The Ringer’s Zach Lowe was among the 14 media members present in the lottery drawing room and witnessed the Dallas Mavericks winning the first pick firsthand. Lowe was understandably surprised by those turns of events, and on The Zach Lowe Show, he shared how everyone in the room reacted to that stunning outcome.
“The amount of murmuring and whispering and looks around the room during the lottery drawing, which is normally silent, was unprecedented,” Lowe said. “The first ball comes up 10, and we’ve lived this movie before where a high number comes up. Everybody’s in play with the high numbers.
“Second ball is 14, which is the highest number,” Lowe stated. “Now there’s like, ‘Uh oh.’ Then 11 comes up [it’s] the third ball. And at that point or some time during the second drawing, Justin Zanik, who’s representing the Jazz, and Will Dawkins, who’s representing the Wizards, I think Justin looked at Will and was like ‘Oh s***’.
“If the last ball was a six, Blazers win the lottery,” Lowe continued. “If the last ball was a seven, Mavs. So, Matt Riccardi was representing the Mavs, and Andrae Patterson was representing the Blazers. They were sitting next to each other, and Andrae confirmed this. During those 20 seconds, Matt Riccardi, representing the Mavs, turned to Andrae and said, ‘It’s going to be a seven.’ … And then it turns seven.
“And the whole room pauses because only a couple of people realize it’s Dallas,” Lowe added. “And a league lawyer is combing this big easel that has all the combinations, and he says ‘Dallas.’ And in that moment, it was not an eruption because it’s impolite to erupt, like they’re already starting the second drawing. Everybody was dying of laughter, like muffling their laughter, looking at each other like ‘Are you kidding me? The Dallas Mavericks?”
That’s pretty much how those who watched the televised version of the lottery reacted to the Mavericks winning it as well. The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov was another media member in the room and shared the general feeling of the executives.
“Those in the lottery room could barely believe it either. Incredulity was a common response. Many in the building agreed it was the most bizarre lottery they could remember. When the lottery drawing was televised on ESPN, with the people inside the room already aware of the results, there was laughter when the broadcast announced that the Mavericks had moved into the top four. It still barely seemed real.”
The Mavericks only had a 1.8% chance of getting the top pick, and individuals involved with the team couldn’t believe what had happened either. Minority owner Mark Cuban was left stunned by the miraculous outcome. Cuban had cut a frustrated figure since the Luka Doncic trade, and would be thrilled to see the team get this lifeline.
As for the man who orchestrated the Doncic trade, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison’s reaction to the lottery went viral. There was jubilation as the franchise was now in a position to land Cooper Flagg.
Of course, the Mavericks winning this lottery after trading Doncic when they had such little chance has led to conspiracy theories being floated around. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix made it clear that the NBA could not have rigged the lottery, but that’s not going to stop people from believing that foul play was involved. Regardless, at the end of the day, the Mavericks have the top pick and they are set to draft Flagg.
