Mic’d up cameras caught a heckling fan trolling Commissioner Adam Silver with a three-word message as he made his way to the stage for Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
The 2025 NBA Draft is being held at the Barclays Center (home of the Brooklyn Nets) in Brooklyn, New York. As per NBA Draft tradition, Adam Silver announced each pick at the podium.
As the NBA Commissioner was making his way to the stage to welcome the fans to the event, mic’d up cameras caught a fan screaming “DALLAS WAS RIGGED” at Silver:
Somebody yelled “DALLAS WAS RIGGED” at Adam Silver 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/3ZNs0khWGT
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) June 26, 2025
The Dallas Mavericks selected Duke star Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick, just as everybody expected. Dallas had only a 1.8 percent chance of winning the lottery, and some disgruntled fans were convinced that Adam Silver and NBA officials “rigged” the lottery to help the Mavs after trading away franchise star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards shared the highest odds of winning the lottery at 14 percent, followed by the New Orleans Pelicans (12.5 percent) and Philadelphia 76ers (10.5 percent).
Of course, countless fans also said the NBA “rigged” the 2023 draft lottery for the San Antonio Spurs when they took Victor Wembanyama. To this day, many believe the league even rigged the lottery back in 1985 so the New York Knicks could take Patrick Ewing.
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The conspiracy theories won’t go away, but the bottom line is that Cooper Flagg is in Dallas to form a new “big three” with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. It’s one way of softening the stunning Doncic trade that crushed Mavs fans.
Adam Silver Defends NBA’s Draft Lottery Format
Silver simply doesn’t have time for the NBA Draft lottery conspiracy theories. Earlier this month, he told Breakfast Ball, “I think sometimes because it’s a lottery people think there must’ve been a one in a million chance that Dallas was going to win.”
Adam Silver emphasized that even the teams with the highest odds still had an 86 percent chance of losing. Silver defended the lottery system and said, “The purpose of the lottery is to disincentivize teams from tanking.”
Also Read: Everyone Is Roasting Cooper Flagg For His Outfit Choice At The 2025 NBA Draft
