The Dallas Mavericks surprisingly secured a top pick in this year’s NBA draft, despite entering the lottery with only a 1.8% chance. This unexpected outcome has ignited numerous theories in the sports community, with some suggesting that the NBA may have favored the Mavericks after their trade of superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers back in February. Now, Dallas is in a position to possibly draft the talented Cooper Flagg from Duke.
Former Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal is among those joining the conversation. He recalled an intriguing encounter with the late NBA commissioner David Stern back in 1992, right before the lottery. O’Neal mentioned that Stern approached him and asked where he would prefer to play.
O’Neal shared, “He pulled me to the side and said, ‘Want to play in a cold or hot place?’ I told him, ‘It’s hot.’ He just smiled.”
Fast forward a few months, O’Neal witnessed Orlando, Charlotte, and Minnesota securing the top three picks in that lottery. “Minnesota ended up third, Charlotte was second, and Orlando was first,” he recalled, adding that he found the situation curious. He expressed some doubt about the randomness of the lottery, stating, “I hear a lot of these conspiracy theories, and I think there might be something to consider there.” While O’Neal was cautious about using the term “conspiracy theories,” he described the entire scenario as “very interesting.”
