The 2024 NBA Draft Lottery has come and gone, and the Atlanta Hawks possess the biggest ball of them all. Grasping the number one pick, GM Landry Fields will try to rebuild a franchise that once boasted superstars like Dominque Wilkins, Tracy McGrady, and Al Horford.
Meanwhile, the next three picks will go to the Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs, respectively. The Spurs – looking to build around phenom Victor Wembanyama – will also have the eighth overall pick, thanks to a deal with the Toronto Raptors.
While the NBA Draft itself can often seem pre-determined and melodramatic, the lottery is a whole different ‘ball’ game. It’s unique among the four major sports leagues and has become a TV event in and of itself. There’s an aura of suspense, even if, most of the time, the picks fall accordingly. It’s the potential for surprise that makes it so interesting.
Truly, every fan of pro hoops was tuned in on Mother’s Day to see just how the balls would bounce… and they sprung in the direction of Atlanta, Georgia. Now, we’ll get to see what the Hawks do with this selection next month.
Origins of the NBA Draft Lottery
From 1966 to 1984, the first overall pick was chosen by a coin flip between the teams with the worst records in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference. However, the league knew they needed a change that would be more fair and equitable to other losing franchises.
After ruling out ‘rock, paper, scissors’ as an option, David Stern and the NBA decided to go with a form of basketball bingo, instead. Albeit one weighted towards the teams with the worst finishes the season before. And the rest, as they say, is history.
On This Date in 1985…#Knicks win first ever @NBA Draft lottery.
READ MORE: http://t.co/LrIsyEOUny pic.twitter.com/gIPRwDAcak
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 12, 2015
Immediately, the lottery came under fire when the New York Knicks (Stern’s favorite team growing up) gained the top pick in the 1985 Draft. They used it to select the most dominant big man in college basketball, Patrick Ewing, a franchise player they built around for over a decade. Other owners may have cried foul, but Stern and the NBA insisted that the balls had just bounced the Knicks’ way.
There have been other times when the lottery balls came up in an almost ‘too perfect’ scenario. For example, the Cleveland Cavaliers happened to win the 2002 event, enabling them to draft Lebron James. The high school prodigy just happened to be from right down the road in Akron, Ohio, making it a storybook start to a stellar career.
The ‘Black Magic’ Behind the Lottery Balls
One year after drafting Shaquille O’Neal, the Orlando Magic got a huge break when the balls sprayed in their direction. With Team President Pat Williams holding a box of Lucky Charms cereal in the hope of good fortune, the franchise won the first overall pick with the longest odds.
The 11th-worst team in the league that year, Orlando had one chance out of the 66 in the machine. Yet, somehow they pulled off enough ‘black magic’ to win the whole ball of wax. They would later draft Michigan’s Chris Webber first, but trade him away to the Golden State Warriors for multi-talented guard Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway.
Do you believe in Magic? (1993)
NBA Draft Lottery pic.twitter.com/T7yAkTdDWw— 90s NBA (@NBA90s) June 26, 2021
Those are just a few of the stories over the decades.
But there’s no doubt that those little balls make big history every single year.
The NBA Draft lottery is different and it’s kooky, and that’s what makes it so endearing to those who love professional basketball. Those great balls of fire set the league apart from others, and it’s given fans even more content to consume. And much like the real-life lottery? It gives everyone a chance to hit the jackpot.
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Ryan K Boman is the author of the 2023 book, Pop Music & Peanut Butter: A Collection of Essays about Embracing Life with Laughter & Love. His previous work has appeared at The Miami Herald, SB Nation, Bounding into Sports, and Yardbarker. Follow him on social media @RyanKBoman.
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