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The Michigan Daily - Tueday, May 30, 2006 - 15
The NBA draft lottery is so much more in person
SECAUCUS, N.J. -
Twelve years ago last week, I stood wob-
bling on a pair of inline
skates and eating a slice of
pizza at U.S. Blades, a once-trendy
skating rink in my hometown of
West Bloomfield.
I can remember the scene as if it
were yesterday. My eyes were fixed
on a high-mounted television near
the arcade games, which I couldn't
have cared less about at that par-
ticular moment. After all, the NBA GA
Draft Lottery was underway.
Now, my 10-year-old self had EDE
never heard about the lottery Hon
before, much less watched it live. Ga
But with my Pistons coming off a
* disappointing 20-62 season, I considered it my
duty to witness the unveiling of the Pistons'
position in the June draft.
Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik opened
up the No. 3 envelope to reveal a card displaying
the Pistons' logo. Detroit ultimately used the pick
on Duke's Grant Hill. And while Hill never led
the Pistons to greatness, he arguably initiated the
series of fortunate events that brought the team
from the league's basement to its highest peak 10
years later.
The rest, as they say, is history.
I've tried to watch the lottery every year since,
to the point where my friends and family consider
me strangely obsessive. So when I was presented
with the opportunity to travel to the NBA Enter-
LS
xb
tainment Studios to see this year's lottery in per-
son on May 23, I found it difficult to decline the
invitation.
Since the teams included in the
lottery are, by definition, squads that
failed to make the playoffs, their rep-
resentatives are usually characterized
by mixed emotions. Philadelphia 76ers
President and General Manager Billy
King, for example, was excited about
the possibility of adding a tremendous
talent to his roster, but he was less
BE , than thrilled with his current players'
underachievement.
SON "As I walked in, I said, 'This is not
est a place I want to be,' " said King, who
e acknowledged that traveling to the lot-
tery made him "very" uncomfortable.
John Paxson, the Chicago Bulls' Executive Vice
President of Basketball Operations, exhibited a
considerably brighter disposition. The Bulls were
the only lottery team that participated in postsea-
son play. Thanks to a 2005 trade that sent Eddy
Curry to the Knicks, Paxson and the Bulls own
New York's first-round pick. The Knicks' 23-59
record gave Chicago the second-best shot at the No.
1 selection, behind just the Portland Trail Blazers.
"I feel very fortunate to be picking this high
in this draft," said Paxson in perhaps the biggest
understatement of the night. The Bulls ended up
with the second overall pick, behind the lottery-
winning Toronto Raptors.
The most misleading quote overheard at the
lottery came courtesy of Trail Blazers President
Steve Patterson. Though Portland was the team
most likely to pick first, Patterson had to settle
for the No. 4 selection, mathematically the worst
possible spot for his team (since the top three
positions are the only ones determined by the
bouncing ping-pong balls).
"The probabilities were actually highest that
we get the No. 4 pick,' Patterson said.
While it's true that Portland had a 25-percent
chance of picking first, a 21.48-percent chance
of going second, a 17.72-percent shot at No. 3
and a 35.8-percent chance of selecting fourth,
Patterson wisely avoided mentioning - or per-
haps remained oblivious to - the fact that the
Blazers had a 64.2-percent chance of picking
higher than their actual spot.
Watching the proceedings from the studio
revealed far more than the narrow confines of a
television screen allow.
I was among the fortunate few who observed
Patterson rehearsing his acceptance speech before
the show began in case the Trail Blazers won the
lottery (and perhaps jinxing his team's chances
in the process). I saw host Dan Patrick warn
five members of the 14-member group of team
representatives that they would be asked ques-
tions during air time in what would appear to be
random, off-the-cuff queries to the national TV
audience (not coincidentally, these individuals
were the only ones wearing clip-on microphones).
I watched Ernst & Young partner Martin Shan-
non walk down the hallway four times, looking
as wooden as Pinocchio, until the producers were
satisfied with his attempt at tucking the sequen-
tial envelopes under his arm for the shot ESPN
showed upon returning from a commercial break.
If you're looking for some inside information
as to who Toronto will take with the first choice,
I can give you this much: Before the cameras
rolled, Patrick verified the pronunciation of top
prospect Andrea Bargnani's name with Bryan
Colangelo, the Raptors' new President and Gen-
eral Manager. Might this mean Toronto is leaning
toward the Italian youngster? It's hard to say.
What I do know is that on lottery night, the
NBA Entertainment Studios seemed eerily
similar to the ESPN offices on those famous
SportsCenter commercials. At one point, I found
myself watching Game One of the Pistons-Heat
Eastern Conference Finals atable away from
Orlando Magic vice president Pat Williams,
Seattle SuperSonics GM Rick Sund and Seattle
coach Bob Hill (I had to stifle a laugh after a
badly missed Shaquille O'Neal free throw when
I realized Williams had drafted Shaq in 1992).
Rookie of the Year Chris Paul, Commissioner
David Stern and Knicks legend Willis Reed were
among the long list of prominent guests scat-
tered throughout the media tent and buffet line. I
even had a conversation with Hall of Famer Gail
Goodrich in the NBAE cubicles.
But despite the unprecedented access and the
star power on hand, I would have had nearly as
much fun watching at U.S. Blades over a slice of
pizza. Such is life for a lottery junkie.
- Edelson can be reached at
gedelson@umich.edu.
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