The NBA Draft Lottery is set to be held on May 12, and the stakes couldn't be higher for the future of the league. While he may not be a truly generational talent like Victor Wembenyama was two years ago, Duke's Cooper Flagg has the most hype for a college player entering the draft since fellow Blue Devil Zion Williamson in 2019.
Even though the NBA's lottery process is very fair and conducted in front of observers from every participating team, there will always be internet conspiracy theories claiming the lottery is rigged to benefit the league. Ever since the New York Knicks won the first-ever lottery to get the right to draft Patrick Ewing in 1985, some fans have believed the league will tip the scales to put intriguing players in markets more beneficial for the league in the long haul.
The NBA should copy the NHL's new lottery idea
The NHL also does a draft lottery for its top picks and has been following the same standard protocol the NBA has over the years, doing the draw beforehand in a private room and revealing the results on a televised show. While the NHL has also posted a separate YouTube video showing the draw after the fact, they have decided to up the ante this year and actually show their lottery draw live.
The actual mechanics for the lottery will not change as the top picks will be determined by a combination of four ping pong balls. The team holding the winning combination will receive the top pick in the draft, which is exactly how the NBA does their lottery, including the fact that the process is observed by an independent third party from the accounting firm Ernst & Young.
Doing the lottery live makes it very hard for any theories of rigging to take hold since we will actually be able to see the process play out from start to finish. Letting fans see the winning ping pong balls emerge live would help the NBA eliminate talk of fixing the lottery forever while also creating a ton of drama on lottery night, which seems like a no-brainer for commissioner Adam Silver to enhance the league's lottery experience.