stance as "Fact"---just that these things look extremely FISHY.

Why would they randomize the number combinations? Ordering the number sequences is simply done out of convenience's sake, so it is easier to figure out whose number was just drawn. It also makes the drawing process shorter, because if the first ball drawn is not a valid starting number they don't need to waste the time drawing every single ball just to realize that the resultant sequence isn't valid. If the numbers were all assigned at random, then you have to finish every draw, and you will get a large number of invalid sequences and have to start over, wasting everybody's time.

There's no benefit to randomizing the number combinations themselves. They are completely independent of the drawing process in and of itself, and no one sequence has any greater chance of being drawn than any other, regardless of whether they are ordered or randomized. This is very simple math.

So, yeah, you are grasping at straws here. Confirmation bias.