Is the NBA lottery rigged?
The Dallas Mavericks won the right to select the top player even though they had only a 1.8% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick. This makes them just the fourth team in NBA history to win the lottery with odds below two percent.
The result sparked widespread reactions across the league. The Mavericks are now in a position to select Cooper Flagg, one of the most highly touted generational prospects in recent years.
Of course, this came months after the team shipped off Luka Doncic to the Lakers.
Lakers superstar LeBron James couldn’t help but laugh on social media over the result.
Now, social media detectives think they have found key evidence that shows that the NBA lottery is truly rigged.
One post pointed out how teams have received the number one pick right after a huge trade.
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In 2011, Chris Paul was traded to the Clippers, and the Pelicans got the top pick. In 2019, Anthony Davis was traded to the Lakers, and the Pelicans got the top pick.
In 2025, Luka gets traded to the Lakers, and Dallas gets the number one pick.
The real key to a #1 pick pic.twitter.com/2yP8wuuQcw
— MFFL (@Mavs_FFL) May 13, 2025
Mavericks CEO Responds to Narrative About NBA Lottery Being Rigged
The Dallas Mavericks shockingly won the NBA draft lottery on Monday night to earn the No. 1 pick. Something about this was that it did not pass the smell test.
The Mavericks had just a 1.8% chance of winning the lottery, and of course, it happened after the Mavericks made the biggest trade in recent NBA history, sending star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Fans quickly assumed that the entire thing was rigged and set up for the Mavs to replace Luka after giving LeBron what he wanted.
After the win, Mavericks CEO Rick Welts addressed the many people calling the NBA lottery rigged.
“I’m the only person who was in this room and the room 40 years ago. I was in charge of the NBA draft lottery 40 years ago when Patrick Ewing won. I’ve been doing conspiracy theory stories ever since,” Welts said, via Washington Post’s Ben Golliver.
“This is very surreal, personally.”
Also Read: VIDEO: Cooper Flagg’s Viral Reaction To Dallas Mavericks Winning 2025 NBA Draft Has Fans Buzzing
