Top NBA Draft prospect Markelle Fultz’s mom learned about the Lottery last year
Markelle Fultz hopes to be the top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Unlike his rival Lonzo Ball, his family is still learning the finer points of the process.
As much as the MVP debate within the NBA has bandied back and forth between two combo point guards in Russell Westbrook and James Harden, the NBA Draft discussion has also been heated between two point guards.
The budding rivalry between Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball took place on the basketball court when Washington and UCLA faced off this past season. It will continue as the two players dance around each other and the teams that win the NBA Draft Lottery in late May.
No matter what Ball’s father, Lamar Ball, tries to say, his son is not in control of where he ends up. If Ball wants to be the top pick, he has to go through the same process Fultz does and await his fate at the NBA Draft Lottery. On May 16, the NBA will hold a weighted drawing to determine the top three picks in the NBA Draft. Likely this will determine where Fultz and Ball end up playing basketball for at least the first five years of their careers.
It is, admittedly, an odd way to determine a young basketball players’ future. But it has been the reality in the NBA in some form since 1985. Still it took Fultz’s family somewhat by surprise. Fultz’s mom told Andrew Sharp of Sports Illustrated she did not know the league determined its top picks by lottery until very recently.
"“I know in May they have an actual lottery,” Ms. Fultz says. “I just found that out last year—it’s an actual lottery where they put balls in machines. So, I know that. And then, there’ll be the draft. I don’t know the intricate details of it, but Keith [Williams] has explained it.”"
That led to a fun exchange which Sharp recounts where Fultz explains to his mom that teams actually purposefully lose to get a high draft pick and a chance to pick the best players in the Draft.
"The next step in Fultz’s journey is the lottery. Markelle is keeping it diplomatic. “To me it doesn’t matter to me where I go,” he says. “As long as I’m playing basketball, that’s just how I am. I don’t look too far ahead.”I had to ask whether he’s paid attention to all the league’s tanking efforts, and his mom interjected. “Is that really happening? Are they really losing on purpose?”“They do,” Markelle confirms. “So they can increase their percentages.”“It’s weird, it’s weird,” she says of this lottery situation. “But that’s the nature of that profession. You adapt to whatever your profession is.”"
The Fultz family has gotten more accustomed to this reality as the year has gone on.
Fultz came out of nowhere to become one of the top draft prospects in the last few years. He committed early to Washington as he continued to grow into the 6-foot-4, 6-foot-9 wingspan point guard that has NBA scouts swooning. And yes, even some losing purposefully to get to him.
Fultz spent most of the season on top of draft boards and mock drafts. The only thing that seemed to slow him down was his team’s record and Washington’s absence from the NCAA Tournament or postseason play. That helped his chief rival, Lonzo Ball, get a bit more notoriety.
Judging by Sharp’s profile, Fultz and his family are polar opposites of the flashy Ball family that has gained headlines thanks to Lamar Ball’s bold prognostications and statements about his son.
Next: NBA Draft tiebreakers to be settled Tuesday
The two will be going through workouts and getting themselves ready for that big day in June.