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The NBA Draft Lottery has long been a magnet for skepticism, and this year one of the league's biggest voices added weight to the controversy: LeBron James; just after the Dallas Mavericks secured the No. 1 overall pick despite holding just a 1.8% chance.
That's right. Over 98 times in 100, the Mavericks would not have secured top spot but just months after their bizarre decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, they are offered redemption.
It gives them the chance to pick up the Duke Blue Devils' Cooper Flagg, who was tipped to be the first overall pick regardless of whoever landed the spot and offers them immediate chance to fix the glaring hole in their roster when it comes to star power.
As a result of the coincidence, not everyone was convinced the lottery was 100% pure and it raised eyebrows across the league and sparked immediate discussion online, LeBron among them.
The 40-year-old four-time NBA champion reacted by posting a series of crying of laughter emojis, leaving little to the imagination when it comes to his thoughts - just months after he claimed the lottery was rigged.
"During the lottery drop, Cleveland got the No. 1 pick," James recalled of his selection in 2003 to The Pat McAfee Show. "I just don't think that was - what a coincidence.
"Let's keep LeBron home. You know what? Patrick Ewing to the Knicks. Derrick Rose to the Bulls. I understand the assignment, guys."
Fans react to Dallas pick
Of course, the Cavaliers wasted no time selecting the man from Akron and the rest is history, but it only fuelled the fire of the belief that the lottery may not be entirely random is not new.
Despite reforms made to the system in 2019, intended to flatten the odds and deter tanking, doubts about transparency remain prevalent among fans and even within league circles.
The Mavericks' recent result coupled with the perception of needing a narrative recovery post-Doncic has only deepened suspicions as fans headed to social media platforms to react.
One wrote, "It's just too perfect."
A second said, "Adam Silver [NBA Commissioner] after forcing Luka to the Lakers to fix rating problems and then making up for it by giving the Mavericks Cooper Flagg."
And a third noted, "The Mavericks just got the most undeserved bail out in league history get serious."
The idea that the first overall pick heading to Dallas was compensation for a conspiracy between the NBA, Lakers and Mavericks to trade Doncic for the health of the sport is baseless, but seemed to be a prevalent theory from fans.
Whether Nico Harrison, Mavericks' general manager, will use the pick to select Flagg or if he will make another head-scratching decision remains to be seen, but fans are not impressed.