Many NBA fans (and players and executives around the league) are absolutely outraged after the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Draft Lottery despite having less than a two percent chance of winning it. Although there's "always a chance" when it comes to the lottery, the outrage is coming from a loud sect of the NBA fan base that subscribes to a conspiracy that NBA commissioner Adam Silver has "rigged" the lottery.
Or, at the very least, rigs it when he wants to.
Or needs to...
The Mavericks agreed to the most infamous trade arguably in sports history just a few months ago when they traded superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a package for Anthony Davis. The trade is already being considered the most one-sided in league history. While no one in the NBA would really admit it, the Mavericks winning the lottery seems like the final piece of the trade that was missing from the initial puzzle.
And the longstanding rumors of the league "rigging" the NBA Draft lottery seem rather substantiated.
NFL could never subject itself to a lottery system for the NFL Draft
The idea that the NBA rigs the NBA Draft Lottery is not new. It dates back decades with Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, Shaquille O'Neal to the Magic (and the Magic winning it two years in a row as a new franchise), LeBron James to his hometown Cavs, Derrick Rose to his hometown Bulls, and plenty of other examples.
The idea of the NBA Draft lottery being "rigged" is fascinating because there are also many out there who believe NBA teams actively tank to get better odds for the draft lottery. Ultimately, there is probably an element of truth to both things, which is why the NBA is such an inferior product to the NFL these days.
The NFL does not need star prospects to land in big markets to make the business more profitable. Favoring the big-market teams would kill the NFL's product, creating a constant David vs. Goliath with smaller market teams and losing the parity that defines the league's competitive nature.
The Colts lived in primetime because of Peyton Manning. The Denver Broncos went from being a joke of a franchise to one of the most decorated in league history thanks to John Elway forcing his way to Denver. The Kansas City Chiefs, even, are a great modern example of smaller market teams becoming the face of the league.
There is no "brand" in the NFL that makes the league sell more than others. There are undoubtedly individual teams that are more popular, but think about the Dallas Cowboys for the moment, and how their competitiveness on a legitimate championship level has been borderline dormant for three decades.
But the ratings keep going up.
In the NBA, the ratings go up when there's more drama and when the star players are playing on the best teams. The NBA product is better with Luka on the Lakers. The NBA product is better with the Celtics and Knicks being great teams. Star power drives the NBA. It does in the NFL as well, but not to the same extent.
Star players create marketability in the NFL. When's the last time you tuned into a New Orleans Pelicans game to maybe see Zion Williamson play compared to the last time you were flipping through channels, saw the Lakers on, and decided to check it out because Luka is on the team now?
Exactly.
That doesn't exist in the NFL. People tune into the Hall of Fame Game where guys who will be playing for the UFL in a few months are out there representing your favorite team. You could pit the two worst teams in the league against each other in Week 18 with backup quarterbacks and millions of people will still tune in to see their fantasy players put up points.
The NFL is king, and doesn't need a lottery system to make the league intriguing.
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